Weighting

[Blue-Faced]

Hi guys, I've been lurking the board for a while, reading about all the DIR stuff PADI omitted from my open water course. Anyway, I've researched all of the DIR basics and am pretty sure how I'm going to assemble my gear. The one thing I am having some trouble figuring out is a good weight configuration. I plan on buying a BP/W BC soon, which means carrying lead without the use of integrated weight pockets. Given my research so far, I plan to buy two tank weight pouches and locate them on the sides of the AL80s I'll be using. The pouches will each have 5lbs in them so 10lbs on the side of the tank + 6lbs for the ss bp and 8lbs on a belt adds up to 24lbs. To the question then.

1. Is the 24lb allotment determined via the PADI 500psi tank, full breath hold, float with half of your mask out of the water method accurate?

2. If my bc has two tank bands, where do I place the weight pockets?

 

[TSandM]

A weight check is a weight check, no matter from whom you learn it. But it should be float at eye level with a normal breath, not a full breath held. Floating at eye level with normal, cyclic breathing means you are neutral; neutral at the surface with 500 psi will allow you to do a safety stop, even with somewhat less pressure than that, should you ever end up in that situation (which, if you respect rock bottom, you shouldn't).

As far as where to put the weight pockets, that depends on your trim. With an Al80, as the tank empties, it will get butt-light, so you may not want to put 10 lbs on the upper cambands, especially in a wetsuit. I'd probably start with them on the lower camband and see how it works. A lot of this is trial and error, because it's dependent on your body, your posture and your exposure protection, as well as your tank and total weights.

 

[rlynch]

my setup with an AL 80, steel bp, and a 7mm wetsuit (last time with a single anyway)

BP- 6 Lbs (really 5.5lbs)
2 cam band weight bands - 4 lbs each total = 8lbs
halcyon weight pocket - left side - 2lbs

total was 16lbs and a bit over weighted to be honest - 14lbs will work for me, at the time i was "feeling" light when i wasn't in actuality.

remember a balancd rig is what you want. and that may be very different than the 10% of body weight that is normally taught.


i do weight checks a bit different - 500psi in the tanks, and while in the trim position, weight yourself neutral in 3-6 feet of water, to do this i have a buddy hand me weights while i'm hovering at 3' (in a wetsuit i stuff them in my suit since its a front zip.) YMMV

 

[BluewaterSail]

Hi,
My Halcyon BP/W came with weight pockets (does that make it DIR?) and also 2 GUE instructors have seen them on courses and not commented about non-acceptability. I added a 6 lb Halcyon weight into the STA, and also cam belt pockets (to the lower band). With the SS backplate, this provides more than enough capacity for weight without a belt. Depending on which wetsuit, and whether I wear a hood, fresh or salt water, I use different amounts, so it is nice to have the flexibility of easily throwing more weight into any of the 4 pockets, or removing weight. I thought that not needing a weight belt was a great convenience.

Then on boat dives, when handing equipment across to the boat, or when setting up equipment for the second dive with boat motion and not much space, I found that using a weight belt, thereby reducing weight on the bc, was convenient. Of course any of the weights in the pockets are easily removable, but I don't like to have any more bits and peices to keep track of on a crowded boat than necessary. So I now sometimes use a weight belt in place of most or all of the weight that would have been in the pockets, if I will be on a boat. The 12 lbs in the bp and STA of course is always fixed.

Anyhow, I have found for myself, I have liked to have the flexibility of multiple options. Especially as I change exposure protection and diving environments. And as I learn. I also have a variety of smallish hard and soft weights, which are nice for experimenting with. Note that in the smaller pockets (like the cam band pockets) you can't fit the max weight using soft weights, only hard weights. Also, if you want the ability to sometimes use a traditional weight belt, then you need hard weights for that. I have found that most dive shops I have dealt with locally only have rather large weights available for rental, so I bring my weights with me unless I am flying.

Linda

 

[TSandM]

There's nothing "not DIR" about the weight pockets -- they just often won't work very well if you are carrying one or more canisters, and it can be difficult to fit them around the left hip d-ring. (Either the D-ring ends up too far forward, or the weight pouch is.)

remember a balancd rig is what you want. and that may be very different than the 10% of body weight that is normally taught.

I found this statement confusing. A balanced rig is one where, in the event of a complete wing failure, you can either swim the rig to the surface, or have enough ditchable weight to permit doing so. This really has nothing to do with the determination of total required weight. It is generally accepted that the "rules of thumb" for weighting are only that; people vary in their body composition, neoprene varies in its buoyancy, and with dry suits and undergarments, all bets are off! The OP needs to determine the total weight he needs, figure out where he needs to put it for proper trim, and then evaluate whether what he has built is a balanced rig (which in many cases, with single tanks, it will be). If not, he will have to reshuffle some weight to make it so. Thick wetsuits on deep dives, and very large single tanks are the two things that are likely to create an unbalanced single tank setup.

 

[rlynch]

yep, i was mearly speaking to the practice of simply throwing 10% of your bodyweight on in lead and calling it done. I seem to encounter this at most resort dive centers either from the operators or the other divers when i jump in with no extra weight (3mm shorty, steel bp, etc) and they are putting on a 20lb weight belt simply b/c someone told them that's what they need.

i totally agree that the OP needs to determin his weight needs based on his configuration and then see if he can swim it up.

 

[BluewaterSail]

There's nothing "not DIR" about the weight pockets -- they just often won't work very well if you are carrying one or more canisters, and it can be difficult to fit them around the left hip d-ring. (Either the D-ring ends up too far forward, or the weight pouch is.)

My weight pockets have a D ring built into one of them. In fact at one point I thought about removing them, then realized that I better get a replacement D ring first.

BC System Weighting | Halcyon Dive Systems

These are what comes standard on the Infinity. The website claims that you can get a canister in there behind the weight pocket, but i haven't yet tried. My thought also would be that the weight of the battery canister might be enough weight for that side anyhow.
Linda

 

[ajduplessis]

Halcyon don't sell no-dir equipment.

 

[Ulfhedinn]

I dont know is this will help but im throwing it out there.

I weigh in at 205lbs. I wear a 7mm.

I wear a SS backplate with a 32lb lift wing.

When I wear an AL80 I run 14lbs total. 3lbs x2 on my cams + 8lbs on my belt. This is also would be without a can light.

When I wear a Steel130 I run 10lbs total. 5lbs x2 on my Cams. This would also be without a can light.

When I wear a can light I drop 2lbs from cams.

 

[diversean1983]

Hi everyone, I'm new to the board and have always been interested in the DIR approach to diving. I just recently bough a BP/W BC and have managed to get properly weighted. I know I am properly weighted because I can hold my buoyancy with a couple of hundred psi without having problems staying under. When I float at the surface, the water line is between my mask with a normal breath.

But my problem is this: I dive in the tropics and don't need a lot of weight. I only use a 3mm wetsuit, an aluminum BP that's 2lbs, an STA that is about 1lbs and have 2 cam band weight pouches that hold 1lbs each that are positioned on the top cam strap (they were originally in the bottom strap, but I was feet heavy, so I moved it to the top and it stabled my trim out) and am perfectly weighted with just that. But, when I use a weight belt I end up being overly weighted and it ruins my trim. If I do remove my weight pouches on the cam band and just use a weight belt I end up being feet heavy and ruin my trim again. How to I comply with DIR without ruining my trim? Is diving without a weigh belt DIR compliant?

Thank you.