Wetsuit thickness and required weight

[Fish_Whisperer]

Okay... I'm 5'10" tall, 190 lbs, and have very little body fat. In fact, with no weight and a full tank, I can descend with no problem. I'm carrying 12 lbs in my BC right now to allow for increased buoyancy at the end of a dive, and I like to be slightly negative. This allows me to dive without any problem, whether I'm in saltwater, fresh, wearing just trunks, or wearing a 1mm wetsuit. If I switch to a 5mm wetsuit, how much should I increase the weight in my BC, if any? Is there some kind of ratio/mathematical formula, or do I just need to go back to the pool and mess around with it? Thank in advance.

 

[The Kraken]

F/W,
As you know, in diving so many things are so subjective.
If you have access to the pool, I'd recommend that avenue of test and discovery.

the K

 

[countryboy]

Okay... I'm 5'10" tall, 190 lbs, and have very little body fat. In fact, with no weight and a full tank, I can descend with no problem.....

If you start with no weight, and can descend without a problem.. then you only need to add weight to overcome the amount of gas you are using. (assume total loss of gas)

Typically each cuft. of gas weighs 1/12th of a pound.

Aluminum 80 = 77.4 cuft.
1/12 = .0833333

= 77.4 * .083 = 6.45 or for rounding or 6.5 lbs.

Using 12 lbs you are overweight...

 

[countryboy]

As always... whenever you change gear / exposure suit etc. perform a weight check at the end of the dive with 400 - 500 psi in the tank (almost empty).

 

[Scuba Brad]

Good stuff Countryboy..........

Happy Diving

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

I should rephrase that: I can descend, with effort, when I'm completely unweighted, but I can get down. I'm paranoid about shooting to the surface at the end of a dive, though, so yeah, I tend to dive heavy.

When I get my new suit, I'll check it out in the pool and see what happens. Thanks, everyone. Much appreciated.

 

[Zoomer]

Fish Whisperer... maybe this will help you, should give you a good guess as to the weight you will need....

http://dive.scubadiving.com/html/200105buoyancycalc_chart.html

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

Oh man... That's a great resource. Thank you, Warnberg!

 

[crpntr133]

Figure 2lbs per mm of suit and go from there. So if you use nothing for the pool then add about 10lbs for a 5mm suit. Again this is just a ball park figure. So far it has worked for me and others. For the most part you end up MAYBE a pound or so overweighted.

 

[boulderjohn]

First of all, I agree with those who think you are a bit overweighted in your 1 mm suit right now. But that's not why I'm writing.

If you are going to a 5mm suit, then I assume you are planning to dive in cooler water than you are accustomed to diving. If so, I suggest you consider the use of a hood as well--it makes a big difference. If you do, don't forget to include the buoyancy of the hood in your calculations.