DogDiver
Contributor
Your redundant buoyancy is called a dry suit.
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I will be diving a new bp/w with a stainless steel back plate. By my calculations, I will not need to add any removable weight in order to be negative at any depth. The negative of this is that if for some reason there is a catastrophic BC failure, I wont be able to become positive by dumping weights.
Now the total kit is probably about 15lbs negative. The buoyancy of the wetsuit will offset some of that unless it’s fully compressed. Let’s assume it’s a best case scenario and I can swim up to the surface. I’m now still about 6 lbs negative if I’m wearing a 3mm full. I don’t know how hard it is to tread water in those conditions.
Should I be carrying a safety sausage or another flotation aid? Or is my buddy a sufficient source of redundancy.
I am going out today to test the wetsuit setup (it will be 5mm+2.5mm hooded vest) with my new 10.5l steel tank (buoyancy specs here are different from the US tanks, they are a bit more negative), which is probably a good simulator of how the above weights feel in just a 3mm suit in your scenario.
At this shore dive I can only go to 10m but the purpose is to see how heavy I feel with the steel tank so I'll swim the rig up and will report back here to give you one more data point.
After a near fatality, I wear a good quallity snorkeling vest under my harness and carry two fairly large SMB's. My solo training was big on redundancy for everything except buoyancy. When I needed it I didn't have it. I will in the future.
After a near fatality, I wear a good quallity snorkeling vest under my harness and carry two fairly large SMB's. My solo training was big on redundancy for everything except buoyancy. When I needed it I didn't have it. I will in the future.