weights

[aristoff]

being new to the sport ( finished last weekend at Little Long Lake) I have a question on weights.

last weekend I wore a 5mm wetsuit and 3mm vest and hood and needed 22 pounds of weight. this winter on vacation how would I know the weights needed in the ocean???

i will be wearing a 3mm wetsuit and i am 190 pounds.

is there a formula that calculates this or did i miss something in training.

Thanks

[freedivernd]

Congrats on finishing up the open waters!
best thing to do on winter vacation (if you're flying) is leave the lead at home and just use the dive boats/shops lead. If you can get in a shore dive first thing, then you can spend time getting your bouyancy right. If you're off a boat first thing, talk to the crew and dm and they'll have a pretty good idea (sometimes) of what weight you'll need, at least it will be a place to start. I don't know of any good formula for weight freshwater/thick suit verses salt water/ thin suit for calculating lead needs. (because I freedive and have ran into situations where dive shops wouldn't rent me extra lead because I was "just snorkeling", I end up always packing my lead. it's the pits.. fortunately between my wife and I we get by with 10lbs.)
Fred

[tpscuba]

I am 230 with my drysuit I use 26 lbs. I wear a 3/5 mm suit warm water hood and gloves and I use 9 to 12 lbs pending on the temp of the water

[jasondbaker]

aristoff we are about the same weight. I wore about 8-10lb the last time I was in the ocean with a full 3mil. I think 12 is a good starting point for you.

Use your first dive in the ocean to tune your weighting. The DM will probably give you too much weight initially. After one or two dives you should have it sorted out. You will drop some of the weight once you become more experienced.

[FMT]

For a 3mm suit in salt water you can start with about (body weight) - 6 pounds. That is not a scientific calculation but a "rule of thumb" based on anecdotal evidence. You can fine tune it after that and you will probably drop a couple of pounds after you get more comfortable diving. If you concentrate on relaxing and not kicking that alone can make a couple of pounds difference in being able to get down.
Congrats on your cert.
T

[DiveCaptDean]

Welcome to the underwater world...Congrats on your certification.
I agree with Jason...12 lbs is a good starting place. There is no doubt that you will shed alot of that off after a few dives. You are going to be excited, on your first few dives, and will either be breathing heavier, or will have the tendancy to hold more air in your lungs. Until you relax and get used to it all, you will be a little over weighted...SO WHAT!!! It will all work itself out in a few dives...You are there to enjoy yourself...concentrate on that! Make a effort to breathe slowly and deeply....this will relax you as well as help keep your boyancy under control. You will soon find yourself desiring to shed weight...
Most Importantly..............HAVE FUN

Deano

[Inspirationdiver]

I think you meant to say 10% of your body weight minus 6 lbs.

[Punky]

How's this for a beginer formula that just popped into my head and I played with on a calculator. This is with Al 80 tank.

[Body wt] x [mm of neoprene] x 2 x 1% = lead needed.

As I said this is something that just came to mind and it works with my setup and was close with some of the posts here.

[aristoff]

nice formula, Thanks for all the response

aristoff

[FMT]

Yes, you are correct sir.
I meant 10% - 6#.
T