Question about weighting in a thick suit

[TexasKaren68]

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ne...g-diving/375573-what-if-equipment-issues.html

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ne...ng-diving/378427-my-kauai-aow-experience.html *

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ne...572-what-if-dive-planning-trust-me-dives.html

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ne...g-diving/373204-how-long-master-buoyancy.html *

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ne...ving/375574-what-if-physiological-issues.html

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ne.../374557-how-not-look-like-christmas-tree.html *

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ne...-diving/373086-scared-do-back-roll-entry.html *

The above linked threads are the complete results from an SB search on "TexasKaren68 weight" - the Asterisks indicate threads started by Karen, the others are threads started by Cave Diver.

I seriously doubt anyone can find "she felt she was balanced at 10# (I think...) with 3mm in a salt-y water pool" anywhere in any of those threads, but I am always glad to be shown when I am not typing correctly!

OK, I'm starting to feel very self conscious about my weight now

In my LDS pool in a 3mm I stayed on the bottom pretty easily with 10 pounds. With 9 pounds I could submerge fine but just sitting on the bottom was difficult. I didn't have time to try 8 pounds. The pool is salt-y but most likely nowhere near ocean salinity. If I was to go diving in my 3mm in a lake I would probably start with 10 pounds to do a weight check. I'm sure I'll get a chance one the lake warms up.

For now though, I'll be in a 7mm full w 7mm hooded vest on top, preparing for the next ice age to hit Texas.

 

[diver 85]

OK, I'm starting to feel very self conscious about my weight now

In my LDS pool in a 3mm I stayed on the bottom pretty easily with 10 pounds. With 9 pounds I could submerge fine but just sitting on the bottom was difficult. I didn't have time to try 8 pounds. The pool is salt-y but most likely nowhere near ocean salinity. If I was to go diving in my 3mm in a lake I would probably start with 10 pounds to do a weight check. I'm sure I'll get a chance one the lake warms up.

For now though, I'll be in a 7mm full w 7mm hooded vest on top, preparing for the next ice age to hit Texas.

Don the 7 + 7 in the LDS pool with your BC & all gear on ---& a 500+ PSI tank like you'll be using....

 

[haumana ronin]

And for the record, I think she will also be overweighted with 25#, mainly based on another thread stating she felt she was balanced at 10# (I think...) with 3mm in a salt-y water pool. I don't know the conditions of that test or what calculations were done, so it is just a SWAG.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ne...g-diving/373204-how-long-master-buoyancy.html *

This one - Post 72: "...mentioned to one of the sales guys that 10 pounds was apparently enough to sink me in salt water ..." which implies that she felt 10 was enough. But as I said before, I know nothing of the setup or calculations.

:zen:

Oops, thread crossed. Sorry TexasKaren68.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ne...g-diving/373204-how-long-master-buoyancy.html

I was wearing 16 pounds in freshwater (I weigh about 160 and was wearing a 3mm shorty) and if I let all the air out of my BC I sank like a stone. However, with less weight I couldn't stay on the bottom. I was awful at doing the fin pivot and trying to hover.

I learned today that the pool was actually salt water, not fresh.

OK, I admit that I let myself be chased out of this thread before the posts below...

After 33 minutes I decided to take out one pound and see if going from 10 to 9 made a difference. By this time, my air had gone from 2800 to 1000psi and it was much harder to go down with only 9 pounds - I did it though but couldn't stay on the bottom as well.

The pool is salt water, but I don't know what the salinity is. I'm sure it's different than the ocean, so I'll take that into consideration. I'll be wearing the same wetsuit/boots/fins/mask in Hawaii but a different BC since I'm not taking mine along on the trip.

My first dive in Hawaii will be my Peak Performance Buoyancy dive, so hopefully I'll get this pesky weight issue all squared away.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ne...ng-diving/378427-my-kauai-aow-experience.html

I did read this thread, and it's OP post below...

Everything was fine on this dive, Peak Performance Buoyancy. I learned that a 5mm wetsuit requires a lot more weight than a 3mm shorty. I needed 22 pounds and probably could have used a couple more.

...

Dive 2 was worse. The surge was gradually increasing while we were at the surface and by the time we went back in the water it was huge. My instructor put my fins on for me this time :blush: We had decided to not swim all the way out to the buoy, but descend sooner and swim the rest of the way underwater to avoid tiring. This time my instructor had to pull me under because with zero air in my BC I just could not descend with 22 pounds and that darn 5mm.

So, in TexasKaren68's recent Kauai AOW class dives, her most recent dives(?), she used 22 lbs in a rental 5 mm full wet suit. Any idea what model/make? And how many total dives has that suit made?

I have a 5 mm Aqua Lung Aquaflex and a 5 mm Pinnacle Merino-Elastiprene. If they were brand new, the Pinnacle would require perhaps 4 more lbs than the Aqua Lung to sink in the ocean, maybe more. If they went on exactly the same number of exactly the same profile dives, the Aqualung loses "permanent" buoyancy faster than the Pinnacle; meaning that now they are not as buoyant as they were new, and the Aquaflex is significantly more than 6 lbs less buoyant than the Merino-Elastiprene.

TexasKaren68 will be diving a new 7 mm full suit and a new 7 mm hooded vest(?). My apologies for not following closely enough to know the makes/models of those two suits, but I am relatively sure the dives will be fresh water.

If TexasKaren68 owns 30 lbs of weight and finds that she does not need that much for fresh water, is that a bad decision with regards to weight ownership?

 

[TexasKaren68]

So, in TexasKaren68's recent Kauai AOW class dives, her most recent dives(?), she used 22 lbs in a rental 5 mm full wet suit. Any idea what model/make? And how many total dives has that suit made?

I have a 5 mm Aqua Lung Aquaflex and a 5 mm Pinnacle Merino-Elastiprene. If they were brand new, the Pinnacle would require perhaps 4 more lbs than the Aqua Lung to sink in the ocean, maybe more. If they went on exactly the same number of exactly the same profile dives, the Aqualung loses "permanent" buoyancy faster than the Pinnacle; meaning that now they are not as buoyant as they were new, and the Aquaflex is significantly more than 6 lbs less buoyant than the Merino-Elastiprene.

TexasKaren68 will be diving a new 7 mm full suit and a new 7 mm hooded vest(?). My apologies for not following closely enough to know the makes/models of those two suits, but I am relatively sure the dives will be fresh water.

If TexasKaren68 owns 30 lbs of weight and finds that she does not need that much for fresh water, is that a bad decision with regards to weight ownership?

I didn't notice the brand of the rental wetsuit. I think I've learned to log everything at this point. My log book is going to have a lot more info on future dives that's for sure.

So anyway, the 5mm seemed to be in good condition, no tears or anything and it wasn't faded so it probably wasn't all that old.

I sure hope I'm diving on Sunday in a new wetsuit. I'm going to call Scubatoys tomorrow to see if it's shipped yet (it was going to have to come straight from Bare) and if not I guess I'll be on the phone with Leisurepro and paying for one day shipping :shocked2: The wetsuit I'm getting is this one
Bare ELASTEK 7mm Womens Jumpsuit discounts on sale Bare

and this

Womens 7mm Elastek Hooded Vest by Bare discounts on sale Bare

I met my instructor this evening at the dive shop. I had stopped by to pay for the dives, get a new mouthpiece for my reg, and pick up a couple of wetsuit hangers - none of my flimsy hangers are going to support a wet 7mm.

Anyway, my instructor and I chatted for a bit while I was filling out yet another PADI folder (apparently the one I filled out before was moved over to the shop's other location) and he said not to worry about weighting, that we'll work on that on Sunday. I'm going to take my 20 pounds of weights and bring along a weight belt with some weights that I'll get from the shop when I pick up my tanks on Saturday so we'll have plenty to work with.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I said try 24 lbs and you will be a little heavy..(a long while ago) .

Tell us who was right after the dive.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

For the record I've never said how much I think is needed because that seems silly.

If TexasKaren68 ever dives 7 + 7 in the ocean I don't see a problem with "owning" 30 lbs of weight, unless she is flying to that ocean.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Ultimately, you should be able to hold a stop at 15 feet at the end of your dive with a completely empty air cell in your BCD and an almost empty tank and control your stop with breathing alone. All weighting should be adjusted to achieve this end goal, then you will know you are weighted 100% accurately.
With a 7mm suit and hooded vest I'd start with 24 lbs and see how it works out. I'm assuming you will be using an aluminum 80 with a jacket style BC. This should be about right to start.
If when you dump your air at the start of the dive you don't sink then roll over forward and do a pike. You may need to swim down head first until you get enough pressure on the suit to get neutral at about 10 feet.

 

[diveprof]

For the record I've never said how much I think is needed because that seems silly.

If TexasKaren68 ever dives 7 + 7 in the ocean I don't see a problem with "owning" 30 lbs of weight, unless she is flying to that ocean.

Nothing wrong with "owning" 30lbs - 'course I wouldn't want to buy that much There is a reason they refer to lead weights as diver's gold

There may be legitimate reasons for diving wet with 30lbs of weight. I've pondered this question considerably - you might want more mass if diving near an underwater singularity/black hole - not sure of this of course, but it makes an interesting hypothesis.

halemano - don't get bent -this is a joke. However, in my opinion me thinks you are protesting/being defensive way too much in this thread.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

For the record I've never said how much I think is needed because that seems silly.

If TexasKaren68 ever dives 7 + 7 in the ocean I don't see a problem with "owning" 30 lbs of weight, unless she is flying to that ocean.

Why is that silly? She said that 22 lbs was good for her in saltwater in a 5 mm suit. she asked a simple question: how much do i need in freshwater in a 7 mm suit?

People write all kinds of extensive crap, when the answer to the question is simply a number. I said add 2 lbs and she wil probably be heavy. It wasn't that hard of a question.