Good morning, This may be a bit off the wall, but here goes. I've been doing a lot of sea kayaking in the Sea of Cortez, now totaling about 3K N. miles. Trips often are over 100 miles and require taking 30 liters of water /person, so the weight in a boat is not light. I usually take a wetsuit and speargun for free diving. For diving with a full wetsuit, it usually takes about 6-9 pounds of lead weights, which are a pain to carry in a kayak, as they never get lighter, like food and water. I've been working on an idea to put beach pebbles in pouches and attach them to the weight belt for diving, then just dump them when it is time to move camp, to save carrying weight. Obviously, lead is about 4-5 times as heavy per unit as most rock, so more rock will be needed. Presently, I'm working on some weight pouches as an experiment. I'm wondering if anyone has tried this kind of idea, and how it worked out. The heavy boat thought reminded me of Doug. Here's hoping you are recovering well, Doug. Thanks Jay *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On Mar 11, 2007, at 3:45 PM, jaymtb_at_amigo.net wrote: > I've been working on an idea to put beach pebbles in pouches and > attach > them to the weight belt for diving, then just dump them when it is > time to > move camp, to save carrying weight. Obviously, lead is about 4-5 > times as > heavy per unit as most rock, so more rock will be needed. > Presently, I'm > working on some weight pouches as an experiment. Remember to take into account that the buoyancy of water will effect the apparent weight of your rocks when submerged. If you need 30 lbs of lead, you could not for example replace this with 30 lbs of wood. The weight of wood and lead in the water is not the same. Or, strapping on 30 lbs jugs of water would not do anything. Likewise with rocks, while they will still help you sink, since they are substantially less dense than lead, the water will support the rocks more than it would lead. In other words, you may need 60 lbs of rocks to achieve the same effect as 30 lbs of lead. You may end up needing more rocks than is practical to dive with. Nick Schade Guillemot Kayaks 824 Thompson St Glastonbury, CT 06033 USA Ph/Fx: (860) 659-8847 http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/ *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
jaymtb_at_amigo.net wrote: > For diving with a full wetsuit, it usually takes about > 6-9 pounds of lead weights Another option is to reduce your buoyancy. Depending on the insulation requirements, you might be able to use something like Polartec Aquashell. This is a fleece-lined nylon-Lycra fabric (also there are fuzzy rubber versions) that is neutrally buoyant. It's equivalent to about 2mm of neoprene, so it might be too cold for the area you are diving in. Mike *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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