Weight ?

[Tengai]

I am a newly certified OW diver. I need 42 lbs of weight to descend in 58ish degree saltwater!!! My instructor told me I should be using 10lbs less. She mentioned that the wetsuit needs time to fully saturate and that bubbles in the hood could be factors.

Also, she did say with time and practice I would be able to reduce the weight.

Help...What can and should I do to reduce weight? Do I need to reduce weight?

Here is my gear

BC-Seaquest Pro QD
Tank-al80
Wetsuit-7mm Henderson farmer john two-piece
Deep see hood, gloves and boots
U.S Divers blade fins

I am 5' 8" 210lbs

Thanks in advance

 

[The Kraken]

Tengai,
A 7mm FJ/J is a booger to dive in.
To overcome the inherent buoyancy at the surface and before neoprene compression sets in, a diver needs a lot of weight. Once the neoprene compresses, the diver then becomes over weighted.

Needless to say, I'm sure there are people here who will immediately jump in and say, "Get a dry suit!". While this is a solution, it's not always fiscally possible. So, let's deal with that which we have, not that which is wished!

There's not much that you can do other than do a good buoyancy check with your tank at 500 psi at 15'. You want to be neutral at the end of the dive with 500 psi in your tank at 15' - what you need do to accomplish this before the dive is academic, it's your ability to prevent a runaway ascent with an empty tank.

As you make more dives your comfort level will increase and you'll modify your breathing patterns, consciously or unconsciously, and the result will be a reduction in the weight required for you to descend.

You'll notice too that you'll be heavier on your second dive with your current wet suit configuration, that's because the suit does take on water and lose some buoyancy.

This is a tough one that requires some work. You'll just have to deal with the rig you are diving until you can modify it by diving steel tanks, dry suit or both.

Hope you get things worked out.

Safe dives . . . . .
. . . safer ascents

the K

 

[Jeff Toorish]

You might drill a hole in the top of your hood to release trapped air, although if the hood is properly fitted, that shouldn't be as of a factor.

Make sure your BC is really empty at depth. If you are renting a BC, that could be the problem, a little trapped air and you are positive all the time until you overweight. I'm thining at your size, if you are renting they maybe giving you an XL BC, when you can use a L. The problem is, with many BCs, if it's too big, air will get trapped at the very top and it's almost impossible to get rid of.

Honestly, 43 lbs sounds like a lot of weight. When you were in OW, did you do a buoyancy test? Or did your instructor just keep piling on weight until you sank?

Take a peak performancy buoyancy course, it focuses strictly on buoyancy issues and is a great help.

Not to be indelicate, but you are 5'-8" and 210 LBS...is it 210 LBS of toned muscle or could you stand a few more visits to the gym and a few fewer cheeseburgers? Simply put, muscle is denser and, therefore less buoyant.

Those are just some ideas, I'm sure others here will have some ideas, too.

I will say, it's true, as you progress, you will probably shed some weight. But it is important to make sure you have enough to stay neutral at 15 feet, as has been stated.

Good Luck and Safe Diving

Jeff

 

[Vtdiver2]

I am a newly certified OW diver. I need 42 lbs of weight to descend in 58ish degree saltwater!!! My instructor told me I should be using 10lbs less. She mentioned that the wetsuit needs time to fully saturate and that bubbles in the hood could be factors.

Also, she did say with time and practice I would be able to reduce the weight.

Help...What can and should I do to reduce weight? Do I need to reduce weight?

Here is my gear

BC-Seaquest Pro QD
Tank-al80
Wetsuit-7mm Henderson farmer john two-piece
Deep see hood, gloves and boots
U.S Divers blade fins

I am 5' 8" 210lbs

Thanks in advance

I agree with Kraken. This is something you'll need to work on. All of us used more weight when we first started. You'll dump weight as you get more comfortable, so the thing you need to do is dive. I also use a 7mm 2 piece suit, and used about 15-20 lbs more when I got certified than what I do now.
Another thing you can try is to soak your wetsuit the night before your dive. It makes it easier to put on (IMO) and it'll make it slightly less bouyant (the same way Kraken described it being less bouyant during your second dive). Buy a Rubbermaid tub at the Hardware store or Walmart to transport your wetsuit, so your car doesn't get wet.
Just my 2 psi....Good luck,
C-Dawg

 

[spectrum]

As The Kraken said you need what you need to be neutral at you 15 foot stop. I'd extend that to say you need enough weight to make an orderly ascent after the 15 foot stop. With an empty BC you should gently break the surface after a slow final ascent. You can then inflate your BC for surface floatation. This event is what you need to set your weights for. At 15 feet you will be slightly negative and be able to make a safe controlled stop. Where you put the weights for the sake of trim is another discussion. This is most commonly accomplished with an end of dive weight check, bobbing plumb, relaxed, averaghe breath, no kicking at eye level to the surface with 500 PSI in the tank. As you breathe you mask lenses will go full under and full out of the water, more or less.

Now, what about the start of the dive. The good news is that you have almost 6 extra pounds of air squeezed into that cylinder to make you heavier at the start of the dive. The bad news is what I call stowaway buoyancy. Small amounts of buoyant air is trappped everywhere. My wife's Seaquest DIVA-LX is notorious for this, I can see it just dunking it in my rinse barrel, it sits there lika an alka-seltzer. I have heard this is common to some other Seaquest models, I don't know about yours. No to worry, you can deal with this. The same is true for your suit, the fabric and little pockets of air that will get displaced in the first moments of the dive. Then there is the entrapped gas in the neoprene that gives it the insulating value, this you need to live with.

As The Kraken mentioned the other challenge is your breathing, you're new and you're excited about entering the underwater realm. This is normal but it can easilly add 2-4 pounds of buoyancy to you at the critical moment.

So what are you do, get out there and make your next dive, do a thorough buoyancy check at the end of the dive, get the weight down so with 500 PSI you can barely be in control all the way to the surface to the end of the dive. This is the bobbing at eye level........ deal

Next dive, Get in the water, from a boat or shore, snorkel around for a good 5 minutes. This will let water saturate some of your gear and it will start to relax your breathing.

Once you are wet and mellow do your final buddy check, take your regulator and breathe face down for a minute or enough to get comfy. Give a final descent signal, dump all of your BCD air, remember you may need to twist to achieve a propper high point for air to exit. You should at least start to slump into the water, take a few nourishing deep breathes then exhale deeply, then keep exhaling. you should start down. When you need to breathe, make it a quick shallow breath, in and out, since buoyancy takes time to react due to inertia this need not halt your descent.

If that dosen't work do a valsalva to pressurize your ears a bit and kick your feet up in the air and do a little duck dive. Your legs will be out of the water in the air and are now true weight. Down you will go. Don't get carried away kicking down, switch to your prefered posture and complete the descent. Pay attenetion to your ears, equalize often.

Soon you will be adding air to your BCD to control your descent as you equalize your ears and watch your depth or level above the bottom on a shore entry. You will probably need to keep adding small amonunts of air even without a depth change for the first 5 minutes or so. this is because the stowaway buoyancy is escaping. Once you are past that you should be able to have a fine dive and can probably manage roaming in a 15 foot range just on lung volume varriance. Remember this is done with your diaphram, never by closing your throat.

For what it's worth and this all varries with exact gear and body type I'm 5-9, 200 LB. I wear 26 pounds of weight, soon to try 24 in salt water. I am diving an E7-80 which lets me wear about 7 pounds less weight due to favorable buoyancy propeties. My Full suit and hooded step-in have comparable neoprene volume. If I dove an AL-80 today I'd need to wear 26+7 =33 pounds to get the right effect, maybe 31 LB. So while YMMV there's a good chance that you can drop 10 pounds or so over time but some of that extra weight will keep you safe during your first exciting dives so go slow. As your suit ages it will also loose some buoyancy so dive often and check your end of dive buoyancy from time to time.

Take your time, pay attention to what's happening and have great, safe dives.

Pete

I am a newly certified OW diver. I need 42 lbs of weight to descend in 58ish degree saltwater!!! My instructor told me I should be using 10lbs less. She mentioned that the wetsuit needs time to fully saturate and that bubbles in the hood could be factors.

Also, she did say with time and practice I would be able to reduce the weight.

Help...What can and should I do to reduce weight? Do I need to reduce weight?

Here is my gear

BC-Seaquest Pro QD
Tank-al80
Wetsuit-7mm Henderson farmer john two-piece
Deep see hood, gloves and boots
U.S Divers blade fins

I am 5' 8" 210lbs

Thanks in advance

 

[The Kraken]

Tengai,
Spectrum mentioned something that I think bears repeating!
Get in the water and just float a bit before your dive. It's amazing how accelerated your breathing will be when you first enter the water. Excitement!!! Exertion from gearing up!!! Anticipation!!! All of these tend to make you tense up and generate a faster and shallower respiration rate.
Just floating around at the surface for a few minutes will give you a chance to calm down, get some water in your wet suit, do and "after entry" gear/safety check with your buddy and in general, become more prepared to enjoy a safe dive.

Take your time. The water will be here long after we're dead and gone.

the K

 

[Ber Rabbit]

Dive, dive, dive. That's one way to reduce the weight you need. Like the others said, comfort level is a factor in how much lead you carry. If you are anxious or excited you don't always exhale completely (subconscious reaction) and the residual air in your lungs can result in several pounds of positive buoyancy. Focus on your breathing making sure to take long slow breaths and concentrate on a complete exhale. Make sure to relax your neck and shoulders as you breathe, being tense makes it harder to get a good breathing pattern. Try breathing to a count (ex: count to 4 during each inhale and exhale) this helps you concentrate on what your body is doing.

Just my .02
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[Tengai]

Thank you all for this excellent information. I do get quite excited when entering the water for the first time! It is an amazing feeling and my correct breathing suffers! The first time I saw Mr. Lobsta and friends was an exhilarating and wonderful experience.

I will concentrate on the buoyancy check as mentioned above and I like the idea of either soaking the suit mentioned by VTDiver2 and just floating on the surface until the suit is saturated, thanks Spectrum and The Kracken. The breathing tips from Ber Rabbbit will be helpful also. Jeff, I definitely could stand to lose a few cheesburger pounds, no indelicacy taken (tooo much summer eating and drinking) and with my new hobby plan on shedding the extra lbs. That alone should help. Thanks also for the tip on the peak performance course that sounds like a great idea.

Greg

 

[Li'l38]

Dive, dive, dive. That's one way to reduce the weight you need. Like the others said, comfort level is a factor in how much lead you carry.

Experience being the biggest factor. All the above is very good advice, don't ya just love SB! :07: Just a couple things I'd like to point out......1. log your cofigurations! Different wetsuit, BC, gear, will change your weight requirements. (and so will salt or fresh water) There's a buoyancy difference in fins too. just make adjustments and keep good notes. 2. Do a buoyancy check at safety stop AFTER your dives. (notice the plural, do it often!) With more dives you'll gain better control. For safety reasons (preventing runaway ascent) more weight is better than not enough. 3. Ber said something I think is really important here: practice exhaling completely! slow, full-in then full-out breathing is best. Breathing in-out is how you adjust your buoyancy at depth. When neutrally buoyant, you should rise a li'l bit when inhaling a full breath. Did you practice fin pivot in your class? You will get better oxygen exchange when you breathe if you exhale ALL the air in your lungs. Dive often, practice breathing and other skills, keep good notes if you can't remember the details. The more you dive, breathing and bouancy control become second nature. The notes come in handy if you dive around at sites with different gear/ wt. requirements. (I love my log book) Tengai, welcome to SB and the wonderful world of scuba!

 

[spectrum]

and with my new hobby plan on shedding the extra lbs. That alone should help.

Asside from lugging you and your gear in and out of the water diving is almost an anerobic sport. Think about it, you behave as conservatively as you can to conserve air and energy.

If you can get out and do some skin-dives on non dive days. Cruise around for an hour or 2 on the surface. Vary the pace and enjoy the dives, scout out some scuba sites. This is a very relaxing and effective form of exercise and there's more.....

You will become very accustomed to having your face underwater and breathing through a snorkel for extended periods will develop a wonderful deep lung cleansing breathing style that may make your air useage the envy of many.

Pete