How much weight?

[Iqjumpuw]

Hey guys

I was just curious how much weight you guys dive with?

5'7"
145lbs
drysuit
HP80 or HP100 steel tank

I put on 30lbs. Do you think that's too much? Most divers I've met say they put on 22lbs to 28lbs and they are a lot bigger than me. I tried the "sink test" with 28lbs at shallow water and I couldn't sink but now I'm thinking there may have been air in my drysuit or in my BC. What do you guys think and how much weight do you usually put on?

[Linedog]

5'11" 220 pounds 130 HP Steel tank, Apollo drysuit, 200 gram undergarment, 34 pounds.
YMMV.

[LowDrag]

Two different weights here:

6'2", 250ish (shhh ) White's Fusion Bullet, 5mm hood, 3mm gloves, DRIS 1000 light, dive knife, EMT shears, rock boots and a BP&W.

If I dive dry with my Under Armor only I weight out at about 22-24 lbs.

When I dive with my Thermal Fusion, I omit the UA and put on about 35 lbs. I have not done a formal weight check with my Thermal Fusion yet but it is pretty close.

This is going to change this weekend I think though. I bought a new BP&W that is a bit heavier so my weight is going to change.


Oh...one other thing. That was with an AL80


Added some stuff to the list above.

[winte.r]

5'8, 180....~10% bf
TLS-350 w/polar fleece
HP-100
Zeagle Ranger (not a bp/w)
I use 18 pounds

--Crouch in a cannonball position and get ALL of the air out before you do a weight check. If I don't bother to get all the air out of my suit I have to swim down at the start of a dive, but I hold a stop w/way less than 500 psi no problem. When my bp/w gets here I think I'm going to set it up with no ditchable weight at all.

[Desert Diver]

Obviously I m grossly overweighted. 5' 11" 210, DUI CF drysuit, Seaquest BCD, Some type of Whites undergarment with additional long underwear, Neoprene boots, heavy hood. About 50lb with an AL80 and 44lb with a steel 100. I can dive with 5 or 6 lb less but like the air in my suit for insulation. With 6 lb less I need to really drain my suit on a safety stop if my air is below 1000lb. Yes my BCD is empty. It always ends up with water in it.

[LowDrag]

Obviously I m grossly overweighted. 5' 11" 210, DUI CF drysuit, Seaquest BCD, Some type of Whites undergarment with additional long underwear, Neoprene boots, heavy hood. About 50lb with an AL80 and 44lb with a steel 100. I can dive with 5 or 6 lb less but like the air in my suit for insulation. With 6 lb less I need to really drain my suit on a safety stop if my air is below 1000lb. Yes my BCD is empty. It always ends up with water in it.

From what I have seen this is normal. The only BC I have seen so far that doesn't take on water when venting is my wife's AquaLung Lotus. It has one way valves on it so it can't get water inside. I am not sure which BC's in AquaLung's line have the same valves but I believe there are at least a few more. We used to dive ScubaPro jackets and they took on water as did my Hollis S38 BP&W.

[Desert Diver]

Yep, but I tend to get a lot because I'm checking too often to see if there is any more air that will come out.

[BillZ]

Hey guys

I was just curious how much weight you guys dive with?

5'7"
145lbs
drysuit
HP80 or HP100 steel tank

I put on 30lbs. Do you think that's too much? Most divers I've met say they put on 22lbs to 28lbs and they are a lot bigger than me. I tried the "sink test" with 28lbs at shallow water and I couldn't sink but now I'm thinking there may have been air in my drysuit or in my BC. What do you guys think and how much weight do you usually put on?

Weighting really is an individual thing - There are so many variables (gear,your natural buoyancy, etc.) that it's almost impossible to narrow down your individual weighting requirements by asking people how much lead they carry.

There are two things that I see most newer divers do that keeps them from sinking; Holding their breath and kicking. Both are instinctive i.e. the divers don't really know that their doing it.

So to do a proper weight test here's what I have people do. It's best if you do this with a buddy who can help you add/subtract a few pounds of lead while your doing the test.
1 - Drain their tank to 500 PSI (typically we'll do a weight test after a dive)
2- Swim on the surface out to about 10 ft. of water and relax for a few minutes
3 - When your relaxed and ready to descend; Dump the air in your BC/drysuit, cross your legs (The crossing your legs bit keeps you from unknowingly kicking) and fully exhale. Don't inhale until you're a few feet under the surface.
4 - Lay prone on the bottom and slowly breathe in and out, If you're properly weighted you should pivot on your knees when you inhale and sink when you exhale. If you're stuck on the bottom you're heavy and need to subtract some lead, if you're legs float off the bottom you need to add more lead.

[BillZ]

Hey guys

I was just curious how much weight you guys dive with?

5'7"
145lbs
drysuit
HP80 or HP100 steel tank

I put on 30lbs. Do you think that's too much? Most divers I've met say they put on 22lbs to 28lbs and they are a lot bigger than me. I tried the "sink test" with 28lbs at shallow water and I couldn't sink but now I'm thinking there may have been air in my drysuit or in my BC. What do you guys think and how much weight do you usually put on?

Weighting really is an individual thing - There are so many variables (gear,your natural buoyancy, etc.) that it's almost impossible to narrow down your individual weighting requirements by asking people how much lead they carry.

There are two things that I see most newer divers do that keeps them from sinking; Holding their breath and kicking. Both are instinctive i.e. the divers don't really know that their doing it.

So to do a proper weight test here's what I have people do. It's best if you do this with a buddy who can help you add/subtract a few pounds of lead while your doing the test.
1 - Drain their tank to 500 PSI (typically we'll do a weight test after a dive)
2- Swim on the surface out to about 10 ft. of water and relax for a few minutes
3 - When your relaxed and ready to descend; Dump the air in your BC/drysuit, cross your legs (The crossing your legs bit keeps you from unknowingly kicking) and fully exhale. Don't inhale until you're a few feet under the surface.
4 - Lay prone on the bottom and slowly breathe in and out, If you're properly weighted you should pivot on your knees when you inhale and sink when you exhale. If you're stuck on the bottom you're heavy and need to subtract some lead, if you're legs float off the bottom you need to add more lead.

[coulterboy]

I'm 5'6", 145 lbs., diving with stainless steel backplate, stainless steel STA, drysuit, 32 lb. wing - whether I use an HP 100 or an HP80, I just use 14 lbs. - anytime.

I even knocked out 2 pounds one time and dove with just 12 lbs, and buoyancy and trim was fine.

[Desert Diver]

I just looked up a body surface area calculator. Choosing one, my overweight body has 3337 square inches. Coulterboy's has 2704 Sq in. So if we assume that we displace 1/4" of water all around our body with air, yes I know the suit weighs something, I will displace 834 cubic inches of water/231 cubic inches per gallon times 8.34 lb per gallon or 30.1 lbs of water with my suit. Skinny little Coulterboy will displace 24.4 lb of water with his. That plus the weight of his STA and backplate do not make up the weighting differences between us, probably even with accounting for the fact that "fat floats", and that may add 7 or so lb to the difference. Adding 1/16" of insulation to my suit adds another 7.5 lb of lift and only 6.1 lb to Coulterboy.

My point? Who knows, but big, fat bodies take a lot more weight to sink and a little more insulation really makes a difference.

[Gdog]

Ok. So we are having weight disclosure time. I weigh 209 lbs. 6'2". With my steel 119, drysuit, bcd, appropriate undies, I wear 29 lbs weight.

[CaptnJack]

My point? Who knows, but big, fat bodies take a lot more weight to sink and a little more insulation really makes a difference.

Skinny people, if they are going to stay warm, generally need way more lead than people think. Air based insulation requires far more lead to counteract than lipid based insulation.

Comparing "how much lead do you need" is really rather pointless and emphasizing all the wrong things. Carrying alot or very little lead is not a "badge of honor". You need what you need and some low lead divers suck while some excellent divers like LCF wear a crapload of weight despite being built like little tweety birds.

[LCF]

5'4", 120 lbs, laminate suit, steel tank, I need 29 to 31 pounds, depending on undergarment. Wish it weren't so.

Richard nailed it.

[Jeff Pack]

Like Richard says, it is, what it is. My CCR instructor carrying 1 40, carried 45 pounds of lead. When I carried 45 pounds and a 40, I sunk like a rock.

Ultimately you just have to work out your own proper weighting, anyone elses weighting is just a ball park number.