To achieve neutral buoyancy and have good control over buoyancy underwater a diver needs to be properly weighted with lead weights usually attached to a scuba weight belt. The choice of a type of is more personal preference than anything however, knowing how many weights to use based on your body, exposure suit and scuba equipment is crucial for good diving.
In order to determine the correct amount of weights one should wear when diving to achieve perfect buoyancy you should perform the following weight check-
There are two factors to consider for the test to work properly-
1) You should try this in the same kind of water you’ll be diving in -fresh water or salt water (as salinity affects a diver’s buoyancy making them more buoyant in salt water than in fresh water because salt water is denser than fresh water- A Divers Guide to Ocean Salinity).
2) Ideally you should check weighting using an almost empty tank of air (i.e at 50 bar). If you are using a full scuba cylinder, you will need to add a 2 pound (1 kg) weight to compensate for the air which will make you more positively buoyant.
How to determine proper weighting in water:
- Wearing full Scuba gear and estimated weights, start the check.
- Take a regular breath with your regulator and hold it (only for this weight test, not while diving)
- Holding your deflator above your head, let all the air out of your Buoyancy Compensator (BCD).
- Ideally the water level should come up to your eye level when you float or mid face. You should neither sink nor float but stay steady at that level.
- If you start sinking, you should drop a weight and try again or if the water comes to lower than your head you need more weight, before you proceed.
- Then exhale fully and keep perfectly still without kicking up. At this stage you should sink if you are properly weighted. If you’re having difficulty sinking, you need to more weights.
Try renting out different weight belts and test your buoyancy and trim to see what works best for you. Here’s a look at the most common type of weight belts available today- Types of Scuba Diving Weight Belts
