Proper weighting

[redseal]

WreckWriter, the 16-17lbs was for a full 7mm + hood + gloves + boots for the girls; 12-14lbs didn't allow them to descend at all. Ditto my 25lbs {but this is in a cool fresh-water quarry, not warm saltwater}.

There's no place locally to rent a 3mm suit for kids my size; I'd have to buy them, and for 4 dives I'm not sure $150-$200 is reasonable when we can rent the 7mm jacket for much much less, and they can open the zipper if they feel too warm.

I was figuring that we'd all start with half the weight we used in full 7mm gear and add/subtract from there. We'll try FredT's suggestion in the local pool with gallon water jugs; that seems simple and straight-forward enough.

Please realize that we are novice divers and "need" more weight now than we'll need once we're more at ease in the water; we know that.

 

[WreckWriter]

Originally posted by redseal
WreckWriter, the 16-17lbs was for a full 7mm + hood + gloves + boots for the girls; 12-14lbs didn't allow them to descend at all. Ditto my 25lbs {but this is in a cool fresh-water quarry, not warm saltwater}.

There's no place locally to rent a 3mm suit for kids my size; I'd have to buy them, and for 4 dives I'm not sure $150-$200 is reasonable when we can rent the 7mm jacket for much much less, and they can open the zipper if they feel too warm.

I was figuring that we'd all start with half the weight we used in full 7mm gear and add/subtract from there. We'll try FredT's suggestion in the local pool with gallon water jugs; that seems simple and straight-forward enough.

Please realize that we are novice divers and "need" more weight now than we'll need once we're more at ease in the water; we know that.

What I'm telling you is that down here, in warm water land, boat crews are not going to let you (especially the girls) dive with that much weight. Any shop here has rental suits in the appropriate thickness. Get the suits here, not up there. Yea, Fred's plan is a good one but you're not going to be happy diving here in 7mm suits. It's really that simple.

If you coming down here on vacation, contact the shop you'll be diving with regarding suit rental. You're not planning on carrying weights too are you?

Tom

 

[seaangel]

I highly recommend that you research and check into the 3mm shorties, they can be ordered off DiversDirect for very reasonable costs that even growing girls can use. I wear mostly 1.5mm dive skins or the 0.5 ScubaPro Silverskin, but I also have a 3mm shortie that I ordered for those warm water dives. Also, I know that in Key West most of the dive ops do have wet suits for use on their dives. I also tend to feel the full coverage is better as environmental protection for many reasons, scrapes, stings and sun to name a few. But most of all have fun!

 

[redseal]

Seaangel, I have an inquiry in to DiversDirect and am waiting for their assistance in fitting kids my daughters' sizes and weights. If indeed they have reasonably priced full coverage suits in 3 or 5mm I may pay the price.

Tom, thanks again for your input. I certainly don't want to overweight my girls or me (and no, I'm not carrying weights, just lots of sunscreen) from PA to FL and beyond, but I don't want them to get frustrated trying to dive with too little weight. THAT was a frustrating/discouraging part of our open water dives until they got enough weight ---> ankle weights added the additional 3-4 pounds that helped them descend to 10-15feet comfortably.

We'll take it one dive at a time when we get to the warm waters. Again, thanks for taking the time to put in your 2-cents worth.

 

[WreckWriter]

if you're going to the Florida Keys you'll fly into Miami, rent a car, and drive down. In Florida City (just before Key Largo) are 2 big outlets stores (Divers Direct and Divers Outlet) and in Key Largo are Divers Direct and Water World (or similar name). All these places have litterally hundreds of suits.

If you fly to the Carib somewhere chances are 98% they'll have rental suits.

Ya know, in the summer lots of folks don't even use rubber. Diveskins work well in shallow water during Summer here and points south.

Tom

 

[Kaffphine]

redseal,

What quarry? I do Myerstown, Bainbridge, Dutch and Wabanks.... always looking for new people to dive with!

 

[redseal]

Originally posted by Kaffphine
redseal,

What quarry? I do Myerstown, Bainbridge, Dutch and Wabanks.... always looking for new people to dive with!

We've been practicing at Bainbridge. Beautiful setting, lousy vis. Hoping to get up there one more time before we head south, and then go once or twice a month before the kids start back to school.

 

[SCUBAKristey]

3mm/one piece wetsuit, 5% of body weight

With this I should be using a whole lot less weight than I should be. (Been using 10 lbs wearing a skin at the lake.) As a brand new diver, is it better to go on ahead and use more weight than you'll need once you get better? (I know, silly question, but if I can get away with 14 lbs vs the 20 I was planning on using- I'd MUCH rather do that!)

Thanks!

Kristey

 

[redseal]

Hi Kristey,
If I've been paying attention to our instructors, the longer we dive (and the more experience we get) the less weight we'll need. At least initially, having a little more weight in order to get negative beats not having "enough" and struggling to descend and stay down. We can compensate for extra weight with a bit of air in the BC, but you can't make yourself heavier without extra weights.

I think we're going to try about half to 40% of our current weight (for the 7mm suits in fresh water) for our seawater, 3mm - 5mm suits. With four dives planned, we should be able to fine-tune our weights.

Good luck with your diving!!

 

[Zept]

Originally posted by SCUBAKristey
As a brand new diver, is it better to go on ahead and use more weight than you'll need once you get better?

Kristey, calculations based on body weight are rubbish. Some people are so lean that they sink in salt water. Other people are the same weight, but have more body fat and are much floatier. The only way to be sure how much weight you need is to do a buoyancy check at the end of the dive, when your tank is down to 50bar/500psi.

I don't think it's a good idea to carry more weight than you need. Excess weight means extra air in your BC, and if you forget to vent it when you start ascending (or are a bit slow to do so), whoosh... off you go to the surface. Also, the extra weight pulls your hips down, and the extra air pulls your shoulders up, so it's hard to stay horizontal when you're overweighted.

Hope that helps,

Zept