Undone Tank Band

[Diver Mike]

I have been diving the DUI Weight and Trim Harness now for over 15 months, both t=with rebreather and OC.

I absolutley love it.

NO issue with slippage, can dump one pocket or both. Can open the pocket and just dump one or two bags etc.

I am sold on the whole harness thing.

 

[StSomewhere]

This really has made me rethink the weight belt.

Whether I'm wearing a 7 mil suit, a 5/4 or a 3/2 I'd like to have just enough weight ON ME that I'm not positively buoyant at depth (not extra weight to descend, just to stay neutral at depth). No reason not to split that amount of weight between a weight belt and the weight pockets of my weight integrated BC. As an extra benefit, if you ever dropped your BC weights you wouldn't be quite so likely to rocket to the surface, no? Now it's just a matter of figuring out how much weight that would be. Anyone see a flaw in this logic?

 

[cool_hardware52]

This really has made me rethink the weight belt.

Whether I'm wearing a 7 mil suit, a 5/4 or a 3/2 I'd like to have just enough weight ON ME that I'm not positively buoyant at depth (not extra weight to descend, just to stay neutral at depth). No reason not to split that amount of weight between a weight belt and the weight pockets of my weight integrated BC. As an extra benefit, if you ever dropped your BC weights you wouldn't be quite so likely to rocket to the surface, no? Now it's just a matter of figuring out how much weight that would be. Anyone see a flaw in this logic?

STS,

The only flaw I see is determining this ideal weight, as your wetsuit will loose buoyancy as you descend.

In other words, it's possible to weight yourself to be neutral at some depth, but not all depths. Even if you achieve this, you will become progressively more buoyant as you approach the surface.

Regards,


Tobin

 

[DEEPLOU]

This really has made me rethink the weight belt.

Whether I'm wearing a 7 mil suit, a 5/4 or a 3/2 I'd like to have just enough weight ON ME that I'm not positively buoyant at depth (not extra weight to descend, just to stay neutral at depth). No reason not to split that amount of weight between a weight belt and the weight pockets of my weight integrated BC. As an extra benefit, if you ever dropped your BC weights you wouldn't be quite so likely to rocket to the surface, no? Now it's just a matter of figuring out how much weight that would be. Anyone see a flaw in this logic?

If you want to "properly weight" your self, you need to be weighted to be neutrally bouyant with an empty tank (abt 500psi) at 20 feet.

If you weight yourself to be neutral at depth with a full tank, you don't have to wait to drop weights to rocket to the surface, all you got to do is breath out your tank.
(well you may not rocket, but you will have one hell of a time trying to stay down)

 

[Bubble Blower 479]

If you want to "properly weight" your self, you need to be weighted to be neutrally bouyant with an empty tank (abt 500psi) at 20 feet.

If you weight yourself to be neutral at depth with a full tank, you don't have to wait to drop weights to rocket to the surface, all you got to do is breath out your tank.
(well you may not rocket, but you will have one hell of a time trying to stay down)

If you are neutral at 20 ft. how do you control your ascent durning the last 20 ft? Why isn't your goal to be neutral at the surface with 500 PSI in the tank? I've heard this from others but I don't understand. I'm not saying you are wrong, I just need and explaination.

 

[The Chairman]

I weight my students so that the top of their head is even with the water surface with a full tank, no air in the bladder and legs & arms crossed. At the end of the dive their mouth is at the surface (not the top of their head) since your head is a tad bit heavier than the weight of air in your tank which says a lot about my students being "air heads" .

During the weighting process, I measure how far they are above the surface without any weight. 1" =@ 1 pound. If the top of their head is 5 inches above the water, I give them 5 pounds and re-measure. As the caveats to this process, it should be done for both fresh and salt water. You also need to realise that "anxiety" will increase the weight you need dramatically. The more relaxed you become, the less weight you need. I am quite fat, and yet with a 3 mil wetsuit in salt water, I only need about 2 pounds to sink me with an aluminum tank. I have seen students need a lot more weight all of a sudden... anxiety was the only variable that I could see. Be one with the waves!

 

[StSomewhere]

If you are neutral at 20 ft. how do you control your ascent durning the last 20 ft? Why isn't your goal to be neutral at the surface with 500 PSI in the tank? I've heard this from others but I don't understand. I'm not saying you are wrong, I just need and explaination.

Dunno. The way I see it (from the advice above) if I'm neutral at 20 ft. then that makes the safety stop easier. I can always just slowly swim up the last 20 ft. and then inflate the BC once I'm at the surface.

Back to NetDoc's method, if I'm neutral at the surface (eye level, top of the head, or whatever) with a full tank I'm still positively bouyant with an AL80 around 500 psi, correct? This is really what I'm trying to correct for.

 

[The Chairman]

After the tank is down to 500 psi or so, you will find that you are about 5-6 pounds lighter (your head weighs in at 12 pounds). You will lose that easily by the time you hit 10-15 feet. Really. This has worked for hundreds of students, and I expect will work for you as well.

 

[StSomewhere]

Thanks, NetDoc. I'll try that.

 

[IceBergSlim]

Every BC I have ever owned has had 2 cam bands. (Z Ranger, OMS, Dive Rite) I have never had my tank come loose. On warm water dive trips I see loose tanks all the time. Needless to say the BC's in question had only one. I honestly have no idea why any manufacture would create a device without 2 bands. I would advise keeping that in mind before you purchase.