Over vs underweighted

[Charlie99]

Just remember that there is a difference between being "overweighted" and being "negatively buoyant".

Even if overweighted you should be able to stay neutral by putting enough air into your BCD. Yes, the extra air will cause you to have to adjust the BCD more frequently as you descend and ascend, but there isn't any reason not to be neutral at all times throughout the dive, even if overweighted.

Lots of new divers, even if properly weighted, go around negatively buoyant for most of their dive simply because they haven't added enough air to their BCD. This makes it so that they need to keep finning constantly while in a slight feet down position in order to compensate for being negatively buoyant.

If you stay neutrally buoyant, then at any time in the dive you can simply stop finning and you'll stay in pretty much the same spot. Being able to do this lowers stress levels and exertion levels and leads to much lower air consumption. Several times I've helped insta-buddies learn how to stay neutral at all times and they ended the dive with more air than normal and while saying things like "wow, I didn't realize diving could be so effortless!"

 

[seaducer]

This is one of those thread, where we all most likely agree. So I guess next post will be from someone who prefer to go down underweighted and at the end of the dive picks up couple of rocks.

I have actually done this. Back when I was a noooob I didn't know new wetsuits are more bouyant than old broke down rentals are. I did the last 15 minutes holding and moving a big rock along the bottom of the inlet I was diving to stay down. Pretty stupid

 

[cruiser]

Overweighted, for sure. Keeps you from popping to the surface unexpectedly, or fighting to stay down to 15 feet during your safety stop.

A couple weeks ago I was on the Blackbeard's liveaboard in the Bahamas, and was very underweighted for salt water and a wet suit. (I don't dive salt water but a few days every year and have never dove salt water in a wet suit). So got back on the boat and increased my weighting. My diving after that was much more steady and enjoyable. Sure I was overweighted, but I figured I could fine tune it another time.

 

[TennisCoach]

Sorry New diver . What is ICBM? I just to let you guys know I dive overweight by 2-3 lbs and I like it better than just right. I did just right at the pool and i did not like it.

 

[mistressmotorsports]

It means Intercontinental ballistic missile, or basically that you shoot to the surface quickly like a missile.

My rock story: While doing the manta dive in Kona, the DM suggested that we add a few extra pounds since we were going to be just sitting on the bottom. I added 2 pounds. When the really big Mantas swam about two inches over my head, their wakes moved me all over the place and basically picked me off the bottom and knocked me over, all in funny looking slow motion. So, after about three minutes of this, I just grabbed the biggest rock I could pick up and put it in my lap. Much easier to relax after that.

 

[psychocabbage]

I have found that without enough weight I cant even get down so I dont see how underweighted would work..

I found that all the different "suggestions" did not take into account lower body fat percentiles..

Some of us sink naturally so we dont have to use as much extra weight.

Get someone to bring some weight into a controlled shallow area.. have them start handing you weight until you start to sink. there ya go.. *by the way, you are geared up completely at this point.

 

[InTheDrink]

I won't say that underweighted is a good idea, but people often think they're underweighted when they're not. They're just working too hard/doing it wrong and hence making themselves buoyant.

And being overweighted does have risks of it's own, for one it requires more precision in managing air in and air out of your BC and the risk of runaway ascents for the new.

For sure, a bit more too much weight is better than a bit too little, but some people wear insane amounts and drop like a stone and this doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

Best spend a little time getting it right to start off with. Makes a dive so much more pleasant. The way that I tend to do it, diving with different thickness wetsuits, different salinity etc. is have a good guess on my check dive and then see how I am at the end of this dive and adjust from there, typically removing weight for the second and possibly third dive. Typically I like to have no or next to no air in my BC at my safety stop at 5m and be totally comfortable and be able to swim gently to the surface at after the stop. This, for me, is correctly weighted.

This is just my approach but I do tend to end up wearing less weight than most of my fellow divers, I finish with more air and I have a more pleasant, controlled dive. Usually.

 

[SparticleBrane]

I would much rather have students and most normal divers be underweighted. Why? Because it's better to be up here wishing you were down there, than down there wishing you were up here.

On some dives it might be preferable to be slightly overweighted (rather than underweighted) -- dives where you are planning to go into mandatory deco or cave dives, for example. But those are certainly a small portion of the dives most people make.


However, I would rather be able to hold my last stop at 10-15ft, with 300-500psi in my tanks, with no air in my wing.

 

[Gary D.]

One of the first rules of a PSD is HEAVY. I can make a normal dry dive with 24 pounds. But I normally wear 35. It's easy to control on the surface, mid water or on the bottom. Some of my guys wear over 40# but they have a lot of gas.

Gary D.

 

[lowviz]

On some dives it might be preferable to be slightly overweighted (rather than underweighted) -- dives where you are planning to go into mandatory deco or cave dives, for example.

-and inlet dives.