Weight Question: 3mm Short + 3mm boots vs. 5mm full + 5mm boots + 5mm hood + 5mm gloves

[Barnaby'sDad]

Due to some gear changes, I did a pool session a couple weeks ago to start to get an idea of where I need to be (weight wise) for freshwater.

Warm fresh water setup- HP100, 3mm shorty, 3mm boots, BP/W w/ steel backplate, and STA (maybe 1lb). Additional weight required...zero pounds.

Cold fresh water setup- 5mm full, 5mm boots, 5mm gloves, and 5mm hood. No changes to tank or BC. Additional weight required... 'x' ?

Any idea how much weight I will need to add given the proposed thermal gear changes? Thank you.

 

[loosenit2]

Buoyancy, Balanced Rigs, Failures and Ditching – a comprehensive tool

 

[Barnaby'sDad]

Thanks for the link. The spreadsheets aren't working for me. I'll have to try it another time.

I Just remembered an email exchange that I had with Bob from Edge Hog back in December (was fixing to add the steel back plate).

Switching to the SS backplate and away from the soft plate / shoulder pads you could drop at least 8, don’t think you’d make 10.
If you own your tanks I’d suggest making the move to a steel 100 and go steel and keep the shoulder pads.
That way you’d be about 6 fresh and 10 brackish.

I ended up making the tank change he mentioned. I'll just start with 10 lbs (to prevent the possibility of starting too low), do a weight check by the dock, and unload whatever I don't need.

 

[tbone1004]

2lbs/mm is the standard recommendation, but it depends if that 0lbs you need in the 3mm has you overweighted or not. Add the 4lbs and see if you're overweighted or not

 

[Barnaby'sDad]

2lbs/mm is the standard recommendation, but it depends if that 0lbs you need in the 3mm has you overweighted or not. Add the 4lbs and see if you're overweighted or not

0 lbs in the 3mm was perfect. It led to the realization that I had been diving with too much weight with this setup, prior to the pool session. I thought my previous amount was good, but 0 lbs ended up being "more better," lol.

I'm thinking that you're right on the 4 lbs estimate. I'm looking forward to giving it a try (haven't hit this quarry since my OW class last fall).

 

[NorCalDM]

tbone1004 hit the nail on the head you may be negative already I know I would be with that set up. I would start with 0 lbs in the 5mm and add 2 lbs at a time until you got it.

 

[Barnaby'sDad]

tbone1004 hit the nail on the head you may be negative already I know I would be with that set up. I would start with 0 lbs in the 5mm and add 2 lbs at a time until you got it.

I'll see how it goes. That sounds like a good approach.

 

[boat sju]

It's usually a pita to do this but you can take your coldwater wetsuit, boots, gloves and hood, put them in a mesh bag and sink them (weight them down) in a pool or even large laundry tub. Repeat the process with the warmwater exposure gear and you'll see the weight difference exactly. Make sure you get all the trapped air out of everything though.

 

[Barnaby'sDad]

4lbs was the magic number. Thank you.