Weighting

[Surelyshirly]

What is the difference between being a "seasoned" diver and a "new" diver when weighting. Isn't the same amount of weight going to sink the same person wearing the same gear today and 2 years from now?

I keep being told I will use less weight when I am mor e experienced but dont underdatand why.

 

[Matsya]

Hmmm..............

I started my open water course with 20 pounds of weights, today 4 months later, I use 8 pounds of weights in the same waters with the same gear.
I think it is primarily a combination of learning how to control buoyancy with your lungs, steady breathing and learning to completely empty your BCD. Anyway, these three have contributed to my using lesser weights than I began with. I am sure there are more things to learn that will help me reduce my weights further. I had asked a question previously about people diving with no weights and was surprised to see the large response from people who used no or negligible amount of weights.

 

[SparticleBrane]

Basically it's all said in my signature. Once you get some experience, you'll (hopefully) be more relaxed in the water and do things slowly--and have better technique. The combination of all of that usually leads to tossing a few pounds off your weight belt.

 

[TSandM]

It has to do with breathing, and with diving technique.

New divers are nervous, and tend to breathe rapidly and keep more air in their lungs. Your lungs are a HUGE buoyancy control device, and when they are full, they require more weight to sink you.

When you start, you are often out of trim, and swimming at an angle to the horizontal. If you are kicking up all the time, you may need more weight to counteract the upward force of your fins.

As you get more relaxed, develop a slower and more rhythmical breathing pattern, and get to where you are moving forward in a horizontal orientation, your weight requirements drop.

 

[AZ Desert Diver]

Yes the same amount of weight will skin the same diver 2yrs. from now; however, he/she will be over weighted. Not that I'm a seasoned diver with only 30 dives, but just a few months ago it would take 27lbs to sink me. Now just 2 months later it only takes 20lbs to sink me. One of the major differences that I've noticed is that I don't need to use my BCD so must to control my buoyancy, which in return uses less air. You will also notice that when diving with a new wetsuit it will take more weight than one that has been used on 10 to 20 dives, so this is another way that you will shed a few pounds of weight.

 

[Knight1989]

Anouther thing is most divers, myself included, when they are new tend to carry way more wieght then they really need. Over time you learn that you dont need so much wieght and start shedding the extra.

 

[SeaHorseWoman]

Started with 24, now 16. Took me about 15 dives to get there. Discovered it not by a bouyancy check, but when I needed to add air to my BC at about 2 meters! Like what was said-----I'm relaxed and breathing well--able to empty my lungs for decent and deep relaxed breathing when down.
I'm a slow learner----if it happened for me, it will happen for you sooner!
Barbara

 

[SparticleBrane]

Started with a lot, now I use next to nothing when I'm in a 3mm full wetsuit with my bp/w system and Al80. (obviously there's always the SS backplate). In a 6.5mm two-piece with the same BC and tank I put on 12 pounds of weight.

 

[MikeFerrara]

TSandM did a good job of identifying the reasons why new divers often need extra weight.

This might be some kind of parodox...is that the word? Most training standards require the student to do a weighting/buoyancy check. The method that's commonly taught is pretty independant of trim and breathing so it should come close to letting you know how much weight you need. If that test is done in the pool and prior to each open water dive as required by at least some training standards then students wouldn't be overweighted. Once they have the right amount of weight if there is a technique problem, it should be corrected in class. Unfortunately too many instructors will just hand you more lead. In some cases it's done to the point of being a standards violation and in othere it's just missing the intent of the standards. At least one agency requires that students be able to correctly do a weight check before even going to open water.

New divers often comment that they are having buoyancy control problems and they are often told that they will get it with experience. We've discussed here, that they're also often overweighted. Being overweighted makes buoyancy control that much harder and increases the likelyhood of uncontrolled/rapid ascents (also not uncommon in new divers).

These same excuses have been used so often for so long that divers except it as the norm..."you'll get it with experience". Give it some thought and you might see that these issues are at the very heart of what it means to teach (or learn) diving. TSandM identified breathing and trim. Those are definately two of the key skills that relate to how much weight you'll be able to dive with. Think back...were you taught anything about trim in your entry level training? Did you instructor demonstrate, explain the mechanics of trim and help you get dialed in? To what degree were you required to demonstrate buoyancy control...not the useless budda hover but buoyancy control in a diving position and better yet during a real dive while doing diving things? To what degree did you practice or demonstrate neutral swimming? Was it a 30ft sprint while finning the whole way or did you spend time moiving, stopping and performing skills midwater (a real demonstration of buoyancy control)? Or...did they just set you up with enough weight to get you on the bottom so you could get through your skills and get certified?

I started my open water course with 20 pounds of weights, today 4 months later, I use 8 pounds of weights in the same waters with the same gear.

Few things are all or nothing...all the way on or all the way off...and a new diver might not be as good as they're ever going to get. We hear reports like this one all the time though. Even if we assume that a diver will further improve their technique and drop some weight over time, there's no excuse for a student or new diver to be overweighted by 100% and more.

 

[TheHobster]

Many newbies take "breathe slow and deep" to mean only inhalation. You must exhale slow and deep as well. I tell people to "breath out of the bottom of your lungs" - gives a visual for them I think -

Another thing to remember is that your lungs are your center of buoyancy, and are above the weight belt, as is the BC - by over weighting, we have all that weight below the center of buoyancy which pulls our legs down, and we offset that negative buoyancy by adding air to the BC, which raises our shoulders - this makes our fins the lowest point and we rape the reef/bottom/mud etc - you need just enough weight to be easily neutral at 15' with 500 psi

Lastly, what was said about wetsuits is true too - after using my 7mm Fathom suit for 12 years, I jokingly referred to it as "crushed neoprene" as it had been on so many dives to so many locations, many times to 80-120' - at the end of it's life I was using 8 lbs with an 80cf aluminum