the first 10

[serambin]

Check your weight requirements at the surface by following your cert agencies recommended procedures. If necessary, add 2 - 3 lbs and add a little more air to the BCD on entry. Also, try using the top purge valve to remove air from the BCD. You may have trapped air that isn't getting to your inflator hose.

Stan

 

[mudchick]

I think it makes a difference also if you own your own wetsuits also. You will learn more quickly what weight you need in certain situations. My husband had to rent a 7 mil for 60 degree water and the suit was too big for him, bunched up in places holding air and water and made it almost impossible for him to determine weight and neutrality. He has since bought his own and now he knows better what he will need in certain conditions.

 

[Cacia]

going in negative if there is no reason to be at the surface is an option. I guess its bad form, but I use my downward momentum on my stride or roll to just keep going down....its fun to think up new ways.

can't do it so hot with the camera though.

 

[JodiBB]

I also had this problem last weekend. My weights were proper as I've used my configuration in the past without any problems. I did all the same things that you did and still I found myself buoyant. Even my buddy told me that I didn't kick around and kept my fins pointed down. He finally gave me a slight tug downward and I went down fine after that and maintained neutral buoyancy at depth.

On the second dive, we submerged about 5' and then flipped head-first for the rest of our descent. No buoyancy problems after that 10' mark...can't figure out what was different about that descent though.

 

[joe rock]

This is a common problem for new cold water divers. I think a lot of good advice has been given especially H20Andy and TSandM. These are the things that helped me initially. As an earlier post asked; can you hold your safety stop?

A couple of things IMHO:
1. If you're diving with an AL80 you'll have to be slightly negative at the begining of your dive to hold your safety stop without hanging on a line.

2. For new divers in cold water (wearing 7mm wetsuits) starting out you might need more than the "formula". The only true way to tell if a weight check with an empty tank.

3. As you gain experience, the weight will probably come down. On my first checkout dive (with a 7mm FJ) I wore 30#'s, now I wear 20 (in fresh water).

Keep diving follow the advice you got on this thread and you'll lick your decent problem.

 

[joe rock]

Oh, by-the-way, I don't think it's the BC. I use a back inflate, a Balance. One of the knocks on the BC on this board was that it "trapped air". I have never had an issue with the BC. Unfortunately, it's usually us with problems like the decent.

 

[spectrum]

The above should do it as long as the answer to post #2 was NO.

Along the lines of what TsandM said inertia is a big help so if you time the BC and lung evacuation right you can get some good inertia for those first few feet.

Pete

 

[The Kraken]

One possibe factor, and it could be considerable, is your wetsuit.

It takes a lot of lead to get a 7mm fj/j down, and when you hit a certain depth, dependent upon the particular wetsuit, it just gives up its buoyancy and down ya go!!

I have a 7mm fj/j and its neoprene compression zone is ~ 15-18 feet.

Just one possible cause.

the K

 

[Damselfish]

As a few have suggested, do make sure you really are weighted properly, for the end of the dive so you can hold a safety stop easily with a lighter tank. This will mean being a little negative at the beginning of your dive which should help along with all the other ideas about not finning, etc. You don't want to be overweighted, but sometimes people get so intent on using less weight that they take it too far.

As far as "high-ish percentage of body fat" that's not a problem by itself, may mean you may need more weight than someone not like that. But that is simply a matter of having your weight right - either it is or it isn't - and not doing anything else special.

 

[fairybasslet]

Oh yeah, this can happen to me sometimes for whatever reason. I can be on the 10th dive of a 22 dive liveaboard with the exact same config. I figure that maybe I'm just nervous for some reason or other. In a situation like that, I have to consciously do some really deep breathing to relax, then I'll sink, like H2Andy said. The scariest thing that happened to me when I was on a liveaboard in Thailand, after my backroll off the dinghy, I wound up underneath the dingy. Don't ask me how. LOL. Anyway, our DM wanted us to do the backroll with our bc's partially inflated, gather in a group and then descend. So with the air in my bc, I couldn't descend from underneath the dinghy. I was hoping the boat boy knew I was under there before he fired up the motor. Being trapped under the dinghy, I couldn't lift up my inflator hose to let out the air, so I just dove down head first a couple of feet, got out from underneath the dinghy, and then was able to let the rest of the air out. Not the most graceful descent.