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How much weight ??
- Thread starterHEDS
- Start date
Thread Status: Hello
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The best simple answer I ever heard to this question
'one kilo per mm of wetsuit'
I can't remember if this was from the coach for the French team or one of the judges at the Pacific Cup. Surprising how good this advice is. Someone with high body fat will need a little more when they learn the gliding phase and most seem to take some off when they get below 40 meters or so.
There are slim, young divers in warm water that would balance better with more flotation and no weight. First time divers working on technique do well with the least amount of weight that lets them start down without struggling.
A long time ago, one of the best California fish shooters told me that if you can exhale at the surface and sink, take off some lead. Hard to beat that logic.
'one kilo per mm of wetsuit'
I can't remember if this was from the coach for the French team or one of the judges at the Pacific Cup. Surprising how good this advice is. Someone with high body fat will need a little more when they learn the gliding phase and most seem to take some off when they get below 40 meters or so.
There are slim, young divers in warm water that would balance better with more flotation and no weight. First time divers working on technique do well with the least amount of weight that lets them start down without struggling.
A long time ago, one of the best California fish shooters told me that if you can exhale at the surface and sink, take off some lead. Hard to beat that logic.
I have too many different combinations of suits, hooded vests, gloves, short booties, tall booties, even different fins that have different buoyancy, not to mention carrying a gun or camera, or whether I'm diving freshwater or saltwater. I used to try to remember weight for each suit, or make some sort of educated guess. Never made notes like I should after a dive, and never had too much success remembering. Now I've taken to the habit of taking too much weight to the water with me. Then I feel free to adjust precisely, then hide weights not used somewhere near my entry point -- underwater.
So far, I've never forgotten hidden weights; never lost any, never had anyone else find them. I know, it's not a real answer to your question, at least not what you were looking for, and it doesn't work for boat diving or drift diving, . . . the point is: it was an epiphany for me to make adjustments, and not try to dive too heavy or too light.
Getting your weight perfect makes a big difference I think; finding that balance between buoyant enough for for breath ups, but heavy enough for free falls to depth.
So far, I've never forgotten hidden weights; never lost any, never had anyone else find them. I know, it's not a real answer to your question, at least not what you were looking for, and it doesn't work for boat diving or drift diving, . . . the point is: it was an epiphany for me to make adjustments, and not try to dive too heavy or too light.
Getting your weight perfect makes a big difference I think; finding that balance between buoyant enough for for breath ups, but heavy enough for free falls to depth.
Bill's ideas are the correct criteria, but my best weighted feeling is always to be as buoyant as possible, even if that gives a little struggle on the surface BUT, you must not be too heavy at your desired depth.
I am very conservative and hate that stuck to the bottom feeling. If I am spear fishing in a 12M bottom I like to be neutral at 10M. That then allows me to still depart even with a few Kgs of fish o crab from the bottom without wishing I had and air bag!
Good luck, go conservative...dive safe
I am very conservative and hate that stuck to the bottom feeling. If I am spear fishing in a 12M bottom I like to be neutral at 10M. That then allows me to still depart even with a few Kgs of fish o crab from the bottom without wishing I had and air bag!
Good luck, go conservative...dive safe
I had the same question not long ago. The best answer is to find out how deep you are planing to go . If you are not going under 9 m you can carry more weight. More weight is good for shallow dive 5 to 9 m. If you are planing to go deep it is better if you don't carry much weight. If you are going under 10 m then it is better to be neutral around 7 m. But again it all deepens . When you are using a monofin is much easier to go down and then you use less weight .