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How much weights to use?

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lawstraljan16

Active Member
Jul 9, 2012
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Is there a calculation on how many weights you should be using? Suit thickness, body weight etc. (Salt water)

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The rule of thumb i've heard most, is: For every mm of full body neoprene wetsuit, you need to compensate with a kg of lead.
So a 5 mm needs 5 kg to keep it neutral.

on top of that, take into consideration your lung volume, amount of body fat, etc.

Then, there's the whole discussion of; at which depth do you want to be neutral?
i'm a competitive freediver with a 1,5 mm suit and 1.85 kg neckweight, i'm neutral at -14m (packing an extra half litre of air before diving.) As a spearo, you probably want to be heavier than that.
 
i hear 10% of your body weight but i found i needed 1.5kgs less luckily i tested it in shallow water first.
 
10% is definitely to much. In a pool, no suit, I use 4,5 kg, packing a lot. I'm 74 kg of skin and bones, so you do the math...

sendt fra min mobil
Mvh Tue
 
Yeah 10% is 6.5kg for me. I weigh 64kg and I was using 6-7kg and I was sinking like a rock (5mm suit)

Im currently using 4 or 5kg and weight is perfect fo me. I guess it depends on the person, you gotta test and find the best weight ratio for you.

Thanks guys.

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10% is what scuba dive instructors tell you so you will definately sink, I know because I do it myself sometimes, which is fine when you have a bcd and a tank of air.....way to much for freediving
 
I am fit, but lean, 150lbs and 6 foot. I dive in the ocean exclusively, and I wear 10 or 11lb when diving 50ft-80ft and I will wear 12-13lb when diving 0-30ft. Keep in mind, this is what I wear for aggresive spearfishing not freediving alone.
 
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I am fit, but lean, 150lbs and 6 foot. I dive in the ocean exclusively, and I wear 10 or 11lb when diving 50ft-80ft and I will wear 12-13lb when diving 0-30ft. Keep in mind, this is what I wear for aggresive spearfishing not freediving alone.


So in 0-30 ft you are wearing apx. 8% of your body weight.
50-80 ft 7% of your body weight.

I would say try lighter weight first in shallow water like 5% then work your way up to where you feel right, meaning the way you feel with no suit on.
Take some 5lb, 1lb and 2lb weights with you, that way you can even spread the weight on your belt.

I learned this the hard way, the first time in a 5mm suit over weighted didn't go in shallow first. I worked my a** off to get back without dumping my belt.
 
Always good to start light as others have mentioned, then tweak from there.
I cringe when I see guys on holidays with their brand new gear going out with an entire belt full of lead weights!!!
 
4.5kg was about right for me with a 5mm suit, neutral around -10m... (I was 70kg at the time, body not very buoyant).

I tried after a long time this week with 4kg and no suit and I was definitely heavy (probably neutral around -3m) but max depth was 10m and mainly 6-7m so felt about right for what I needed...
 
Hi guys im new to the sport.
Got all my gear but im yet to do my first dive. This is a question i had but the info here really helped me alot thanx

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Anyway so took ur guys advice and did my first dive using 8% 5mm wetsuit and i weigh 56kg. I ended up flapping on the surface like a duck lol.:D
 
Oh and my duck dive was perfect coz the guy with said it looked good but i was just too bouyant

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For depth freediving, I use 2kg in freshwater with a 5mm suit.

I'm neutrally buoyant at -14m set up like this.

I have no problems with a good duck dive.
 
There was a VERY shallow wreck once (between 1 and 5m deep) so I purposely weighted myself HEAVY with 16lbs of lead with my 5mm in freshwater and I found some 15-20m deep areas and was able to just duckdive into free fall down to the bottom.

That's obviously WAY too heavy and coming back (especially without fins) was more work than ideal... But it was a fun and relaxing ride down.

It's scary that spearos often weigh themselves like that.

I don't suggest it!
 
Everybody should be able to do a decent duckdive, even when very buoyant. Will starts a 100m CNF dive with 8-9 liters of air in his lungs, and no neck weight, plus a 1,5mm suit.

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The amount of lead you need depends on your target depth. In recreational freediving and spearfishing you should be slightly negatively bouyant or neutral at the depth you will dive most of the time. The deeper you plan to dive the less lead you take. For instance I take 8kg with a 5mm suit when I go for a recreational dive in a lake in the range of 4-6m. I'm neutrally bouyant at ~4m. When I go for deep diving I take only 3kg (I'm neutral at ~10m). Of course the most important rule is that you must be clearly positively bouyant on the surface. Breast stroke made just after duck dive helps a lot when you are very buoyant.
 
Ok will give it a try!
I weigh 56kg and i got 4.5kg on my belt at the moment so i will try to improve my duck dive

The depth i intend to dive is 8-10m

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I'm also newish to spearing and followed Ken Jones advice of being neutral @ 10m. Didn't bother with any formula, just trial and error, starting light, then adding. I don't have dive watch yet so I spliced pieces of string into my float line every metre.
For me in a two piece 1.5 mm suit, I'm wearing 9lb (4.5kg).
I've been hunting a fair bit at the same location where the bottom (and fish) are between 4 and 10 m. Being neutral at the depth I'm hunting at is so comfortable that I've tied an extra 4lb of weight 4m down my float line (another Ken Jones tip) and hold it in my gun hand while diving (so I can equalise) then hold it in my left while on the bottom and let go of it when I surface. If the extra 4lb is on my belt, I sink at the surface when exhaling...not good and I become uncomfortably negative at 8m...also not good. This way I can be closer to neutral over the whole site.
 
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