Weight

[matt151617]

I'm a little confused about proper weighting. For reference, I'm 6'2", 182 pounds. I have trouble staying down. Currently we are just practicing in a pool, that's heated to 85 degrees, so I'm wearing a 2ml shorty wetsuit. Our actual check-out dive is going to be in 50 degree water, so I'll have the 2ml shorty as a core warmer, then a 7ml, hoodie, gloves, etc. My instructor looked at me, and said "2 3s" for the pool class. The BCs we are using have integrated weight pockets.

When I let all the air out of my BC, I barely sink, in fact most of the time I stay up. Only when I totally exhale do I sink. If I breathe even a little bit, I start to go back up.

So my question is, what's a more appropriate weight? 6lbs doesn't sound like much. I'm not even sure if there is extra pouches for more weight in the BC. My instructor is really against weight belts. But I have a feeling with a 7ml wetsuit on I won't be able to sink. Should I drop like a rock when I let all the air out of my BC?

[ratown]

I am 5'8" 150 lbs and I wear 8lbs of weight in a heated pool like that with a 2m shorty wetsuit. 6lbs isn't very much. Why not throw in some more weight? I thought the rule of thumb is to start with 10% of your body weight and work with that. My friend wears 16lbs in a rash guard and it all fits in the jacket's integrated weight system.

[DOWNDEEP73]

Sounds to me that you are a little underweighted. At first it sounded right when you said you could exhale and sink, but when you breathe a little you pop back up. I think you a few lbs. under weight and When you get in that 7mm......you will be alot underweight.

[wolfen42]

I can almost guarantee you that you will need significantly more weight with your 7mill on. They didn't really mention that to us during our pool classes either. We did our OW dives in 5 mill suits and needed about double what we used in the pool. Part of that was our still terrible bouyancy skills but a good chunk of it was the additional positive bouyancy from all that neoprene.

[Penguino]

I'm 6'0", 165lbs and I did some of my OW dives in a 7mil, no hood, gloves, and it took 15 lbs to get me down and stay down as my tank emptied. My first dives for OW wer with 7mil, hood, gloves, and it took 22 lbs to get me down. No way the hood took 7 lbs... point is that some of it is about relaxing. Breathe all the way out and you should sink. For the first few feet, if you breathe in heavily, you might rise, so swim down, breathe out again and relax.

[mark44883]

yes when you put a 7 mill on your going to need more weights.be sure you get all your air out of your bc, try pulling bc inflatter above your head.

[Beaucoupfishies]

According to PADI (taking the peak performance as an elective for AOW)-

For the average diver in salt water
3mm wet suit= 5% of your body weight
5mm= 10%
7mm with hood and gloves= 10% +3-5 pounds
Neoprene Dry Suit= 10% +7-10 pounds
Shell dry suit= 10% +3-5 or 7-14 pounds depending on how much undergarment you wear.

Also remember to add 5 pounds for an aluminum tank since they become more buoyant as they empty.

If you're going from salt water to fresh, you subtract weight depending on your body weight:

100-125 pounds = 4 lbs
126-155= 5
156-186=6
187-217=7

Keep in mind that these are rough guidelines, and you still need to perform a buoyancy check to fine tune the weights. The PADI method is to gear up with what you'll be diving with, estimate your weights based on the above table, then hop in the water with your BCD deflated. If you're properly weighted, you should float at about eye level with a normal breath and sink when you exhale.

[wolfen42]

Originally Posted by Penguino

I'm 6'0", 165lbs and I did some of my OW dives in a 7mil, no hood, gloves, and it took 15 lbs to get me down and stay down as my tank emptied. My first dives for OW wer with 7mil, hood, gloves, and it took 22 lbs to get me down. No way the hood took 7 lbs... point is that some of it is about relaxing. Breathe all the way out and you should sink. For the first few feet, if you breathe in heavily, you might rise, so swim down, breathe out again and relax.

Good point, bouyancy in a pool is always particularly touchy because you are in such shallow water.

[wolfen42]

Originally Posted by Beaucoupfishies

According to PADI (taking the peak performance as an elective for AOW)-

For the average diver in salt water
3mm wet suit= 5% of your body weight
5mm= 10%
7mm with hood and gloves= 10% +3-5 pounds
Neoprene Dry Suit= 10% +7-10 pounds
Shell dry suit= 10% +3-5 or 7-14 pounds depending on how much undergarment you wear.

Also remember to add 5 pounds for an aluminum tank since they become more buoyant as they empty.

If you're going from salt water to fresh, you add weight depending on your body weight:

100-125 pounds = 4 lbs
126-155= 5
156-186=6
187-217=7

I thought you would be more positively bouyant in salt water than fresh so you'd need more weight in salt than fresh?

[Beaucoupfishies]

Originally Posted by wolfen42

I thought you would be more positively bouyant in salt water than fresh so you'd need more weight in salt than fresh?

Correct! Edited! Just wasn't paying attention when I was copying from the book.