Dave wrote:
On Wed, 23 Nov 2005 23:16:08 GMT, Rosalie B.
said:


On Wed, 23 Nov 2005 21:12:09 GMT, Rosalie B.
said:


if I wear a wet suit, I am too buoyant
to stay down.

Everyone is. That's what weight belts are for.

But not when free diving.


Why not? The weight on the belt can be adjusted to provide neutral buoyancy
just as it can with tanks on. Only difference I can see is that you might
want to keep a very slight positive buoyancy rather than going for entirely
neutral.

At depth, you mean? If weighted neutral at surface, you will be
negative below 10 feet. With tanks and weights and a buoyancy vest
and pressure air in your lungs and available to your vest, you can
adjust your buoyancy, but free, the deeper you go, the less buoyancy
you have, because your lungs full of air get compressed, and occupy
less volume, displacing less water, so down you go. Without weights,
it is more directly dependant on your fat percentage, since fat
floats, but does not compress. Same compensation queerdom with
sponge rubber wet suits, and in dry suits with trapped air, but to
different degrees for each parameter.

Diving gets complicated.

I know just enough about diving to know I do not know enough. Take
a course if you intend to start screwing around with weights and
hookas and such like. If you start thinking you are Jaques Cousteau,
and want to invent diving stuff like he did, you will probably end
up married to Davey Jones, whatever you think about gay marriage.

Terry K