Weights and diving dry

[travisd]

Yeah, I'm starting to think that the HP80's were not the best tank investment to make - though I feel that we got a good deal on them so should be able to recoup much of it when it's time to upgrade! (Tanks: The only thing in diving that sort of holds it's value!)

I honestly hadn't thought of tanks as a way to make ballast more useful, but that makes a lot of sense! And more air as a nice side effect! Sadly, that's probably going to wait (weight?) until I can convince my wife/buddy to try going dry too. It's already sort of working though - she's jealous that I'm already blowing bubbles this year, when she won't usually dive until June when the water gets a little warmer But... having the better tanks option in my back pocket will come in handy since she's already a little leery about the amount of lead that going dry costs.

I'm already seeing the slippery slope of going dry. After the 1st weekend I went and ordered dry gloves, and now I'm on the prowl for alternate undergarments for when it gets warmer. I'm already thinking of what I want to do next time I get a chance to go somewhere warm.

[travisd]

Second thought: move to a bigger steel tank with superior buoyancy characteristics.
Hp100 at minimum.
Hp130 preferred.

So, I pulled up the chart from Scubatoys.com on tank characteristics.

If I'm reading it right, an empty HP80 is -3 lbs, vs the HP130 @ -2. So I'd actually need *more* lead? ("full" is -9 and -11.7 respectively, but can't plan for weighting with full tanks, right?)

What am I missing here?

Thanks!

-travis

[LCF]

The only problem is that a big tank makes you more negative at the beginning of a dive, but not at the end . . . it's the empty buoyancy that's important.

Unfortunately, the weight you are describing doesn't seem entirely out of line to me. I use, as I said above, 31 pounds of ballast in salt water (so that would be about 26 in fresh), and I'm just about half your size. Although the TF is not very floaty, compared with the MK3 or Halo, you still have an awful lot of fluffy undergarment to sink.

[travisd]

Thanks Lynn - that's actually a great data point - if you're using that much, I'm surprised I'm not using more than I am, given the square yardage of Polartec I'm wearing

I'm looking forward to seeing how this changes as the water warms up and I shed some undergarment. I've already picked up some lighter Polartec from REI, and am keeping my eyes out for other options.