Question Weight and been gear Overweight.

[rAgnaAA]

Hi everyone so I have a doubt about weights.
I’m fairly new at diving (Since March) and I’ve done 45 dives.
Al my dives where on the same lake (Fresh water, Temperature ranges yearly from 22°C (72°f) to 6°C (43°f) and really good visibility) so my experience is really limited to what I’ve done until now.

My question is about WEIGHT.
ATM I’m 1,71m tall (5 foot 6) and weight 96kg (211 lb) (around 18% ~ 16% Body Fat) I’m really dense.
I dive with a 7mm semi-dry suit with a hood and gloves (right now the water temp is around 16°C but it will get colder as winter settles), 15L steel tank and a Hydros Pro BCD (Yeah... I’m going to die =P ).

Right now, my extra lead for weight is 2kg (4.4lb) well it’s actually less than that but I don’t have smaller weights so I use 2 – 1kg for a better trim.

I was actually looking for a BP/W setup but right now I’m confused about been GEAR OVERWEIGHT not lead overweight.

* How do a deal with that?
* Possible issues with been gear overweight.

For more references:
With an AL80 cylinder I use around 6kg lead (13lb) but it’s closer to 5kg but now having smaller weight I can’t balance so 6kg it is.

When I was doing my OW certification my instructor gave me around 10kg and holy F I sank like a rock so we started removing weight until I was left with the 6kg.

Then I found a really good deal on a 15L Steel tank (120cu steel if I’m not mistaken) and my weight was cut even more to 2kg.

I have really good buoyancy control, most of my dives are practice dives at the lake so I spent a ton of time just playing around with my trim, buoyancy, etc.

Thanks in advance and I’m really sorry if my question sounds or is dumb but hey... Most of my time I’m reading here and learning then I transfer what I’ve read and see what works best for me. And sorry if my grammar sucks, English is not my native language.

 

[formernuke]

You can compensate for the gear itself being over weight. In my double 100's I'm over weighted with nothing I can do about it. Same in fresh water with my rebreather. You simply add air to your wing to compensate for it.

With that being said you absolutely should not do this in recreational diving, for me that is a no choice because it's tec diving and I need the gas volume etc.

For you I would get a aluminum or carbon fiber plate instead of a steel one since this shouldn't overweight you.

 

[johndiver999]

All you have to consider is the difference in buoyancy between the current BC and your BP/W when empty. I doubt there will be a big difference, but you need to choose a light plate, aluminum most likely.

 

[Brett Hatch]

If I understand you correctly, you are currently using a Hydros Pro, and are considering switching to a backplate and wing. And, you are wondering how to adjust your weighting with the backplate setup. Is that right?

Aluminum plates are around 1kg negative, steel plates are 2.5kg - 3kg negative. So, if your current setup requires 2kg, then an aluminum plate will still need some lead, and a steel plate probably won't. Either way, whenever you dive in the ocean, you will need a few more kg of lead (maybe +/- 4kg).

By the way, 6C is really really cold for a 7mm wetsuit. Most likely you will need a drysuit in the winter, just stop for the season. Both aluminum plates and steel plates are good. For the temperature range you are describing, I would personally go for steel.

 

[lexvil]

It actually sounds like the Hydros is perfect for you, why change?

 

[rAgnaAA]

Thanks everyone for your reply’s.

Hmm it’s what I thought it would be, compensate with the air on the BCD (IF it can handle the buoyancy requirement), I’m not afraid of carrying more weight I have WAY too much muscle mass and I know for a fact I can kick my way out but IF something happens to me and I can’t ditch that weight I’m afraid my skinny buddy won’t be able to help me much.

The real reason I was looking for a BP/W is my future goals Tech diving is a reason (yeah, I know I’m WAY to early for that but most of the time I’m learning and training what I’ve read so I’m a Lil ‘bit more skilled than it looks like but there is WAY more to learn ) and the other reason is Self-Reliant. Although my buddy is as insane as I am sometimes, we can’t dive together or one might travel, or have different goals for a specific dive so I’d like to be self-reliant in the future to carry over does task without been much of a hindrance to my buddy.

Maybe sidemount would be a better choice than Twin cylinder, and Holy F I was just thinking on a Steel BP that I forgot about AL BP.

All this is a couple of months in the future I need more experience and time blowing bubbles but I live in a Third World Country with an AWFULL economy so buying gear is a Hassell there isn’t much of a offer and prices are QUITE expensive (around x2 what it cost on USA or EU) so if a see something that might align with my goal I’ll buy it even thou I won’t use it right now but on the future I might not have that chance to get my hands on it.

Thanks again for everyone’s time.

 

[lowwall]

Given all that, I'd stick with what you have for now. When you are ready, you can try out sidemount and backmount doubles and see which way you want to go. Otherwise you are potentially wasting a lot of money buying gear you won't be using in the long term.

Also you can do Self-Reliant with a slung pony bottle using your current BCD instead of buying a doubles setup.

 

[rx7diver]

@rAgnaAA,

If I've understood your post, it seems to me that your steel 15 liter (LP?) cylinder might NOT be a good choice for you when you're wearing your 7mm semi-dry with hood and gloves and doing recreational dives without redundant buoyancy. It seems to be too negatively buoyant.

Have you tried a steel 12 liter LP cylinder?

One other thing: My OMS/Faber LP 121/125 cylinder (2,640 psig = 2,400 + 10%) is 19 liters according to the OEM box it shipped in. It is massive! I cannot use it safely for recreational dives in a full, single-piece, 3mm wetsuit in freshwater. (Too negatively buoyant when it is full.) Same with my PST HP 120 (3,500 psig).

rx7diver

 

[lowwall]

If I've understood your post, it seems to me that your steel 15 liter (LP?) cylinder might NOT be a good choice for you when you're wearing your 7mm semi-dry with hood and gloves and doing recreational dives without redundant buoyancy. It seems to be too negatively buoyant.

@rAgnaAA, this is a good point. Worst case scenario is a complete wing failure at 35m at the start of the dive. Between the weight of the gas in the cylinder and the loss of buoyancy of your wetsuit due to it compressing at depth, you could easily be 5 to 8 kilos overweight. Even if you dump your 2 kilos, that's still a lot to swim up to a point where your wetsuit will decompress enough to help.

At minimum you should carry a DSMB with you and practice using it to provide additional flotation. But the better answer is to swap the 15L for a 12L tank.

 

[johndiver999]

My advice would be to try kicking up the steel tank you have from depth with no air in the bC. If you can do that, I would not get another lighter tank. If you are able to kick it up, I would still have a smb with a purge valve for a little more insurance.