weights

[land shark]

hi all! im new to the forum.

I've been reading this forum for some time now, I really enjoy it.
I'm new to scuba diving but have done some snorkeling in the past.
Soon i hope to have my c card
I've been reading a lot about the dir stuff it makes a lot of sense
IMHO.
It seems to me that trim is everything somthing I hope to improve on.
A new term has entered my education "ditchable weight"

I own a two piece 7 mm wet suit. its quite warm i like it.
but i have to wear 35 pounds to get bouyancy. not a prob, but all on my hips is a big pain. ;D

So as i plan my new Dir rig , and my diving future "how are u guys
distributing ur weight." I would be curious to know ?

p.s. btw Dairyland Jon, i enjoy ur pics. its nice to see some of the old dive sites again.

[LKunze]

Get a heavy stainless steel backplate. I use a 6 lb. plate but I think you can get a 9 lb. plate as well. Also a single tank adaptor (STA) will give you a couple more lbs. of weight as well. A steel tank helps too. I know some say not to use steel tanks with wetsuits but I don't think it's really an issue if the majority of your weight is on a belt that's ditchable. I've always used steel tanks even when I used to dive wet.

[Omicron]

land shark,

Welcome to the board.

I dive using a drysuit, a SS backplate, a single tank adapter and high pressure steel tanks. I need about 4lbs on my weight belt when diving cold water and full insulation, and 0lbs when diving warm water with just my long underwear on underneath.

When you just start diving, you need a lot of weight. You will find that the more you dive, the more weight you will lose.

When I started in my 7mm wetsuit I was using 24lbs. After a year, I was down to about 14. Between adding a backplate and steel tanks and switching to a drysuit, I'm down to 4.

A HUGE part of losing weight off your belt is realizing you probably don't need most of it. Get relaxed....really relaxed. Slow your breathing down, be sure to exhale ALL of the air in your longs. Quit moving your feet and legs when you try to sink.

I notice even now - sometimes I'll think I'm too light - and then I just slow down, relax, breathe...exhale alllllll the way. And before I know it, I'm adding a bit of air to my BC because I'm sinking too much.

Becoming neutral in the water with good trim is a big part mindset. Being comfortable in the water - relaxed breathing, exhaling all the way, no excessive movement....as you get to this point in the water you will find that you are able to drop more and more weight.

One of the biggest points that I learned in my cave classes is that most people dive overweighted. Instead of looking at technique in the water as the reason you can't sink, people just add more weight. To quote padi "Stop, Breathe, Think, Act".

If all else, it's just an excuse to dive more ;D

And if you are planning on the hogarthian style of diving - heck, even if you aren't - I would highly, highly, highly recommend a backplate over the recreation style bc. Once you dive in one of them, you'll never go back. The brand doesn't really matter...but there's nothing like a backplate!

[Rik]

Relax,
Don't Worry be happy!
The more you dive the less weight you need?
I was told this last year when I began diving; I didn't totaly believe it then!
Last year with a 7ml suite at one time I was up to 28 lbs.
Now only 10 dives later with a 7ml suite and a 3ml core warmer on my last dive I dove with 22 lbs and I was defintlly over weighted!
I had enouf extra weight to pull down myself and and a 260+ pound buddy whom had some BC hase problems.
Some of these "OLD Guys" know what their talking about!
Don't be in a rush to decend, relax at the surface, breath slow, exhale and you will sink!
Good luck, I'm learning with every dive;
Watch and ask those who know, their helping me out on every dive!

[land shark]

sound advice thanks for the reinforcement.

ok, for example, if i get a aluminum back plate, like Dairyland Jon suggested, then i have approx 6 pounds to play with for trim on my back plate?

also could i put some of that weight on my plate as a bank to be withdrawn later?

if so what would be a reasonable amount to carry on my hips?
or is there a percentage that guys use as a rule of thumb?like 60/40 ??

[matt t.]

A lead channel wight can be poured to fit the channel in your back plate. This will be "permanent" for each dive, but can be removed at any other time. I don't know of any "rule of thumb" for weight placement. Mostly you will position the weight to achieve the best possible trim you can. Some companies sell weight pockets that will slide onto the waist belt of your harness (Halcyon and Dive Rite) if you want/need ditchable weight (without dumping your WHOLE weight belt), and there are trim weight pouches that will fit onto your tank bands, these you would place on the top or bottom band depending on if you are "head or feet heavy". If you ask around I'm sure there are people around that have some of this stuff laying around that you can try before buying, so you KNOW what will work for you. I can't tell you how much $ I've spent "trying" stuff....

Matt

[Omicron]

It is nice to have a small amount of ditchable weight in case of emergency. However, with some setups it's not really possible - I only have 4 lbs with a single tank. If I dive warmer water in my drysuit, I can't have any weight. If I dive doubles, I DEFINITELY don't have any weight and I'm overweighted as well.

The amount that you should have as ditchable varies - it should be enough to pretty much make you buoyant at depth.

There are definitely methodologies to estimating your weight needed - I just kinda swing mine from experience. When I switched from a softpack style harness to my backplate, I dropped a little more weight. Everytime you add/remove something, try and guesstimate how much weight you should add/remove to compensate. At the end of the dive, test it out - make sure you're neutral between 10-20 feet.

[FreediveWI]

For warm, saltwater, diving I use a full 3mm suit and 6 pounds of weight if I use an aluminum 80- 4 pounds if I use a 50. With a plastic, or aluminum back plate, I will add that weight into the two trim pockets on my top tank band- I can still reach back and realease these, but not everyone might be able to. This really trims me out nicely and I can dump the weight if I need to. If I wear my light canister, nothing like an HID light to brighten up a night dive in the ocean 8), I don't need any extra weight.

For diving around here, drysuit, I use a stainless steel back plate and a single steel bottle, like a 95 or a 104. With this set-up I need no extra weight, even with a full thinsulate jumpsuit, and am not worried about ditchable weight since I have a back up to my BC, my drysuit. IF I wear doubles I may need to switch to an aluminum backplate so I am not too overweighted- depedning upon the type of tanks

IF your diving with a cansiter light IT becomes your ditchable weight.

Everything else people have said on here makes a lot of sense. THe more you dive the less weight you will need, weight yourself to be neutral @15' with 500 psi in your tank, slow down and relax on your initial descent, make sure you have all of the bubbles out of your wetsuit and BC when you first weight yourself, split up your weight if your diving a thick wetsuit, make a P-wieght (molded into the groove of your back plate, if you need extra weigth for a drysuit, ect.

Jon

[land shark]

egads! :o

bubbles in the wet suit! I forgot, I had my dock pants underneath. those things can hold a huge bubble all day on their own! No wonder i had to work at getting down.

u guys already helped me ;D, thanks