Dry suit weighting

[JoelW]

I have found that I work out the weighting a little differently than others. I don't worry about the tank initially. When I have gone to different layers underneath the suit I set up everything and the leave the tank and reg off. I then get into the water, make sure that the suit is purged and determine the amount of weight necessary to sink. After that I need to account for the tank and reg. An Al80 is +4 empty and -2 full. Add a reg and it works out to about +3 empty and -3 full. To make sure that I can sink with an Al80 I add to 3 more pounds to make up for the +3 that the AL80 is empty. Now I know that I can sink with an empy tank and will be slightly negative with 500 in the tank. For other tanks I work out the variation from an Al80. For example, the tanks that I normally use are LP95s. I know that they are 6# more negative than the Al80s. So I take 6# off for steels. It has worked so far. Of course, I am counting on the data for the tanks being accurate. But, even if it is slighly off I can add a pound or two as insurance.

One thing about heavier weighting is what has been said before, placement of the weight makes a big difference. Steels are nice because they lay the weight along your spine and make trim easier to hold.

JoelW