Im not 225 but am slightly negative with steel tank and fleece suit in warm water. Im resigned to swimming up if needed. Though Ive never had a BC hose rip off at the shoulder.
With no weights, what do you ditch?
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jplacson
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nwdiver, your slightly negative with a steel tank and a fleece suit? That's a lot of weight! I'm slightly negative with an AL80 tank, fleece suit, AL BP with 2# trim weight.
In a bladder failure, you're supposed to be able to fin your whole rig up without ditching... ditching is just supposed to be to make it easier... it's not supposed to be like an emergency elevator.
I recently learned how to PROPERLLY weight myself... and it made a HUGE difference in my diving experience.
I used to go down with 8# ditchable.... this was the norm for 3mm suits, and most people around me were using between 6-10# depending on physical shape, and wetsuit used.
I hated weight belts... they were annoying at depth, and clunky at surface... I wanted a weight integrated BC to at least get rid of the weight belt itself.
Then I discovered that fleece (Henderson Black Maxx) suits were less buoyant and needed less weight to sink. I was able to ditch 4# just by switching suits. Next, I switched to a BP wing config. My LDS was recommending a SS plate which most divers use, at 6#, this was more than I carried already... so I opted for the AL plate at 2# (1.75 actually) and played around with trim weights.
I'm now neutral at 15' with 500-600psi with just my AL plate & 2# trim! (the 2# trim can actually be substituted with a 2# STA, but I like the tank sitting close to my back)
I don't have any ditchable weight now... and throughout most of the dive, my bladder is completely deflated... even during ascent... I only inflate at surface.
In a bladder failure, you're supposed to be able to fin your whole rig up without ditching... ditching is just supposed to be to make it easier... it's not supposed to be like an emergency elevator.
I recently learned how to PROPERLLY weight myself... and it made a HUGE difference in my diving experience.
I used to go down with 8# ditchable.... this was the norm for 3mm suits, and most people around me were using between 6-10# depending on physical shape, and wetsuit used.
I hated weight belts... they were annoying at depth, and clunky at surface... I wanted a weight integrated BC to at least get rid of the weight belt itself.
Then I discovered that fleece (Henderson Black Maxx) suits were less buoyant and needed less weight to sink. I was able to ditch 4# just by switching suits. Next, I switched to a BP wing config. My LDS was recommending a SS plate which most divers use, at 6#, this was more than I carried already... so I opted for the AL plate at 2# (1.75 actually) and played around with trim weights.
I'm now neutral at 15' with 500-600psi with just my AL plate & 2# trim! (the 2# trim can actually be substituted with a 2# STA, but I like the tank sitting close to my back)
I don't have any ditchable weight now... and throughout most of the dive, my bladder is completely deflated... even during ascent... I only inflate at surface.
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