Northwest Dive Club

The last thing to purchase on my kit list is my weight. (As a woman that still sounds incredibly wrong)

My BC holds 30 lb comfortably, 5x2 in tank pockets and 10 x 2 up front. 1lb on each foot. I am looking for an alternative to the 8 lb weight belt I added the last time to dive salt. it's uncomfortable with my BC but loading my front BC pockets gave me a pretty severe forward list in the water that made keeping my face out of the water at entrance and exit too challenging.

Wondering what my options are that still leave me with enough weight to easily dump in an emergency.

I hope this question makes sense:) TYIA:)

Joanna

It wasn't clear to me, how much weight do you need total? And what type of tank would that be with?

I'm a big fan of the DUI Weight and Trim. Its still a weight belt, but a harness instead.

+1 for the weight harness. Gets the weight off your waist and onto your shoulders. It is still around your waist and still a bit in the way of your BC but not near as intrusive. And they are adjustable enough that it can hang below your BC if you really want it to.

If I'm reading correctly, you were using 38 pounds of ballast? What kind of tank did you have? If it was aluminum, the first thing I would do is switch to a steel tank. That will get rid of 5 - 6 pounds of needed ballast, and make your life easier. It should also help with the pitching forward problem, because the empty tank won't be pushing UP from behind.

I use 31 pounds of total ballast with a steel tank, and that includes a 20 pound weight belt, which I greatly prefer to any kind of integrated weight system.

It's going to be quite difficult to get more than about 30 pounds packed into a BC, and it's also important to remember that the BC needs to float with all the weights in it, which means if you are packing that much lead on your rig, you need a big air bladder with a lot of lift.

So at this point you need 38lb? I don't like having too much of my weight in the bcd pockets. If you lose one it gets interesting. I really like the DUI weight and trim setup. You can adjust it up and down on your body without it having to be around your waist, which I don't have. The weights are NOT going to get out by accident but can be ditched. I fit mine under the bottom of my bcd but could hang it lower below the bcd. On the other hand my wife has a waist and just wears a weight belt

My last weight configuration was 30 on my BC, 2 on each ankle, an 8 lb weight belt for a total of 44 lb. I had NO trouble getting down and had significant difficulty regulating my buoyancy. I was diving with a steel tank. Next trip was going to be 1 lb on each ankle, a weight plate of 16? lbs and then after putting 5 lb x 2 in the tank pockets making seeing how little I could get away with. Any recommendations on brands or places to buy plates?

44 pounds with a steel tank? I think I know why you were having problems with your buoyancy.

Where are you in the PNW? If you're in the Seattle area, I'd be happy to meet up with you and help you get your weighting straightened out. I think you are probably grossly overweighted, and it's making your life quite difficult, both in trying to figure out where to put all the weight, and in trying to manage your buoyancy when you have so much air in your BC.

LCF wrote:44 pounds with a steel tank? I think I know why you were having problems with your buoyancy.

Where are you in the PNW? If you're in the Seattle area, I'd be happy to meet up with you and help you get your weighting straightened out. I think you are probably grossly overweighted, and it's making your life quite difficult, both in trying to figure out where to put all the weight, and in trying to manage your buoyancy when you have so much air in your BC.

+1 To LCF's comment. I think you're diving far too much weight and I'm happy to come out and help you configure your weight. I went through the same struggle with weight integration on my previous vest style BC and have some ideas on how to shift things around for you.

Just as a rough rule of thumb, weighting for the PNW (assuming drysuit or 7mm wetsuit) should be 1/10th your weight + 10lbs (-4/-5 lbs for steel tank).

-Kyle

Boandmaggiesmom wrote:My last weight configuration was 30 on my BC, 2 on each ankle, an 8 lb weight belt for a total of 44 lb. I had NO trouble getting down and had significant difficulty regulating my buoyancy. I was diving with a steel tank. Next trip was going to be 1 lb on each ankle, a weight plate of 16? lbs and then after putting 5 lb x 2 in the tank pockets making seeing how little I could get away with. Any recommendations on brands or places to buy plates?

I don't see that you've mentioned which BC you have. Is it capable of having a backplate added to it, or are you looking to try a different setup - such as a backplate/wing?

Your feeling of being pitched forward is not uncommon among newly minted divers, especially when using a BC that features a back-inflate bladder (vs. a jacket style bladder). Keep in mind that entry/exit is only a brief portion of your diving experience. The majority of the time you actually want to be prone/belly-down, to provide better streamlining and lessen swimming effort. Your weighting takes this into account as well - one reason why your BC is capable of carrying 20lbs in the front, and 10lbs in the rear pockets. As your dive log grows, the awkward feeling of being pictched forward while on the surface will lessen. You will adjust to the feeling, and learn to control it...to the point where you won't notice it at all.

I would take LCF up on her gracious offer to help dial in your weighting. She's a PADI Pro, has a ton of experience, and knows her stuff. I too suspect that you're a bit overweighted, which can cause havoc with controlling your buoyancy. Get that fixed first, and go from there.

BTW, my math has the weighting of your last dive at 42lbs, not 44 - you've dropped weight already!

I kind of thought I was waaayyyy over weight. When my new to me drysuit comes back from dui I'm going to hit the river. Start with Kyle s calculation... which would have me carrying 28 lbs using aluminum.

Thank you all for your feedback and the offers. If it still isn't working right after the river trip I'll be calling to get some help.

Boandmaggiesmom wrote:I kind of thought I was waaayyyy over weight. When my new to me drysuit comes back from dui I'm going to hit the river. Start with Kyle s calculation... which would have me carrying 28 lbs using aluminum.

Maggie,

You mentioned hitting the river, so one last throw in, if you're diving in fresh water you'll actually be less bouyant than in salt water. So for fresh water you can take off another 4-6 lbs of weight

Thank you:)

Where are you in the PNW? If you're in the Seattle area, I'd be happy to meet up with you and help you get your weighting straightened out. I think you are probably grossly overweighted, and it's making your life quite difficult, both in trying to figure out where to put all the weight, and in trying to manage your buoyancy when you have so much air in your BC.[/quote]


I'm in Tri cities WA. Thank you for the offer of help. I will definitely take you up on it when I get everything together and get over to the wet side:)

Ahh -- you might want to send a message to airsix, who is a board member here and lives in the TriCities. Super nice guy, and he should be able to help you get this sorted. Tell him I sent you

So tonite was the inaugural dive in my new to me drysuit and weight reconfiguration. It was heavenly! 29 lbs of lead. ... buoyancy was so easy in comparison to last time. I think the ankle weights may still be a little to heavy but all on all it was fantastic! !! Navigating dive completed. .. and with it my advanced certification is done. Nitrox texts are sitting in front of me:) we dove the Columbia. .. visibility was 3 to 5 feet. Perfect for navigation:) I had so much fun:);) I think I'm well and truly hooked:)