a question of weight

[flipperisalive]

I heard that with more dive experience, one learns how to sink with less weight than when one first stated diving... any truth to this? Also, when you descend, do you just sink feet first or do you swim head down until you find the right buoyancy?...
And a big thanks to all who replied to the foggy mask problem!!!

[nellamit]

Yes, I believe it is true for most people. I think a big part of it is that as you gain more dive experience and get more comfortable in the water you will tend to hold less air in you lungs, making you less bouyant. When I descend, I almost immediately move into a horizontal position.

[NorthlandDivers]

There is also another variable involved.  If you are diving with a wet suit it will suffer from compression over time.  So as the suit gets older or if you do a lot of deep diving you will need less weight.  Consequently of course if you purchase a new suit you will again need more weight.  But yes as you do more diving get more comfortable in the water you will need less weight.

[arcFlash]

I believe weight is something you learn to control. It's like a musical instrument in that anything will do when you start out. After you learn what you're doing you learn to make the most from the least. Your ear starts to demand better sound or control. You start to feel the weight working for you or if you have too much, against you.

[DiverQueen]

Yeah...I started with about 26lbs and had trouble staying afloat on surface.  I now use about 19lbs, this is my third season. 

Head first or feet first is a personal preference, as well as where you are diving.  In our nice clear pits, feet first lets you see it all on your way down.  It's also easier for clearing your ears/nose pinch...  As you get more comfortable, you will find that doing a surface dive to get under water will allow you to get down quicker with less weight on board.  Once you get down 10 feet or more, the water pressure against your suit (especially neoprene) will reduce your natural buoyancy. 

The type of tank you use has variations you need to take into account as well.  A standard Al80 will be about 5lbs positively buoyant when nearly empty.  This may cause you to lose control when it's time to surface.  This is why buoyancy checks should be done with a tank with only 500psi in it.

Changes in gear configurations (adding a stage tank for example  : )  will require another buoyancy check!!!

Best wishes and good luck!

[flipperisalive]

thanks for the tips fellow divers! This site rocks! ;D

[mcdiver]

All things being equal, the amount of weight you need to "get down" is a direct corolation to the number of dives you have, when first learning to dive. You would be amazed at the amount of air you hold in your lungs, without even trying or thinking about it.

I believe that when I first started diving, I was probably carrying about 30 plus pounds of weight (I weight about 195). After just one year of diving, I was down to the lower twenties for weight required, now after diving for about 10 years, I now carry 12 pounds of weight. You would be surprised at the weight reduction once you become more relaxed in the water.

Happy Bubbles