Weight adjustment from 2MM shorty to 3/2 fullsuit?

[Rogue_Spirit]

Hey, Good Morning,

I can't find an online weight chart and don't have my book with me. I'm pretty dialed in with my 2MM shorty in salt water at 14 lbs (yeah, I'm not all that lean.) Tomorrow I may don my 3/2 fullsuit. How much weight should I add?

Thanks,

Steven

 

[Doc]

I (we) hear this question a whole lot.

Nothing will replace a quick in the water weight check before the dive. There is no thing as an on-line weight chart, if there is, it's a guess-and-by-gosh kind of S.W.A.G.

I am personally related to the Great White Whale, and wearing 14# of lead with a 2mm shorty would make me drill a hole in the sand. I think you should work with someone to figure out what's what.

 

[smarte1]

You will probably only add 2 pounds with all else equal. If you normally dive with aluminum tank, you can ask for steel which is about 2 pounds heavier. The real answer is...do your balance check before submerging and +/- weight on the boat.

 

[smarte1]

I highly recommend the Peak Performance Bouyancy specialty. I learned so much and it fueled my desire to learn more. I truely bet you will find you are over weighted. Its all about distribution.

 

[don Francisco]

Too many variables for answer here. It would depend on things like the size and age of the wetsuits. Also, different brands have different densities. My roll-of-the-dice guess would be about 4#s as a starting point, based on my 3/2 suit, but as others have said, the only way is to do a weight check.

A suggestion - once you've dialed in the perfect weight, get a waterproof marker and write it on the inside of the suit, so you'll always have it for the future.

 

[Dr Neil]

I've posted it before, my original OW instructor gave me a formula that works for me:

Take 5% of your body weight for salt water or 4% for fresh
add 1lb of weight ofr every millimeter of thermal protection
add 4lbs for an aluminum 80 tank
or adjust the subtotal of body weight and thermal weight according to the buoyancy of your tank

For a 200 lb diver with a 3 mil suit diving in salt water with an al80 tank-

10 lbs for weight
3 lbs for the wetsuit
4 lbs for the tank
17 lbs