Leg weights

[hinzer]

I need some advice about leg weights. I dive a Viking X-Treme and have some leg lift. I do not use a lot of air in my suite but do see other dry suite divers with leg weights. One thing I take pride in is not to kick up the silt by height fin position. However I do exert energy to control my high leg position.  Is 1.5# or  2 # preferred. I am 6-5 205.

Thanks

Bob

[MNDiveLady]

To weight or not to weight....that is the question!  You want to stay horizontal to improve trim, keep your fins off the silt to prevent siltout, and not have air in your legs making you pop to the surface upside-down.  Right?

And in addition to that, you don't want back pain from hyperlordosis?  (See DAN Alert Diver magazine-July/August '08)  That's from the crescent shape you put your back in in order to keep your fins off the bottom.

A better solution to ankle weights may be to use "Gaiters" or straps around your upper and lower calf that keep excess air out of the leg portion of your suit, yet don't add weight to your ankles.  I use my dive knife sheath as one side and Velcro straps on the other.  I use a neoprene 7mm drysuit.  I have a little "squish room" in the neoprene to snug the gaiters against.  Good Luck!

[diverjeremy]

I agree.  I use gaitor for that exact reason.  They work great and keep you in a very good "scuba" position.  I refuse to dive my drysuit with out them. 

[hinzer]

How much weight per leg do you use?

[Dewit2it]

I use the tube type ankle weights ~4#.

[MNDiveLady]

   :  I use 1.5lb per leg, for a 3lb total.  I forgot to mention that too.  That's in addition to the 16lbs in the b/c pouches.