Variable ballast

[freedivernd]

Great photo.. living up here it's hard to imagine that there really are many more freedivers!

Jon, I've used a 9lb diving weight quite a bit to get to the bottom for an afternoon of diving.. it's very easy to lift while treading water, that is while being nuetrally bouyant at around -40', so whatever that makes me at the surface.
I know I have started using a descent line a lot more attached to my tube and crate, but mostly just for directional purposes.
Jon, you mentioned a 50lb weight... I'm thinking that on the boat, I would still use around 10lbs or so, maybe 15 for the diver side spool.. I don't think a 50lb weight would be necessary on the weight side spool in that case to retrieve both diver and diver side weight. I think it will be necessary for whoever is in the boat to monitor retrieval speed, and possibly help it along, but I was thinking in the case of diver and 15lb ballast, that only about 30lbs should be necessary to get a diver to surface with ease. Maybe not even 30 lbs, depending on how much the boat tender helps the spools along. It'll definitely be trial and error.
And of course... we're aware of the talk about variable not being the safest because you may not get a true indication of how good a breath up you've had.
Fred