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How much weight?!!

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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magnum166

New Member
Oct 16, 2004
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0
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I wouldn't call myself a beginner, however, I'm new to wearing a wetsuit. In fact, I now have three suits - one .5mm full body suit, one 3.2mm full body suit, and one two piece (with integrated hood) 3mm open cell suit. Some days I'm struggling to get off the surface and have to swim to the bottom; this obviously uses up a lot of air in the process. Other days, I can get down but notice that I really have to kick to get back to the surface. I am still positively bouyant on the surface. With the two piece suit I've had up to 20lbs. on my belt. As we move into the winter season I've been trying to find the most comfortable wetsuit for the conditions. Water temperature is about 77 degrees right now and I've heard that it will drop another 10 degrees in the next month. The two piece is too warm right now so I'm using the one piece 3.2mm suit with a separate hood. But with all the changes, I'm finding it hard to come up with the right weight combination. Also, I'm not sure how to determine where I become negatively bouyant. My guess is that the deepest I've routinely gone is about 45 feet. Is there any technique for properly determining the proper amount of weight? Also, at what depth should I become negatively bouyant? I've heard 15 feet. Thanks in advance! Magnum166
 
Hi magnum,

The right depth for neutral depends on what you are doing. Figure out where you want to be neutral, hang a line off the boat (or float), go to your chosen depth and see if you can stay there without moving, adjust weights as needed.

Ten meters is an often quoted standard, but some divers want to be neutral much deeper. For me(no suit) 10 m needs 2 lbs or less. However, for spearing in 40 ft or less, I often wear 5 or six pounds, because I want to be negative well before the bottom.

Connor
 
Magnum- the amount of weight you wear is dependant on a few things: Your size and weight ( a guy 6-3, 220 lbs and in a size 58 suit will need more than a guy 5-6, 165 in a 52), the water conditions and what you want to do.

The old standby to baseline is to: with your suit on and fins, mask and snorkel in, wear enough lead so that at the surface, when you exhale your face goes below the surface, and when you inhale, your mug floats above the water. Now you're nuetral at the surface, but heavy, not a bad thing if the water is rough and you're working the bottom but it'll suck large if you're over no bottom. Take 2-3 off and go to a comfortable depth for you, or your usual working depth and see what happens. If you find yourself sinking at 30' and you find yourself needing to kick to stay leveled out, head back to the float and lose another lb. There ya go.

The rest is technique. Enjoy.
 
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