Posted by Richard_in_Newport on October 23, 2004 at 16:09:38:
In Reply to: Question about require BC lift and weight. posted by Nitrox36 on October 22, 2004 at 21:54:14:
For Channel Islands diving over the past 7 years I have worn a 2-mm Northern Diver crushed neoprene drysuit (used to be bright red; now faded to red-orange) + 16 lbs weight + ankle weights (1.5 lbs each)-- with sufficient undergarments to keep me warm down to 48 deg. F. (If the water is warmer than about 60 deg. F, I wear lighter underwear, and drop 2 lbs off the weightbelt, i.e., go to 14 lbs.) (I used to use a steel-95 tank, but have recently switched to a Pressed Steel 120.) In any event, I don't wear a BC, only a backpack: I'm weighted such that, when I add air to the drysuit to relieve suit squeeze, that is also just the right amount of air to keep me neutrally bouyant at whatever depth I happen to be at-- from the surface to well below scuba police limits. And, should I need to keep myself floating at the surface, I simply add a LITTLE extra air to the drysuit. This didn't happen overnight-- it took me about 200 dives (constantly practicing my bouyancy control and adjusting my weighting) to build enough experience in all kinds of conditions in these waters to be able to dive my drysuit (or a wetsuit) with just a backpack. However, as Chris has pointed out elsewhere on the BBS, the simplicity and sheer feeling of freedom of backpack diving is well worth the effort!