Weights on an AL80 to acheive neutral boyancy when empty

[MC]

Trying to find ways to lower my need for so much lead/weight on dives. First thing is to loose some body fat-which I'm working on, but also like the idea of being able to put weights on the tank to keep them off my integrated weight belts and iBC.

Wondering if anyone has used some of those strap on weights for their AL80's. See several of the velcro tank weight belts for sale. Just wonder if others recommend them for their purpose.

I know all about going to steel would help with this issue, but AL80's are what we dive. Not going to start looking for steels.

 

[akscubainst]

The work fine, just may have to play with them to get the trim right. In the end weight is weight it's got to go somewhere be it on the belt, tanks, ankles, etc.

 

[Scared Silly]

I use a back plate and have a couple of pockets on the cam bands. I stick 2lbs in each pocket which are on either side of the tank. My plate has two cam bands so they are on the lower band. Most pockets will hold 6 lbs or so. Which is plenty for a warm water rig. (though realize that you may not have any weight to ditch).

 

[chuck34gboro]

Before I got my Ranger, I picked up a couple of these.

XS Scuba Single Tank Weight Pocket

Just slip one on each side of your tank band. It puts the weight closer to the middle of the tank and on the back instead of your front pulling you forward. Makes it easier to get in a horizontal trim position as well. There are other brands and i've had weights slip out on occasion but you can modify them with extra velcro and/or tie wraps and for ~$9 each, you can't go wrong.

 

[eelnoraa]

If you think about it, sticking weight on a tank makes no different than putting weight in integrated weight pocket on your BC since tank and BC are not meant to be separated in water. So unless you need more weight that the integrated system can support, I don't see why you want to do it. The total amount of weight is NOT going to change.

To effective reduce dry weight, you should choose equipment that is lighter or same weight on land, but natively more negative buoyanct (or less possitive buoyant). The easist is to go from AL tank to steel tank, then ditch a BC with lot of padding to something simple like bp/w

 

[DevonDiver]

If you're moving weights away from your belt/integrated, then you've got to make sure that the balance between ditchable and non-ditchable lead is such that you can still obtain sufficient positive buoyancy for ascent and surface floating. There are a number of diving contingencies that exist which can lead to your BCD being unable to provide positive buoyancy - ditchable weight is your 'back-up' for those contingencies.

If you are moving some weight off your belt - do so with that balance in mind... and make best use of the shift by considering what positive benefits you can gain from tweeking your gravity to achieve a flat horizontal trim.

http://scubatechphilippines.com/scuba_blog/scuba-buoyancy-masterclass-8of9-the-balanced-rig/

 

[Blue Sparkle]

I have put weights on an AL80, but it was for trim purposes, not to "reduce" weight. In other words, it was weight I would otherwise have had on my weight belt, or elsewhere. On me, the way an AL80 goes "tail light" as the air is used up caused a trim problem, so that's why I put some weight near the bottom of the tank.

If it weren't needed for trim, I would not put it there, as it's a hassle on boat dives. Unless you have two separate "tank-weight belts," you have to switch the one over when you change tanks, and it's a pain when you have to reach between a group of tanks on a boat. I have a few marks on my wrist-mounted dive computer to show for it.

OTOH, for me the difference in trim is worth it, so I put up with it (actually I dive AL63's now when I can, and they are less bad that way, but I still do put some weight on them, so I don't get to avoid the hassle). If I buy my own tanks they will probably be steel, which I believe will solve the "butt light" issue as the air is breathed.

If you do add weight to the tank to solve a trim (not buoyancy) issue, what I have found to work best is a stretchy rubber strap with a buckle like you usually find on a weight belt or hogarthian harness. I tried both regular weight belt type webbing and also considered a cam band, but for various reasons (which I'm happy to go into if you are going to put weight on the butt of the tank for trim) the rubber strap has worked out best for boat diving.

Edited to add: Although as DevonDiver pointed out while I was typing, overall balance has to be taken into consideration. Some steel tanks could be too negative in warm water, etc.

 

[idive2]

One thing I have become more aware of with tanks is the slight rolling effect of the steel tanks as compared to
aluminum tanks. It was actually nice on some shallower dives when you may be turning to your side a bit to look
up to not have that weight so much on top. It seems minor but if your looking up or to the side a lot
you will notice the effect of more weight in the tank area.