Weight question Please Help

[scubadude223]

Hi,

thanks for for the help with the other question regarding me weight under water.

how much weight do you carry when using the following gear

halcyon 40 lb lift eclipse single wing
STA Weight
Steel Backplate
t-100 undergarnet
trilam drysuit
40 cf stage bottle
light
back up light
knife on belt

I have 38 pounds of lead on the rig. Should I carry less. I'm worried if I do I will have a dangerous dive. Currently I can manage it.

I am 6 feet tall
male
185 lbs
salt water diver
cold water

please tell me what I should have or best estimate.

Thank you,

i mi am very worried about this.

 

[MKrauter]

Again, as stated in the other thread, it will vary. 38lbs sounds excessive though. What type of tank is on your back?

If you are having trouble with this get an experienced buddy to help you do a weight check. Worst case go to your LDS to have a DM or instructor help you out.




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[eelnoraa]

Bare t-100 is actually a very thin undergarment. It is 105g/m^2. 38lb ballast is a lot for such a thin undergarment. I think you should be able to reduce. However, there is no point of asking for numbers online because everyone is different. You should do a weight check before your next dive. If you have a nearly empty tank (500psi), I would bring it along and do the weight check before the real dive. If you don't have a nearly empty handy, you can do with with a full tank. Find the weight that you can barely start sinking, THEN add the weight of of your gas. You can carry additional 2-4lb on top of that. Then when you finish the dive, do another check with 500psi tank again to make sure.

And don't carry all the weight on your rig especially your 38lb.

 

[Dive Right In Scuba 2]

I agree with Eel.....38lbs seems like an awful lot considering your undergarment. Of course I cannot stress enough doing a proper weight check in either confined water(read: pool) or controlled open water(4-6 foot deep walk in area of a quarry). Improper weighting can at the very least make a dive suck...at the most downright dangerous.

 

[Crowley]

It does sound excessive but one thing we can't see from behind the keyboard is your personal physique - if you're 185lbs of muscle then probably it's way too much; if you tend to the - er - slightly softer side, shall we say, then it might not be the case.

As has already been mentioned above, however, calculation and speculation is no substitute for a basic buoyancy/weight check: as a reminder this is best done (as per above) with a nearly empty tank, hold a "normal' breath (ie about half your lung volume) and ditch the air from your wing or BCD. You should float around eye level whilst still holding your breath; if you sink then you are overweighted, and how rapidly you sink determines how severely overweighted you may or may not be.

Also - if you've already dived in this configuration then go back and think how it felt underwater. What was your body position? Horizontal or with either your head up or down the whole time? Did you have to kick a lot to stay off the bottom? Did you have to regularly keep adding or removing air from your BC and/or drysuit even though you weren't moving up or down very far. Give the wing a squeeze under water - it should look and feel as if it's almost empty. If it feels like it's fully inflated, regardless of your depth, with a combination of the other things then yes, you are most definitely overweighted.

Hope that helps,

C

 

[decompression]

As mention previously, you are very likely overweighted.

Does the 38 lbs of lead include the STA weight and the Backplate?

If not, then 38+12= 50 lbs is way, way, way overweighted for that suit and undergarment.

I think ballpark for you in salt and an AL80 would be around 30lbs total.
30-6-6= 18 lbs of lead.

Do a weight check and see for sure.
With a 40# wing an 50# of weight you are asking for trouble.


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[boulderjohn]

As mention previously, you are very likely overweighted.

Does the 38 lbs of lead include the STA weight and the Backplate?

If not, then 38+12= 50 lbs is way, way, way overweighted for that suit and undergarment.

I think ballpark for you in salt and an AL80 would be around 30lbs total.
30-6-6= 18 lbs of lead.

Do a weight check and see for sure.
With a 40# wing an 50# of weight you are asking for trouble.

I agree that this is s good starting point.

Think about what you are like in the water with what you have now. If you are diving with a single tank and you have a lot of air in the wing and/or your suit is inflated more than is needed for comfort, it's a good bet you are overweighted. I once saw a picture a new dry suit diver posted--a nearly full wing and a dry suit that made the diver look like the Michelin Man. That's way too much weight.

 

[dmaziuk]

It does sound excessive but one thing we can't see from behind the keyboard is your personal physique - if you're 185lbs of muscle then probably it's way too much; if you tend to the - er - slightly softer side, shall we say, then it might not be the case.

As a side note (and yes, I know BMI is meaningless as such) 185lb @ 6' gives BMI of 25 which is the top of the "normal" range. Which means even if OP is on the "fluffy" side, they can't be that fluffy.

 

[Tippytoes12]

My BMI is about 22...so am definitely not skinny...but in tropical waters 4kgs is fine for me. Please do a weight check as per the AOW manual on your nest dive....diving with too much weight not only makes you use too much air, but is so dangerous in an emergency. Having just enough means that you will be able to stay down longer.

 

[dmaziuk]

My BMI is about 22...so am definitely not skinny...but in tropical waters 4kgs is fine for me.

Well like I said BMI is meaningless except as comparison to the rest of the population. For the same body mass and BMI, less muscle and more fat means more buoyancy and vice versa. However, the actual measurements put an uper limit on how much fatty tissue you can have. At the top of the "normal" range, if he's not 185 lbs of muscle, there still has to be bone and enough muscle to carry the 6' frame and the gear to the water and back out. I think around 50%-ish should be water weight, too, that'd be neutral. Fluffy is only what's left.

PS. Incidentally, mine's around 24 "in decent shape" and I was carrying 4 kilos on Bonaire a couple of weeks ago. OP's talking dry suit and underwear though.