More Weight???

[snagel]

I can see that diving dry means (at least for me) that I need more weight. The problem for me is that I tend to need a little more weight anyway. I prefer to be a little overweighted than to fight trying to stay under at the safety stop. For me, I break down like this:

No suit, just trunks - 12 pounds
3mm - 18 pounds
7mm - 22 pounds
7mm with 3 mm hooded vest, gloves, etc. - 24-26 pounds.
Crushed Neo Drysuit - 28 pounds.

Since I will primarily be diving dry, I would like to add weight to the BCD so I don't need as much in the pockets. My BCD is a Genesis Cobra 2 w/ integrated weights. What's my options?

I was thinking maybe adding something to the backplate area...not sure exacty what and how. I would prefer something that is built into the BCD as opposed to adding weights to the tank strap or something like that. Although, this would cause the BCD to be heavier obviously, I would'nt need to add so many 3,4,5 pound weights.

Any thoughts? Am I looking at doing something that isn't advised? Obviously, I still need detachable weights, but given how much weight I do use this shouldn't be a big problem.

S. Nagel

[SHAGGY]

Well I just recently started dry diving and just did my dry suit class this past week and I just didnt like how heavy my BCD was when I was gonna dry dive.

I normally use 8lbs in Fresh water with a 3/2 full wet suit
and 12 lbs in fresh water with my 5mm full suit
and I needed 18lbs with my Pinnacle Evo2 Dry suit.

I just decided to go with a weight belt so all of my weight wont be in my BCD. I now put 8lbs in my BCD and 10lbs on the weight belt which makes things more manageable for me.

[SkuaSeptember]

Hi there,
First of all, if you are weighted to be neutral at your safety stop with 300-500 psi remaining and no air in your BC, you are weighted properly,not overweighted. If at this point you still have air in your BC or more than enough to take the squeeze off in your suit, you should try getting rid of a pound or two untill you shave it down to the bare minimum.
As for permanently attaching weights to your rig, it would just be more you have to wrestle with when packing,washing,drying and storing your gear. If the pockets hold the needed 28 lbs,let them do the job and don't try to re-invent the wheel. If it is your desire to be able to ditch some but not all of your weight at once, put 6lbs to 10lbs of the total on a belt and see how that woks for you.

[snagel]

Thanks for the information.

With an empty tank, no air in bc or suit I'm about right with 28 pounds. Maybe a little positive, but can work that out. I'd say, 28 and hopefully a little less later is about right. But, the problem is my weight packets can only hold 20 pounds (10 in each). I don't really like putting this much weight in the pockets because it tends to hang down. I do put some in the trim pockets in back; which, is probably where I need to look putting more. My point, is that regardless, I tend to need a lot of weight. I don't mind adding a little to the BCD where appropriate. Yes, it will be a little heavier, but messing will all the single weight blocks for some reason drives me nuts.

S. Nagel

[SkuaSeptember]

Just looked at your BC on the Genesis website and if it were me, I'd put a 5lb soft weight in each trim pocket and a 5,2,1,1lb soft weight combo in each of the ditchable pouches. Rather than remove the weights from the pouches after diving, just remove the pouches, rinse them, and let them dry as they are.

[cummings66]

One thing about new drysuit divers, you may start with more weight but after you dive in it for a while you'll discover you can probably use less weight. Many drysuit divers trap air in the suit and don't get it out well and so you need more lead due to that. Some of us though do it on purpose to stay warm as well.

Just an interesting observation, your BC's trim pockets may or may not be usable for you, check your trim and that will tell you if you can use them. I found when I used to use a jacket style bc that I couldn't use the lower pockets and all my weight was up high, with a BP I can use a weight belt. It's all about the distribution, what ever it takes to get horizontal is where you want it.

[WAHMof2]

Snagel, thanks for getting a drysuit! I'm learning a lot here!

[snagel]

Yea, I've learned alot about drysuits recently from all the pros here on the forum. Great advise.

S. Nagel

[RoyN]

I think it is best to try it out in a pool before going out!

[caroln]

Is your weighting with a steel tank or an AL tank? If that's with an AL tank, I'd highly recommend that you switch to a steel tank. Dry weight is very close to an AL tank, but you can usually drop 7 so maybe even more pounds of lead by switching.