Posted by ChrisM on October 23, 2004 at 11:34:59:
In Reply to: Question about require BC lift and weight. posted by Nitrox36 on October 22, 2004 at 21:54:14:
The short answer to your question is no, you will not need a BC with additional lift. Think about it, you are now wearing a drysuit that has what, a hundred pounds of lift? So should the sh** hit the fan, you can use the suit.
But re: the advice you got re: lift, that is wrong. Lift required in a BC does NOT = weight carried for buoyancy.
Think of it this way: If properly weighted -- whether it's 10 # or 40# - you should theoretically be NEUTRAL at depth, IOW, to get to the surface you should only need to kick upward.
I say theoretically neutral because you do have to adjust that for two things: 1) compression of westuit or neoprene drysuit; 2) weight of air in tank. Thus, you will be heaviest at the beginning/deepest of the dive. As you ascend, and as your tank becomes lighter, those numbers change, and you will become more neutral (hence the bc check at the end of the dive with 500 psi or so)
But just because you wear 35# of lead, does NOT mean you need to have 35# + some number of lift. You do need, on the other hand, to ensure that the BC floats you out of the water adequately. With a wetsuit, the buoyancy of the wetsuit usually takes care of that. With a drysuit, you'll just have to test it.
You MIGHT need add'l weight with the drysuit but only to the extent you use thick undergarments. I wear about 4# more with a drysuit than a wetsuit, many poeple wear the same r even less.
Chris