Weight question

[ladyfishdvr]

Last night in my OW class in the pool we were working on weights. I was weighted down and was able to float eye level, exhaled and dropped a bit, but when I went to the bottom and tried to sit there and stay, my feet floated up and I slowly rose to the top. It actually was interesting floating up feet first because it gives you a different view, and the instructor got a good laugh out of it. We tried different weights but I still had trouble staying down with no air in my bc. What he thought should work did not appear to be enough weight to me. I had a weight belt on, trim weight and front bc weight, a shortie wetsuit, hood and gloves. We tried 8 lbs, 10 lbs 12 lbs but still I was floaty. I did not feel balanced. I should be able to stay at one depth without finning I think. What am I missing? I am a woman so I have the body fat to deal with.

 

[TSandM]

Are you wearing a wetsuit? And are you using an aluminum or steel tank?

I am 5'4" and 125 pounds, and wearing a 5 mil wetsuit and using an Al50, I use 9 pounds in the pool.

Remember that your biggest "BC" is your lungs -- if you are breathing with normal volumes on the surface, but get a little anxious and hold more air in your lungs underwater, you WILL float. In addition, weight is not balance; if your legs are covered in floaty stuff (neoprene) they may well want to get above you, and the solution to that is to move some weight downward on your body, use heavy fins, or ankle weights.

 

[Coconut Divers]

Hey there Ladyfishfelt,

first if you are able to go down by exhaling (not kicking down) the weight is ok. It might have been that the bcd is selfinflating . Did your Inst. check on that ?
Anyway if you feel like your feet are floating up you might want to consider ankle weights to be more comfortable.

Leif Meinert
Coconut Divers Cancun

 

[DivemasterDennis]

Proper weighitng for new students can take time and has lots of variables. Not just the proper weight, but its location in order to give you good body position control, or trim, requires a little experimenting. Add to that the likelihood that as a new diver your breathing is likeley to more rapid than it will be later, and it becomes a mutli-variable problem to be solved. Here are some suggestions, but you will need to do a little "trial and error" to get it right. First, a hood and gloves in a swimming pool is highly unusual, and while their impact is not great on weighting, try and dive without them. Next, review the operation of your bcd. You may think all the air is out, when it isn't. Also, remeber to add and vent air in the smallest increments you can. Third, remember to breath steadily, and stay calm. Finally, talk to your instructor about a few minutes extra time before your next session to work on proper weighting,. It is an important issue, and (s)he is in the best place to work with you on it.
DivemasterDennis

 

[ladyfishdvr]

I had an al80, I am 5'7" and weigh 172 right now. I had a shortie wetsuit on, and wore the gloves and hood to practice for the OW dive in a few weeks where I will need to be wearing them to stay warm. I will also have a full 7 mil wetsuit on then as well.

The bcd is not self inflating and we checked to see if was air free and it was. I was able to sink when I exhaled but not more than about 2 or 3 feet I think.
I am new so of course my breathing is more rapid than it should be but that will come in time.

I will talk to him about ankle weights. I see videos of divers who are not popping up like fishing bobbers like I am.

 

[TSandM]

Well, an empty Al80 takes about 5 pounds to sink in the pool. I can't even imagine needing more than four pounds to sink a shorty 3 mil wetsuit. Add a couple of pounds for the padding in the BC, and you have maybe ten, eleven pounds you might need.

If you can get underwater at all, you should be able to stay underwater, because you get some compression of everything as you descend. If you can just barely get down with a fully exhaled and held breath, and immediately bob to the surface when you inhale, then yes, you are probably underweighted.

But breathing is the biggest issue for novices. Full lungs are very floaty!

 

[CathyE]

My feet/legs want to float. Period.
In an effort to keep them down, I move them. Moving them makes it worse.
I love my ankle weights. They help to keep the legs from turning me upside down, and I move less and stay in place better.
I also have to watch my exhaling, I tend to want to hold some air in reserve.
I spent my pool sessions with 20 lbs on a weight belt across my legs in addition to the lead around my waist just so that I could pay attention to the lessons.

 

[spectrum]

I am assuming this was all done at the begining of the session from what you say. If you were bobbing at eye level what did you do to get to the bottom?

I would have to assume you did a duck dive. If you were wearing limited neoprene you did not have much loss of buoyancy and as a new diver your lungs probably became more buoyant as you reveled in breathing underwater. That increased your bupyancy and up you went. Feet first is just a matter of weight placement. it's possible that the inflater was also creeping but the mode of initial descent is what jumps out at me.

Continuing with my assumption that this was the begining of the class (with a full cylinder) the missing step is to add 5 pounds to allow for the loss of cylinder weight as you make the dive and depelet your air. This would mean adding some air to your BC on the front end of the dive by design.

I am gald your instructor was entertained but it sad that he didn't make this a teaching moment and sort it out on the spot.

Your weights and their placement is a broad topic that I try to explain here.

Pete

 

[261311]

As far as what you're wearing in the pool to help you prepare for the OW dive I think the single most limiting thing you'll encounter is your 7mill wetsuit, especially if it's a full length. I find even moving from a 3/2 to a 5 is a world-changing difference in bending your arms to reach things such as pockets and your BCD snorkel. I wouldn't be too concerned about a hood in pool tests or gloves by comparison but really neither will harm you. I understand you might get a bit hot in the pool from wearing the 7mill but if you have a chance while the weather is still cooler, crack a window open so you don't die of heat exhaustion and throw your 7mill on with BCD and try and reach for gear. That will get you practice in for the familiarity of the range of movement (or lack thereof) if you want it

Are you wearing boots for your fins? Or just full-foot pocketed fins? Your boots or fins may carry a decent amount of buoyancy in them depending on their materials so they might need to be counteracted with moving some weight to your ankles as proposed above.

 

[TSandM]

CathyE, were you kneeling? It's not easy to kneel if you are weighted correctly. I think if somebody had put a 20 lb weight belt across my legs, I could have knelt and been stable -- but why? We have our students lie on their stomachs or rest on their fintips, whichever is more comfortable. They're much more stable that way.