Weighting Question

[WellBelowH2O]

Hi folks... I know this topic has probably been beaten to death, and I've found some posts that give me a start, but still am not sure how much weight I should be using for an upcoming dive in a new wetsuit. I'll be diving fresh water in a Tilos 7/5 semi dry with a polytex skin suit underneath (was told it'll add to the warmth a bit...is that true?) and hood/gloves. I'm 6'2" at about 220lbs. For a baseline, I've needed about 22 pounds of weight in a 3/2 shorty (salt water) and about 13-14 pounds with the same shorty in fresh. All dives will be with AL80's.

I'll be going with some very experienced divers and don't want to be bobbing around like a cork or sinking like a stone relying too much on the BC to compensate for being overweighted. Any help is appreciated...

 

[String]

The only way to know for sure how much weight is needed is to try it.
You can start wit a very rough ball park figure but 100% guaranteed it WILL need refining.

You need to do a weight check in the pool full kit and preferably the open water too. There is no magic formula.

 

[Don Burke]

Since the only thing that is changing is your exposure protection, you can take your new stuff and your old stuff to a pool and come up with weights for both. That will establish the difference.

If possible, I would prefer to take all of the gear with me. I would want to see if everything worked with the additional neoprene.

Your mileage may vary.

 

[immersed]

If you tell the experienced divers about your gear change they'll probably be happy to help you dial it in to perfection onsite, and will likely throw in some good buoyancy control tips no extra charge.

 

[ScubaSarus]

Get there arly and experimentally weight yourself until you can submerge nicely and slowly. You are shore diving arent you. If not I can see this being a problem and I would shore dive before boat diving with new gear.

Chris

 

[Chivas]

I realize that my suggestion does not directly answer your question but would suggest that you find a skilled professional to help you with buoyancy control. 22lbs in salt water with a 3/2 shortie is very very heavy. The less weight you need equats to less air used, longer dive time, better buoyancy control and much easier to enter and exit. The more you dive the less you will need. Good luck

 

[H2Andy]

i would suggest just trying it out for real.

weigh yourself so that you are slightly negative to neutral at the surface
with 500 psi or less in your tank.

(you want to be able to control your ascent the last 15 feet or so on a near-empty
tank, so you should be slightly negative to neutral. you can also be slithgly
positive, but i find that i waste a lot of energy fighting positive bouyancy close to
the surface at the end of the dive)

you might be surprised that you don't need as much weight as you think.

another easy way to test is is to get to 10 feet or so, and just hover there.
see if you can keep your depth without much effort with 500 psi in your tank.

then slowly ascend and see if you can do it under control. stop at around 5 feet.
make sure you can stay there. then ascend slowly to the surface.

if you can do that, you have plenty-o-weight

start removing weight until you have no control of your ascent. then put back
some of the weight and try again. this way you can "home in" on your ideal weight.

 

[jbd]

The only way to know for sure how much weight is needed is to try it.
You can start wit a very rough ball park figure but 100% guaranteed it WILL need refining.

You need to do a weight check in the pool full kit and preferably the open water too. There is no magic formula.

AMEN!!!!

rtkane,
Follow this advice given by String. Do this well before the expected dive trip and allow yourself additional time to do some pool work if you can't get out and do some local lake or quarry diving.

jbd

 

[WellBelowH2O]

AMEN!!!!

rtkane,
Follow this advice given by String. Do this well before the expected dive trip and allow yourself additional time to do some pool work if you can't get out and do some local lake or quarry diving.

jbd

Thanks... unfortunately, the dive trip is tomorrow. I know that there's no magic formula and that whatever I do will need fine tuning, but I was just hoping to dial in a rough weight as a starting point so that I can get down without having to go grab additional weight. I figured the fine tuning will come at the end of the dive since I don't have time in advance to hit the pool w/ my equipment.

Thanks for everyone's input though.

--RTK

 

[jbd]

Thanks... unfortunately, the dive trip is tomorrow. I know that there's no magic formula and that whatever I do will need fine tuning, but I was just hoping to dial in a rough weight as a starting point so that I can get down without having to go grab additional weight. I figured the fine tuning will come at the end of the dive since I don't have time in advance to hit the pool w/ my equipment.

Thanks for everyone's input though.

--RTK

Hmmm Going to back to your initial post and looking at the weighting you're using, the best I can do is recommend to start with 20 lbs and have a couple of 2 lb'ers available to add. Also if you start with 20 lbs don't use four 5lb weights use four 4lb'ers and two 2 lb'ers. Do a quick weight check(the frog eyes thing will work) and be ready to either quickly add or subtract one or two of the 2 lb'ers.

At the end of the dive(tank is low) check your buoyancy state at the safety stop make note of it and then during the SI make the necessary changes.

Your more experienced buddies should appreciate that you are trying to get dialed in so that future dives will go more smoothly.

BTW, the more you dive, you will probably find that you can reduce the amount of weight you are using so don't forget to do buoyancy checks periodically.

Post trip report when you get back.