Having trouble descending.

[davieeeee]

Hi guys,
Can anyone give tips on someone who is having trouble descedning?

Even if I sit absoloutly still, and defalte all of my air from my BC, I cannot seem to descend without having to do a duck dive. My bounacy check is OK and once I am below 10 meters or so, I can stay down perfectly. Once I am back to for my safety stop though, I float straight back up.

To give you an idea of what I am carrying.. I have a 7mm wetsuite, 3mm hooded vest and 3mm boots and gloves, steel 10ltr tank. The equipment is still very new so obviosuly it has to compress more, but I currently have 16 pounds of weights, surely this would be more than enough for my setup or am I wrong?

[cyclone]

Hmmm, I think your bloated. Too much soda. Burp a little bit or the other exhaust valve if you know what I mean. See if it helps...

[cyclone]

Just joking, seriously speaking. How much do you weight? I think on every 10 pounds you add a pound of weight. I am 180 lbs, so I put 18 pounds to be exact. But to be really mathematically exact, if you can tell how much lift measured in pounds your equipment is (your wetsuit, gloves, boots and any bouyant equipment) then figure out if your tank is positive, negative or neutral. Then if you come up with 5lbs of lift then add 5 lbs. of weight plus the added weight for your physical weight. So, lets say i am you have all your gears 5+18= 23lbs. to be exact. Hope it helps...

[WV Diver]

davieeeee,

I think you will be fine with a little more experience. Many new divers experience just what you have described. It is hardest to maintain your buoyancy in shallow water than it is in deeper water.

Also many beginners have a hard time exhaling all the way before descent. In time you will be fine.

As far as the amount of weight you are carrying, if you have completed a proper buoyancy check you should be good there and should be able to drop another pound or two as you get more comfortable and your equipment gets broken in.

Before exiting the water after your next dive, while on the surface, dump your tank down to 500 psi and with all the air out of your BC hold a normal breath and add or subtract weight until you are able to float at eye level with the water. This will put you at the proper weight.

[Charlotte Smith]

We have all been through it so don't worry..this too shall pass...keep working with your weights and then as you get more experienced you can shave some off.

[Boris42]

I'm going through the same thing right now. I added 2 pounds, 18 total and had no problem getting down. Problem is, once I get below 10 ft. I'm heavy by that 2 lbs. I can drop it on my after dive buoyancy check with 500lbs air and regular breath at 20 ft. So I know that 16lbs is what I should have in fw. What I hadn't considered was exhaling completely on descent. I'm going to have to try that. I hate having to add so much air to my bcd at depth. Plus it makes things more tricky on accent. But I do like the advise that it all gets better with practice. Guess it means I've just got to keep diving as often as possible.

[awap]

You need to be able to comfortably holde your safety stop. So add more weight until you can do that.

As far as descending, a wetsuit can trap a good bit of air. Leave yourself a little wiggle time at the surface to try to work this trapped air out of your suit. Also, when you are ready to descend, make sure to exhale strongly to eliminate that source of bouyancy at least for a couple feet. Then breath lightly until you descend to about 10 ft. You should be fine after that. If you do have to kick yourself down, do it. Thye important criterion is that you are OK at the rest stop with a nearly empty tank (less thgan 500 psi).

As you get more experience, continue to check your bouyancy at the rest stop. If you still have air in you BC, try dropping some weight. When you've got it right, you will be able to comfortably breath and hold the rest stop with an empty BC.

[Suther2136]

Originally Posted by cyclone

Hmmm, I think your bloated. Too much soda. Burp a little bit or the other exhaust valve if you know what I mean. See if it helps...

It worked in Willie Wonka......LOL

[floater]

I think your problem is being able to vent your BC properly. First if you start floating up unexpectedly then exhale all the air from your lungs and hold it while you vent the BC. If you use the power inflator/deflator, then tilt up and roll slightly so that the base of the corrugated hose is the highest point of your BC and lift the power inflator/deflator up. If necessary go vertical (though you shouldn't need to once you gain more experience). If you prefer a rear dump, then just tilt butt up a little, roll so the the rear vent becomes the highest point of your BC and pull the cord up (down won't work). This is easier don't with don't shaped bladders. Also when you tilt slightly butt up to vent the BC you can also fin down if necessary to keep you from popping to the surface in case you have a problem venting.

[Iceman]

Originally Posted by davieeeee

Hi guys,
Can anyone give tips on someone who is having trouble descedning?

Even if I sit absoloutly still, and defalte all of my air from my BC, I cannot seem to descend without having to do a duck dive. My bounacy check is OK and once I am below 10 meters or so, I can stay down perfectly. Once I am back to for my safety stop though, I float straight back up.

To give you an idea of what I am carrying.. I have a 7mm wetsuite, 3mm hooded vest and 3mm boots and gloves, steel 10ltr tank. The equipment is still very new so obviosuly it has to compress more, but I currently have 16 pounds of weights, surely this would be more than enough for my setup or am I wrong?

Sounds perfectly normal to me. You are experiencing the effects of wetsuit compression and associated loss of buoyancy as you descend. As it goes deeper it loses buoyancy due to compression. So, you will need to carry a bit more weight than you think to offset the buoyancy at the surface and shallow depths.

The methods for determining weighting just give an estimate, not a firm number. Things like sea state, environmental protection buoyancy, comfort level all come into play in finding the correct number for you. The goal is to get a weighting that works for you; not to win a competition on who can carry the least amount of lead.

Add the weight you need and don't worry about it. Or, buy a dry suit and you will need the same amount of weight throughout the water column if you use it correctly.