Bouyancy and Lead Weighting Fact Check
Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 2:23 pm
I'm trying to understand buoyancy and played with this calculator, http://www.divebuddy.com/calculator/weight.aspx. Here is what I observe with respect to Northwest drysuit diving for a 175 lbs diver. Does this ring true?
- Carl
- Going from Steel 100 to Steel 80 would lightens weights by 2 lbs (+ the weight of the tank)
- Going from novice to proficient is worth 6 lbs of lead!
- A body weight change of 10 lbs is worth 2 lbs
- question: How much difference is there among cold-water, drysuit undergarments with respect to buoyancy?
- Various other sources say that lung size changes buoyancy by 8 to 10 lbs. I assume this is the mechanism by which divers with more experience need less lead, right?
- According to http://scuba.about.com/od/scuba101/p/Bu ... Divers.htm (see quote below), overweighting makes it harder to control buoyancy.
- Carl
Divers with an excessive amount of weight will have a more difficult time controlling their buoyancy. The more weight a diver uses, the more air he will need to add to his BCD to compensate for the negative buoyancy from his weights. As air in a diver's BCD expands and compresses with any small change in depth, the more air he has in his BCD, and the greater volume air that is expanding and compressing. This makes it more difficult for the diver to control his buoyancy as he changes depth.