Worried about weight & wetsuit choice with Aldora's steel tanks

[rick00001967]

i wouldn't wanna travel with steel plate. an allum would be the best alternative. you don't need a whole new harnes etc, just the plate.
but if that doesn't work for you, i vote to stick with the 5mm. if you are too warm, just leave the zip open as needed.

 

[inquis]

If temps are really 81-82 *F, I'd be looking for a 5mm after a few days, anyway. (FWIW, that's what my temps were in Feb of last year.)

 

[scubadada]

You may be minimally overweighted in your 3 mm, I would not worry about it. The water is not so warm that a 5 mm would be overkill. Either option would be fine, lose no sleep over it.

 

[anchochile]

You may be minimally overweighted in your 3 mm, I would not worry about it. The water is not so warm that a 5 mm would be overkill. Either option would be fine, lose no sleep over it.

Thank you for this very tactful way of waying "stop overthinking it," which always a safe answer to my questions.

 

[johndiver999]

Wearing a thin suit and having a steel plate and a "heavy" steel tank is not desirable. However, the undesirability pertains primarily to the potential problem which may arise with a BC failure.

Assuming everything works, having an extra 7-9 lbs worth of air in your BC should not be a problem; an annoyance maybe when changing depth., but not a problem for someone who is attentive to the expanding volume.

I have never used a steel plate for this exact reason. If I did, I think I would make sure I carried an smb with an over pressure relief valve - just in case a zip tie or a spring fails.

 

[FishWatcher747]

4. Get an aluminum plate, transfer harness from steel plate to aluminum plate. It might take you 30 minutes and cost you $90.

 

[Barefoot_Lawyer]

With AL80 and 3mm suit, I use zero lead. I'm not sure of the buoyancy specs on Aldora's tanks, although from my last trip I remember they had 2 different types (Faber & Worthington?) and they told me one of them was about 2lbs more negative than the other.

Um, are you saying you can maintain neutral buoyancy at 15’ at the end of a dive with a positively buoyant empty AL80 and 3mm wetsuit? Is that in fresh water?

 

[Ian Fatzinger]

Um, are you saying you can maintain neutral buoyancy at 15’ at the end of a dive with a positively buoyant empty AL80 and 3mm wetsuit? Is that in fresh water?

With his steel backplate

 

[rongoodman]

You can get an aluminum plate from Piranha for $90, in color no less. Moving the harness over from your other plate is 20 minutes, at most.

 

[Carlos Danger]

Trying to sort through a bit of a conundrum. I'm hoping to make it out to Coz in early or mid June. I have always used Aldora in the past, but here's the problem: I dive a steel backplate, and am worried I will be drastically overweighted with their steel tanks. My past trips have been in the winter and I've worn a 5mm suit (necessary for me on those looooong dives in 79-80 degree water), and did not need any additional lead with their HP120 tanks, and was possibly a tad overweighted in this scenario.

In June I would probably want to wear a 3mm, but without that extra buoyancy of the 5mm suit I'm worried I would be way too negative and diving would be unnecessarily difficult.

So the options are:

1. Use my BP/W and a 3mm and just deal with being overweighted
2. Use my BP/W and a 5mm and hope it's not a ridiculous wetsuit choice for June in Cozumel
3. Rent a BCD to eliminate the issue (downside - I have my trim & accessories totally dialed in with my BPW have not used a traditional BCD since my training 100 dives ago)

What are typical water temps in early and mid June? If I was happy in a 5mm in February, would I be crazy to use it in June?

I also regularly dive with Aldora,

I am 6'4"/210lbs and wear a 0.5mm full wetsuit w/ hood between May and September, which is usually plenty for me. Water temps are generally mid 80s. In the past Aldora had two different models of steel HP120s. The the older grey ones are slightly heavier than the newer white ones.

I used to use a 3mm steel BP/W setup with a 22lbs donut wing and no weights. This setup was definitely a little over negative, but not really a problem to dive with. The biggest issue I had was when surfacing at the end of a dive in choppy conditions, as I would typically sit lower in the water due to my wing size, which usually meant keeping my reg in my mouth all the way up the ladder. Later I switched to an aluminum plate, which was a noticeable improvement in performance, not to mention lightening my luggage. Now I use a 2mm titanium BP/W setup with a 30lbs donut from a different manufacturer, which made a huge difference and also provided more optimized tank positioning.

If you are generally one that feels the cold, then I think a 3mm wetsuit should be fine and seems pretty typical in the summer from my experience. I do think you would see benefits from switching to a lighter setup though. Aluminum plates can be a had at a reasonable price, just make sure your wing has at least 30lbs of lift.


Hope this is helpful!