Amount of dives before you had success?

Question

Decreasing your amount of lead. I meet divers Who use very very little and I still use more than I like.

Answer 1

Just when I got to where I thought I had the right amount of lead I did my divemaster program and now I always carry extra lead...seems kind of humorous to me in the end.

It took me getting my own gear and getting used to it to finally get my buoyancy and weight perfected.  If you always use rental gear it will fluctuate and be hard for you to find that perfect weighting.  It took me 3-4 years of diving and buying my gear to get to a steady, decent weight.

Answer 2

For me the key was studying my log book.  Water/wetsuit/tank/equipment/weights and the location of weights-I've kept meticulous notes for each dive.  I studied the log and conditions and made changes.

Today I dive with less weight than I ever imagined!

Answer 3

Dnadavis and rezgrama both had good answers. And it does take time. You will typically always use more in the beginning of the season too. For me the key is to be comfortable not getting exactly where I may want to go immediately. For example, If you want to sink in a hurry, just by exhaling, then that extra weight makes it easier. A steel tank will help, as they aren’t typically as positively buoyant, and buoyancy isn’t as drastic as aluminum between full and empty.

Answer 4

Getting to the surface is a successful dive. So every dive I’ve made has been successful.