Will I notice an extra 10 pounds of lift on the surface ?
- Thread starter iainwilliams
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What he said, and as someomne else mentioned earlier. It's not a great solution to have 'ditchable ballast' (your camera) that's going to shift you from negative to positive a the end of the dive
You should only need a pound or two extra to achieve this
Will 10# extra lift make a noticable difference? Yeah probably. Do you need it? Not covinced you do
You should only need a pound or two extra to achieve this
Will 10# extra lift make a noticable difference? Yeah probably. Do you need it? Not covinced you do
Well, ten pounds more lift will undoubtedly make your life easier at the surface. It may make life more difficult underwater, as having a larger wing than you really need can make it difficult to vent.
I am with the other posters, though, on questioning WHY you are so heavy at the surface. If you are using an aluminum 80, you should begin the dive 5 or 6 lbs negative from the gas you intend to exhaust into the water. Assume you dive five pounds overweighted for end-of-dive stability, that's still only 10 lbs negative on the surface at the beginning of the dive. 30 lbs of lift should be more than adequate to keep you well out of the water at that point. So, unless your camera rig is VERY negative, you should have enough lift to satisfy even me, and I like my whole head and face well out of the water. If your camera is more negative than that, I'd put floats on the camera, because it's going to be hard to handle underwater, and if you drop it -- bye, bye!
I do dives with double tanks, a deco bottle and an argon bottle, where I start the dive about 25 pounds negative from gas and gear, and I do it with a 45 lb wing, and can keep myself riding high at the surface with that. I can't imagine needing 40 lbs of lift with a single aluminum tank, no matter WHAT else I was carrying.
Edited to add -- you might look at the length of your crotch strap -- if it's too long, the rig rides up on your back at the surface, and won't hold you as high out of the water.
I am with the other posters, though, on questioning WHY you are so heavy at the surface. If you are using an aluminum 80, you should begin the dive 5 or 6 lbs negative from the gas you intend to exhaust into the water. Assume you dive five pounds overweighted for end-of-dive stability, that's still only 10 lbs negative on the surface at the beginning of the dive. 30 lbs of lift should be more than adequate to keep you well out of the water at that point. So, unless your camera rig is VERY negative, you should have enough lift to satisfy even me, and I like my whole head and face well out of the water. If your camera is more negative than that, I'd put floats on the camera, because it's going to be hard to handle underwater, and if you drop it -- bye, bye!
I do dives with double tanks, a deco bottle and an argon bottle, where I start the dive about 25 pounds negative from gas and gear, and I do it with a 45 lb wing, and can keep myself riding high at the surface with that. I can't imagine needing 40 lbs of lift with a single aluminum tank, no matter WHAT else I was carrying.
Edited to add -- you might look at the length of your crotch strap -- if it's too long, the rig rides up on your back at the surface, and won't hold you as high out of the water.
Hatul
Contributor
I also wish I had more lift in my wing for surface swimming, but as others pointed out a larger wing can cause problems underwater. Perhaps the answer is is make a secondary little wing near the top that you would inflate just for surface swimming.
Adam
Adam
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> Perhaps an extra 10 pound lift will help my situation - comments?
I'm not actually sure it would help enough to be noticeable. However as with all things SCUBA, why not borrow a 40# wing from someone, try it and see if you like it?
I'm not actually sure it would help enough to be noticeable. However as with all things SCUBA, why not borrow a 40# wing from someone, try it and see if you like it?
cool_hardware52
Contributor
1) The proper solution to being over weighted is never a bigger wing.
2) For single tank diving in temperate to cold conditions it is almost always the buoyancy of the diver's exposure suit that dictates the BC capacity
3) Any part of any BC that is above the surface provides no lift as it displaces no water.
4) Comfort at the surface is much more a function of proper weighting than huge BC's
Tobin
miketsp
Contributor
Fully agree with this comment. Carrying a heavy rig is pointless and tiring. I have a friend who adjusted his heavy rig with some ping-pong balls in pvc waste pipes.
Hatul
Contributor
The problem in surface swimming is waves; when you're bobbing up and down you'll get less head immersion with a larger wing. The ocean here is not like a big swimming pool.
Adam
cool_hardware52
Contributor
If your wing meets these two criteria:
1) Sufficient to float the divers rig with a full tank
2) Sufficient to compensate for the maximum possible change in buoyancy of the diver's exposure suit
and the diver is correctly weighted there will be ample capacity for comfort at the surface regardless of the conditions.
Again, the solution to being over weighted is not a larger wing.
Really? You mean the very same Pacific Ocean I dive in a couple time a week year round?
Tobin
OP
iainwilliams
Contributor
Hello Everyone:
Many thanks for your input, although my question related to wing lift and not weight issues (although I can see how they are related).
Underwater I have no issues. My issue relates to being on the surface with a large and heavy camera. I questioned whether an extra 10 # lift would keep me higher in the water in a rough sea.
For those interested in the weight issue. I'm 1.5 # overweight at the surface so that I can be negatively buoyant at 3-5 M which enables me to lie on sand photographing a particular species of fish. Without being negative this is not possible.
I agree that a steel tank would solve this issue (and it does when I dive at home), however, overseas operators usually use large aluminum tanks which provide buoyancy when almost empty at the end of a dive.
Some good points regarding my camera setup (floats, ping pong balls, etc). I find the use of flotation impractical, as it increases the overall size and drag of the camera rig, although I'm experimenting with compressed foam surrounding the strobe arms with good results.
I realize that everything is interrelated. But, I was interested in the opinion of others in relation to the extra 10# lift at the surface.
The crotch strap suggestion was a good point - my strap is quite tight not to allow my tank to ride higher than normal.
Once again, many thanks. SAFE diving, Iain
Many thanks for your input, although my question related to wing lift and not weight issues (although I can see how they are related).
Underwater I have no issues. My issue relates to being on the surface with a large and heavy camera. I questioned whether an extra 10 # lift would keep me higher in the water in a rough sea.
For those interested in the weight issue. I'm 1.5 # overweight at the surface so that I can be negatively buoyant at 3-5 M which enables me to lie on sand photographing a particular species of fish. Without being negative this is not possible.
I agree that a steel tank would solve this issue (and it does when I dive at home), however, overseas operators usually use large aluminum tanks which provide buoyancy when almost empty at the end of a dive.
Some good points regarding my camera setup (floats, ping pong balls, etc). I find the use of flotation impractical, as it increases the overall size and drag of the camera rig, although I'm experimenting with compressed foam surrounding the strobe arms with good results.
I realize that everything is interrelated. But, I was interested in the opinion of others in relation to the extra 10# lift at the surface.
The crotch strap suggestion was a good point - my strap is quite tight not to allow my tank to ride higher than normal.
Once again, many thanks. SAFE diving, Iain
