A little forward motion helps with being a little heavy. It is gonna surprise you how nice it is to dive W/O a BC.
Thinking about getting a tank backpack
- Thread starter Kharon
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OP
Kharon
Contributor
I'm curious if anyone can give me a rough idea of how much weight to drop to start finding my correct weighting. I normally need 10-12 pounds in salt water diving nylon shorts and a nylon T-shirt - I don't use insulation. I really have no idea if I should try 6 pounds and go up or down from there or if there is a good/better/best way to determine the starting weighting.
You are just going to have to play with your weight some. With a suit on you will have to swim the suit down otherwise the weight would be too much when at depth. If you are in swimsuit and rash guard then you will not have to swim down and will be a bit negative at first. In the first half of the dive I breath off the top of my lung capacity and in the last half I breath off the bottom. I guess I have fairly big lungs, dunno. N
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Kharon
Contributor
Yep - I know that it will take some playing around, varying the weight & trim till I find what is right. I was just looking for a starting point. I have no idea how much weight to drop to start the process. Should I try dropping half, one third, a quarter, three quarters?
I guess another way to ask the question is: will the switch make a relatively large or fairly small difference in the amount of weight I will need? Once again - diving with no suit, no rash guard - just shorts and a T-shirt.
It is hard to say, assuming a steel 72, try six pounds. In freshwater I may need none, in salt water four plus pounds. N
For me is was a few lbs, it all depends on how buoyant your BC is, some of the BCs I have seen are super buoyant.
Another plus is how much lighter your gear will be to move around, you will be surprised.
Another plus is how much lighter your gear will be to move around, you will be surprised.
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Kharon
Contributor
Thanks for the help. I can't wait to get to Bonaire and try this out.
OP
Kharon
Contributor
I have one more question. After getting the backplate and harness adjusted and getting a snorkel vest (just in case) I'm wondering if I even need to bring my BC to Bonaire.
On one hand, I have no experience with the new kit. On the other hand, I can rent a Scubapro Pilot BCD for $13/day if I need to. The only thing I worry about is the initial checkout dive. I have no idea what weighting I should use and no experience with the kit. I'm leaning toward dragging my BC one last time.
Any thoughts?
On one hand, I have no experience with the new kit. On the other hand, I can rent a Scubapro Pilot BCD for $13/day if I need to. The only thing I worry about is the initial checkout dive. I have no idea what weighting I should use and no experience with the kit. I'm leaning toward dragging my BC one last time.
Any thoughts?
dumpsterDiver
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What is the big deal about weight. Use the same as you did with a BC. If it was right before it will be close now?
boat sju
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I'm looking at how much weight I typically use in Bonaire with my bc vs. at home in a lake with no bc and an AL 63. So this is kind of an educated guess. I'd say figure your bc is 4# buoyant. But don't do your checkout dive at Oil Slick either. 
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