Wetsuit and bouyancy

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juggernutt

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Normally I dive in tshirt and swimmingshorts.
And as a beginner I always have trouble with buoyancy and diving. Need alot of weights.

I bought a wetsuit, but didn't think about the buouyancy factor. How difficult will it be for me to submerge compared with just a tshirt and shorts?
 
Shorty or full.... 3mm or 7mm....fresh or salt? For my 3mm full jumpsuit, I need and extra 6 pounds in fresh. Haven't tested it in salt yet. I'm guessing an extra 2 to 3 pounds.

Neoprene has different buoyancy depending on the manufacturer too.

Try a pool with only the suit and keep adding weight until you are neutral. Then add that to your rig.

I asked the same basic question last week and got a good link to start from....... I nailed the extra weight on the first try.

http://www.scubadiving.com/training/instruction/buoycalc/buoycalc.shtml
 
as a rule of thumb (very rough) i have herad 2-3 for each mm of neoprene i.e. a 3mm would be 6-9 LB and a 7mm 14-21 LB.
 
There's really no easy answer here - it varies depending on the thickness of your wetsuit, full or shorty, salt or fresh, and probably the most important, and most frequently overlooked is your BODY COMPOSITION. If you're shaped like a pear, you're gonna need more lead than the guy who is out there running marathons. Fat floats and muscle sinks, plain and simple.

I'd recommend that you monkey around with it, seeing what amount of lead you need to float at eye level while holding a full breath. Then get out and dive and tune your lead appropriately.

~W
 

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