Weight Question

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ScubaSquatch

Contributor
Divemaster
Messages
136
Reaction score
105
Location
Kansas
# of dives
I just don't log dives
I got my OW this past fall and at the end of this month I'm going down to the keys for my first "real" dives. I'm kind of running in circles trying to figure out how much lead to carry. During OW I wore a 3mm shorty and had 14lbs which may have been a bit on the light side as I had trouble staying down when the tank got down to 700psi. That was in fresh water. I'm a big guy 6'4" 360 not grossly obese just a huge frame (Think NFL lineman). When I head down I will be in my Scubapro Knighthawk, henderson thermoprene 5mm full suit, 5mm boots and fins. When I dive in the pool sans wetsuit I'm very negative at 12lbs of lead. I can get by just fine with 6lbs actually. Will the salt and the 5mm wetsuit take that much more lead to get down? I'm diving with rainbow reef. Will they be able to give me a good estimate on what I need when I get there?
 
Pretty sure they will put you in the ball park, with what you’ve described I wouldn’t be surprised at 25-30 lbs.
 
See if you can get in the pool with the gear you plan to bring down here, or better yet if you are driving stop at one of freshwater springs on your way down. Bring some weights and do a good weight check. That will give you the best starting point on how much you need.

But in case you can't here are my numbers for a similar exposure protection shift. These numbers are all freshwater with an aluminum 80, as due to a clinic with @The Chairman I've only had time to dive in the springs.
2mm Shorty - 4lbs to get down plus another 4lbs for trim.
5mm full(ish) suit - 10lbs to get down plus the trim weights.

If I were doing an ocean dive tomorrow, which I will be next week, I would probably add 6-8lbs. I will also be subtracting some weight since I will be diving my steel tanks, but that isn't an issue for you.
 
Hey Manatee Diver,
Thanks for the advice but I'll be flying down from Kansas City so a weight check in the springs is off the table. I see you're in Tampa? We drive down from KC to spend a week or two on Anna Maria every summer. My oldest son will be finished with his OW when we get down there this coming summer. I was planning on he and I doing a shark tooth dive in Venice. Are there any other worthwhile spots around AMI to check out?
 
me in my Aqua Lung 5.5mm full suit (L-size) with 5mm hood, 6.5mm boots, 5mm gloves, lightweight fins needs pretty close to 7kg of lead to be neutral or very slightly negative without additional gear (when snorkeling for example) . I have never tested how much lead the suit itself would need to go underwater without a person but I guess one could test it pretty easily at home if having a pool or a bathtub or similar. the suit type and size would probably be important to know in addition to thickness before estimating the weights needed.
maybe just taking some extra with you and testing on the first dive?
I personally always carry some extra couple of pounds just to compensate for small changes in kit. When got my drysuit leaks fixed I instantly required 3 pounds of more lead to stay underwater, that's how much water got in the suit during the previous dives :D
 
Unfortunately summer is a bad time for the west coast, even without red tide the rain completely kills the vis. So your choices are pretty much limited to where ever you can find vis, which often means quite a ways offshore.
 
In general you will need more weight in salt water than fresh water.
Im 6'1" 240 ,while diving 5mm wetsuit in salt water i take around 12-14 pounds.

I would say if you have the option the best thing to do is wait until you get there and do a quick buoyancy check before starting your dive.
Considering your size i would take roughly 24-26 pounds, jump in the water fully inflated and try to submerge in the shallows, it should give you a rough estimate.
 
Being that I've never gone out on a boat dive, do they give you time to hop in and check your buoyancy? Do they have weights to use on the boat? I'm planning on doing shallow reef dives < 50'
 
Pretty sure they will put you in the ball park, with what you’ve described I wouldn’t be surprised at 25-30 lbs.

That would be my ballpark guess as well. And I doubt it is far off the mark.

If you get an experienced person at the shop some are good at the "guess the weighting" game if they are use to gearing up people of your build in 5mm suits.

The wild card here is not all 5mm suits have the same buoyancy characteristics and this becomes significant when covering a larger size human with the material.

On your first dive feel free to do a weight check, maybe even ask a buddy to carry extra weight on your behalf if you need to adjust in the water. Being (a little) over weighted isn't a problem (provided your bcd has sufficient lift and you can ditch some weight in a true emergency).

Cameron
 
Another option is to take your gear and put it in a mesh bag. Go to a pool. Start adding weight until it sinks. That should get you in the ball park. Then bring 4 extra pounds for the Al80 tank. From reference: a large knighthawk takes 3 pounds to sink by itself with regs and no tank. An Al80 is 4 lbs positive when empty. So there is 7 pounds right there. Plus your neoprene....

Just some rough numbers.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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