Welcome to Water Tip Wednesday I’m Jackie Troller, with Oceantoller snorkeling and free diving sharing with you how to find the right amount of weight for free diving.

Untrained snorkelers and free divers tend to overweight themselves, which I guess is good for a ride down. But what about having the kick all of that weight back up to the surface in the most crucial part of your dive 90% of blackouts happen at the surface even after a divers taken a breath or two. So over weighting yourself could cost you your life, finding the right amount of weights depends on your body size, weight, body composition, wetsuit thickness, and whether you’re diving in freshwater versus saltwater. A general rule for Saltwater is that if you’re wearing a three millimeter wet suit, you’ll be about two to four pounds, five mil six to eight pounds, seven mil 10 to 12 pounds, it’s helpful to use smaller weight increments because on average, my students are only off by one to two pounds. To further customize your weight, you’ll want to get in the water with your wetsuit and wet belt. Perform a peak inhale, which means you’re inhaling with your diaphragm, chest shoulders. And upon holding your breath without kicking or sculling, the waterline should be about collarbone. The goal is to be neutrally buoyant at 10 meters or 33 feet again, this is because 90% of blackouts happen at the surface and 9% of blackouts happen between 15 feet and the surface. Well, that’s your water tip for today. See you guys next time! Never dive alone. 

Oceantroller out.