Weight Question

[Ronniemu]

I am new to diving (only 12 dives) and have a question on weights. When in my pool, I had on a 5 mil full wetsuit, hood and gloves. I am 5' 6" tall with a bodyweight of 150 pounds (muscular). The total weight that seem right for me (intergrated weights) is 18 pounds. Does this amount of weight seem okay for me? I know as you gain experience the amount of weight used becomes less.

Thanks in advance for any advice.


Ronnie :11doh:

 

[Wildcard]

Thats a few pounds more than you need but as you said, you will loose weight as your diving time goes up. Good luck!

 

[hank harris]

Sounds heavy, but as wildcard said, that will remedy itself as you get more comfortable UW.

Question: what makes the weight "feel right" to you?

 

[redacted]

I would have expected you to need 8 lb or less. After you finish your next pool session, start shedding weight 2 or 3 pounds at a time untill you can't descend by simply empting your BC and exhaking. I think you will be surprised at how much lead you can lose.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Gotta agree with awap on this. I started out wearing 12 lbs with my 5 mil in fresh water. after going from 22 to 16 in salt in 4 days of diving the last time I dove fresh in the 5 was a week ago and I had no trouble holding stops, descending, etc with 8 lbs. Tells me I was overweighted to start with and also I'm gettting much better at this buoyancy control stuff.

 

[limeyx]

I would have expected you to need 8 lb or less. After you finish your next pool session, start shedding weight 2 or 3 pounds at a time untill you can't descend by simply empting your BC and exhaking. I think you will be surprised at how much lead you can lose.

Honestly depends what kind of tank. In An AL80 it's probably not that far off.
I am 150-160 (depending on the season and use 14 total in a 7MM suit with a steel tank. I'd need +4 pounds in an AL tank for 18.

The real test of weight is to empty the tank to 300 psi in the pool (preferrably).
Then (make sure you have someone with plenty of gas to descend with you as the reg might start breathing hard if you are down too long). See if you can descend and (without finning up or down, remain at 10-15 feet and hover-- and ideally do a controlled ascent to the surface.) if so, you are properly weighted.

Remove weight until you cannot do the above. Weighting is different for each person.

 

[wilkie]

Hi Ronnie: Everyone is a bit different, although formulas have been posted to determine the "ideal" weight, they don't take experiance level into account.
Yes you may be a bit overweighted right now, but that's not a crime...Underweighting can get you hurt, so I wouldn't encourage you to "get rid of the last ounce", rather to weight yourself so that you can comfortably remain underwater, breathing normally in just a few feet of water (a fin pivot in the "shallow end") is the acid test. (this w/o saying 500psi,or less in your tank, and just the tiniest amount of air in your BC)
Now this is easy to say, but truthfully it's really hard, and will require a bit of time & effort... (which is why "they" did'nt teach you)--("they didn't teach me either, but I learned the hard way, and I'll tell you how to learn the easy way for free)

Step 1: Head for the LDS w/pool, tanks, tell them you want to screw around w/weights, ask if you can "blow off some "empty" tanks in their pool" for cheep. Get weights toghether, and put about 1/2, or less in/on your regular weight system, stuff the other 1/2 in your pockets, or figure a way to hold them in your "free hand".
Lay down in the shallow end of the pool w/no air in your BC,breathe for a min. or 2, and start making a pile of weights that you don't need..........When you get to the point that you are relaxed, and focused on the task (mabe 2-5 tanks), you will get to the point where you have a tiny puff of air in your BC, and can-do a fin pivot in 3' of water............ This is YOUR ideal weight for your experiance level the equip. worn , and fresh water....= good., adjustments can,and will be made as things change.
Step 2 : learning to desend when properly weighted.. Empty BC, Exhale, and then... EXHALE !, 2step process, that nobody, no book ever taught me, but a good 1/3 of lung volune is "dead air", and you must empty your lungs to desend. Exhale forcefully and you will sink, By the way keep your feet still,if doing a feet down desent.

Also try swimming desents, I know that this is not the "company line" for some training agencies, and other methods, no harn in practicing a negative desent in a pool, instead of off the deck of a pitching boat!

Now for the caviat: Who am I: Nobody; Best guess for weight:= around 10-12 lbs
Bottom line= I just gave you the "wilkie-way" your results may varry, others may disagree, and bully to them!!!!!!

 

[IceIce]

If you try to shed your weight, and success in decending, don't forget the factor of safety stop when your tank is close to empty. Some people put more weight to help them face the current, to make photography easier and to make a comfortable safety stop.
For 18 pounds, I guess it's a bit overweight for you, but like everyone said, you can lose it a bit and bit.
I'm about 132 pounds and use 3 kg (around 6.6 pounds) weight, but I'm only using 0.5mm with 0.5 vest and hood, when I'm on 3mm I use 4 kg. Comfortable with what it is but trying to find a way to cut down, at least to explore my ability to dive with less weight if I have to.

 

[diverdown247]

I am new to diving (only 12 dives) and have a question on weights. When in my pool, I had on a 5 mil full wetsuit, hood and gloves. I am 5' 6" tall with a bodyweight of 150 pounds (muscular). The total weight that seem right for me (intergrated weights) is 18 pounds. Does this amount of weight seem okay for me? I know as you gain experience the amount of weight used becomes less.

Thanks in advance for any advice.


Ronnie :11doh:

Roinnie, though some may think this is a bit much for you, please remember that this is based on a general mathematical formula for buoyancy/water displacement. Your particular body composition can also impact how much weight is needed. You would think that with more body fat or a thicker wetsuit that you might need more weight...according to the formula, you should. That is not the case 100 percent of the time. We had a diver that needed 18 lbs. w/ a farmer john and all his gear. We changed the size (not the style or model) of his BC for comfort and he instantly needed another 10 lbs. Another diver that day discovered that he needed less weight in the lake than in the pool (kind of unusual), roughly 4 lbs. less.

Part of this is due to ambient air temperature as well as air compression at depth. As air gets colder it becomes more dense. Dense air tries to confine itself to clumps in one particular space, this is why some people notice cold spots in a wetsuit more easily than others. Also, dense air tends to sink opposed to less dense air tends to rise. I picked up this theory and how it works for horsepower from racing motorcycles and it's good to know if you're going to be working with students or diving with a newbie.

 

[MikeFerrara]

How are we getting all these estimates without knowing what kind of suit (1 or two piece), what tank, what BC...ect? What about body type? Some people float like a cork and others sink like a stone.

Ronniemu,

You want to be neutral with a near empty tank.

Find out how much weight you need by adjusting so that you can descend and hover just below the surface. Don't go diving with an empty tank but you can test with a full tank and just add a few pounds to compensate for the weight of the air in the tank...80 cu ft is about 6 pounds.

When you do it, keep your fins still or better yet just stay horizontal. Be aware that a wet suit that doesn't fit just right may trap some air in it when you first put it on. Make sure that you don't have air trapped in your bc that you don't know about. Be aware of how you're breathing...you'll be more buoyant if you're keeping lots of air in your lungs...try to breath normally.

See to your trim. Many head up/foot down divers dive heavy because when they try to swim forward it forces them up also...you want your propulsion to be forward rather than forward and up (more common) or forward and down (less common).

You can also test pieces of equipment individually and do the math though it's too much work for me. Some Bc's are buoyant. find out what it takes to sink it...find out what it takes to sink your wet suit...look up the buoyancy characteristics of the tank you use...ect. If you are neutral in the water, you should only need the amount of weight needed to get your equipment neutral.