Wetsuit buoyancy - 30 lbs????

[Bossman]

Why would your wing size have anything to do with the suit buoyancy? You aren't buying the wing to lift the suit, the wing is to lift the weight of the gas consumed on the dive. No other function.

If you're on a single thats about 3kg / 7lb of lift. Double that for surface buoyancy and suit compression at depth and you're up to about 15lb. Its plenty.

The wetsuit will lose between half and two thirds of it's buoyancy at depth, depending on the depth. So the wing needs to lift that 16-22 lbs of buoyancy loss, plus up to 7 lbs. of gas consumed in the cylinder. That is 22-29 lbs.

It also needs to float the rig on the surface without me in it. That is SS BP (6 lb.), STA (6 lb.), steel tank (10lb.) and regs. That number comes close to 27 lbs.

The Halcyon 40 lb. wing is not much larger than the 30 lb and the additional effect on drag is minimal. I'm going with the 40 lb wing.

 

[Reef_Haven]

Why would your wing size have anything to do with the suit buoyancy? You aren't buying the wing to lift the suit, the wing is to lift the weight of the gas consumed on the dive. No other function.

If you're on a single thats about 3kg / 7lb of lift. Double that for surface buoyancy and suit compression at depth and you're up to about 15lb. Its plenty.

Wrong, the wing must also compensate for the loss of lift/buoyancy from the wetsuit being compressed at depth.
He may need 30# lead to compensate for buoyancy at the surface, but at 100 ft he may be 20# overweighted.

Sorry, late post. Didn't read 2nd page.
Agree, go with 40.

 

[String]

A wetsuit is not going to lose that much buoyancy even at depth. Not a chance in hell.

Im currently wearing 15mm (3mm vest, 7mm semi dry, 5mm shortie on top) and i lose maybe 2kg at depth due to compression and thats it.

40lb wing can lift a twinset with a few stages. It's too wide for a single, far too much lift for a single. will wrap and roll the diver around as air migrates and is complete overkill. It leads for an uncomfortable dive and due to migration and problems dumping can be dangerous.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

.....A wetsuit is not going to lose that much buoyancy even at depth. Not a chance in hell....

Actually, yes they can. It is going to depend on the type of neoprene, thickness, age and depth.

I have a Aqualung SOLAFX 8/7. It is made with a very elastic material. Very warm, comfortable, very easy to don/doff. The big downside is it compresses at depth more than typical. It loose 22lbs by 85ft on the XXL size I have. I have other suits that loose a lot less despite being thicker, it depends on the material used, not just the thickness. I also have some older suits that compress less because they have become permanently crushed.

Regarding the 30 vs 40 lb version. It DEPENDS ON THE MANUFACTURER. I had the OxyChecq 40lb, it is 1 inch wider than the 30 lb version (1/2 inch per side). Both are very narrow and neither is going to taco. I think making a statement that it would be "dangerous" to use on a single tank is unfounded. It would make a poor wing for doubles, but that is another issue. I traded for the 30lb merely because I did not want to deal with the extra bulk of slightly larger wing.

BTW: I still use a 30lb wing, it is a perfect size for me and all my wetsuits.

 

[knowone]

As soon as ascent begins everything changes and water has a far easier time of pushing us up and spitting us out than when we cart our rig up the pier to the boat and plonk, heave or carry it in.

 

[fnfalman]

I took the time today to do a buoyancy check on my Neosport Farmer John, 7mm XL John with 7mm XXL Jacket. I folded the suit nicely with my weight belt wrapped around it. It took about 30-32 lbs to sink. I did my best to get all of the air out of it, but maybe I didn't. Does anyone think it's possible that the suit is 30 lbs. buoyant?

The reason I ask is that I recently bought a 30 lb wing and I'm thinking I should return it for the 40 lb wing. The wetsuit buoyancy is my biggest issue as my rig is only about 22 lbs negative with a steel HP100.

That's a lot of neprene, so yes, 30-lbs of lead to sink that farmer john is quite reasonable.

Where do you carry your weight? All on the BC? If you do, then you'd probably need a bigger wing.