My wife won't sink

[Rose Robinson]

What does "sets her neutral buoyancy pre dive" mean?

Neutral at the start means 4-5 pounds light once you breathe down your gas. Good luck holding a safety stop.

And "no lead ballast" with a single tank and a 7mm suit? You could maybe get there with stainless steel in the form of a really thick backplate and a big steel HP tank, but that's not relevant to this situation.

Achieving neutral buoyancy, predive, is one of the most important things a diver can do, and one of the most important things we all are taught during our OW scuba course.

Of course she's going to need ballast, which is determined predive, while achieving neutral buoyancy.

Intentionally entering the water negative, for the sake of initial submersion, never has and never will be a good idea, nor is it a safe diving practice especially for a beginner, because, as you start to sink, the first thing that comes into your mind is putting air in your BC, which could lead to an uncontrolled ascent, which at depth can be an extreme safety hazard.

Further, if you start your dive, having set your neutral buoyancy, and follow the rule of thirds, holding a safety stop, even if you are not holding onto the shot line, is not an issue.

I never touch the shot line during an ascent, that's what staying neutral at any depth is al about.

I was told many years ago that scuba diving is 90% peak performance buoyancy, and 10% everything else. It's not quite that, but not far off the mark.

I have never forgot an Atlantic charter I was on in the early 2000's, There was a diver on our boat, maybe 5' 8''/5' 9'', 200 pounds, diving with a drysuit, double HP 130's, and 40 pounds of lead. I couldn't believe what I was looking at.

A lot of his problem had to do with his drysuit, as there was enough room for him and two small elephants, all the creases/folds/overlapping in his suit was trapping lots of air. Diving safely, I think not.

Rose

 

[Rose Robinson]

This is unhelpful, completely. If she was neutral negating the suit there would not be a problem.

You cannot dive in cold water with a drysuit (BC right?) without weights unless you are using gigantic steel negative doubles or the like. It's not at all relevant to the situation.

Hi Dave,

Sure it is, read my post 51.

The suit has to be in the equation, she can't very well dive in the nude.

Achieving neutral buoyancy pre dive makes absolutely no difference what you are wearing for kit or exposure protection.

Neutral on the surface or at any depth is neutral, the same as saying one is one.

I can be neutral in the Atlantic with my bathing suit and coveralls on, diving the U352, just the same as I can be neutral in the North Pacific, diving off the cost of BC in my shorts/top/undergarment/drysuit, in both cases, HP steel 80's, aluminum BP, and no ballast. As I mentioned in a previous post, I own no lead ballast, I never have, and I've been diving a long time, around the world and back.

Diving is not about lead. It's about learning peak performance buoyancy. Why dive with an aluminum 80, and 20 pounds of ballast, when you can dive a hp steel 100, and no ballast.

Most if not all dive destinations have steel cylinders and I make sure the local dive shop has steel cylinders as part of my trip planning.

I've even taken bands/bolts/manifold with me, so I can put a set of doubles together upon my arrival. Only once did I ever bring the bands/bolts manifold back. In all other cases, the destination dive operator was more than happy to buy them from me.

Regards,

Rose.

 

[tursiops]

Diving is not about lead. It's about learning peak performance buoyancy. Why dive with an aluminum 80, and 20 pounds of ballast, when you can dive a hp steel 100, and no ballast.

You seem to be suggesting that a HP100 steel weighs 20 pounds in the water. Really?

Most if not all dive destinations have steel cylinders and I make sure the local dive shop has steel cylinders as part of my trip planning.

Most of the Caribbean and LOB destinations I have gone to (dozens?) do NOT have steel cylinders available.

I've even taken bands/bolts/manifold with me, so I can put a set of doubles together upon my arrival. Only once did I ever bring the bands/bolts manifold back. In all other cases, the destination dive operator was more than happy to buy them from me.

The boat diving i've done on travel (both LOB and from resorts) do NOT usually allow twins...they typically support recreational diving only, with seat space for a single tank. Perhaps you are talking about tech charters?

 

[lowwall]

Achieving neutral buoyancy, predive, is one of the most important things a diver can do, and one of the most important things we all are taught during our OW scuba course.

Of course she's going to need ballast, which is determined predive, while achieving neutral buoyancy.

Intentionally entering the water negative, for the sake of initial submersion, never has and never will be a good idea, nor is it a safe diving practice especially for a beginner, because, as you start to sink, the first thing that comes into your mind is putting air in your BC, which could lead to an uncontrolled ascent, which at depth can be an extreme safety hazard.

Further, if you start your dive, having set your neutral buoyancy, and follow the rule of thirds, holding a safety stop, even if you are not holding onto the shot line, is not an issue.

I never touch the shot line during an ascent, that's what staying neutral at any depth is al about.

I was told many years ago that scuba diving is 90% peak performance buoyancy, and 10% everything else. It's not quite that, but not far off the mark.

I have never forgot an Atlantic charter I was on in the early 2000's, There was a diver on our boat, maybe 5' 8''/5' 9'', 200 pounds, diving with a drysuit, double HP 130's, and 40 pounds of lead. I couldn't believe what I was looking at.

A lot of his problem had to do with his drysuit, as there was enough room for him and two small elephants, all the creases/folds/overlapping in his suit was trapping lots of air. Diving safely, I think not.

Rose

There appears to be a communication failure here. We are talking about how to submerge from the surface. Entering the water negative has never been suggested by anyone on this thread.

When you are on the surface, you have two options to get under. You can make yourself negative and let gravity do the work or you can swim down. We are mostly offering suggestions for getting negative without adding weight such as exhaling or minimizing trapped air. There have been a few suggestions to swim down a bit because it's a 7mm suit and the buoyancy swing is very noticeable in the first 5-10 feet.

 

[grantmac]

I have no idea, I'm just throwing BS out there. I do need 30 with my 100 though for my own comfort.

I need perhaps 20# with a single steel so there you go. What's weird is in theory my doubles are only 10# heavier in water.