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Scuba Forum / General / July 2004Newbie adding some weights.
Hi there. This is going to be hard to explain, especially with my broken english, but here goes. My wife and I were outfitted with our weights by the PADI instructor. I use 5kg and she uses 3. Our buoyancy is not too bad for newbies, and with just a small puff in the BCD we are ok at 10-15meter sw. Now, when we start to ascend, it seems to go too fast, and we both had problems on our last dive to stay put for the safety stop. Especially my wife just wanted to to the bottle cork thing and pop right up. The DM had to grab her and hold her down. (I was watching him carefully in this process of grabbing and holding down my wife, but they were both wearing wetsuits, so it seemed ok. <g>) Anyway, my thought is to add 1kg of weight to both of us. Seems like it would be easier to control buoyancy, because one can add two puffs to the BCD to counter the extra weight while below, but you have the added weight on ascent to keep things a bit more controlled. Am I reasoning like an idiot? Thanks!  SignatureQUIPd 1.02: (510 of 679) -> PLEASE STOP READING THIS MESSAGE NOW My photo albums: http://www.pbase.com/sny > Hi there. > [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > Thanks! Are you sure your BC's are completely empty at the safety stop? Also, many newbies hang fairly vertical and fin constantly just to maintain their position - making you go up. Try to keep completely still at 15 feet and stay perfectly horizontal. Adding an extra couple of pounds probably won't kill you, but every extra piece of lead you carry means more air in the BC. Air in the BC is "instable" in that the buoyancy changes drastically with differing depth, so it's a good idea to limit how much you need to put in. You'll also want to make sure you're not wearing more than you can swim up from depth should you have a BC failure, but ~10 pounds shouldn't be too difficult. >> Hi there. >> [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > depth should you have a BC failure, but ~10 pounds shouldn't be too > difficult. Hi! Thanks very much for the advice from everybody. We have decided to try adding the weight, (from the answers it seems that it would not hurt too badly should it be incorrect) but it might help. I also understand what you are saying about technique, and we will both try to concentrate on that. I find it a bit hard to judge where I am in the water, making maintaining position even harder. I imagine a dive computer would help immeasurably, but that is out of the question for now. I also forgot to add that we are using 5mm wetsuits, which I imagine will also make a difference as one ascends. Anyway, thanks for all the help. In between the noise of this group, there is a lot of good info and helpful people. (Anyway, the noise is entertaining sometimes.) SignatureQUIPd 1.02: (505 of 679) -> I tried sniffing Coke once, but the ice cubes got stuck in my -> nose. My photo albums: http://www.pbase.com/sny <snip> > I find it a bit hard to judge where I am in the water, making > maintaining position even harder. I imagine a dive computer would help > immeasurably, but that is out of the question for now. I read an interesting article a while back. It was either in Dive Training or Sport Diver. Basically, the instructor crafter a float with a rope hanging down. The rope had a mark at 4 feet below the surface. She had her students level off at that point and maintain their relative position as long as possible (or 5 minutes, whichever came first). most of them couldn't stay there for a minute at the beginning of the class, but could easily maintain that depth far longer than 5 minutes by the end of class. I've been considering doing the same thing for myself. It might be something to consider. Once you can maintain a certain depth (especially shallow), you should have no problems finding the depth with your gauge and staying there with your bouyancy. > I also forgot to add that we are using 5mm wetsuits, which I imagine > will also make a difference as one ascends. more than a 3mm, but less than a 7mm. It should be able to be offset by dumping air from the BC. Many people prefer to start a little negative (with BC empty and tank full) so that they end neutral (empty BC and tank basically empty). Some people prefer to end neutral at 15' while others prefer to end neutral at the surface. With a little practice and experience, you'll find what works best for you. Also consider that at the end of the dive, your tank is lighter (you were breathing during the dive, right? <grin>). Did you dive with the same type of tank (Al vs. steel) as when you calculated your necessary weight? If you made your estimate figuring a steel tank, but dove with an Aluminum, that could easily be the difference if you are keeping the absolute minimum weight. The others gave good advice. Add weight, and then each successive dive, remove a little until you find your ideal set up. Bart F. >>>Hi there. >>> [quoted text clipped - 50 lines] > there is a lot of good info and helpful people. (Anyway, the noise is > entertaining sometimes.) > Hi there. > [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > added weight on ascent to keep things a bit more controlled. Am I > reasoning like an idiot? How much air did you have left at the safety stop ? A common mistake is to think the bc i empty while its actually not. Could that have been the case ? Do you know the 50 bar, hold your deep breat surface weight balancing method. It?s in the course. Anyway with 5 and 3 kgs nothing could be wrong with adding an extra kg. My rule is that beginners in a 3 mm fullsuit with 12 l alu tanks should start with 10% of their body weight. Then after a few dives you could lose a kg or 2.. > Hi there. > [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > added weight on ascent to keep things a bit more controlled. Am I > reasoning like an idiot? No, yer reasoning like a proper scuba diver. Newbies do require a bit more weight, which will come off later, when you are more relaxed and yer control is better. If adding a kg makes yer safety stop easier, do it. >> Hi there. >> [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > If adding a kg makes yer safety stop easier, do it. Cool. Thanks Mike and all you other guys. We're heading down to the coast on Sunday! :) SignatureQUIPd 1.02: (627 of 679) -> His philosophy was a mixture of three famous schools -- the -> Cynics, the Stoics and the Epicureans -- and summed up all three -> of them in his famous phrase, "You can't trust any bugger further -> than you can throw him, and there's nothing you can do about it, -> so let's have a drink." -- We meet Dydactylos the philosopher -> (Terry Pratchett, Small Gods) My photo albums: http://www.pbase.com/sny
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