Over the BSAC forum, there is a very interesting discussion, started earlier this year, about the poor design of quick release weight belt systems, and how many accidents have been caused by losing belts. I think the important points are very intelligently addressed in this post from their forum member Thalassamania:
I could not agree more with the comment above. What does this community think?
Also, although I prefer the freediving Marseille belt (ie: rubber belt with buckle), I think due to the difficulty of adjusting the weights, their place is for diving at home. For travelling though, I am now inclined to get one of those Seaquest buckle and belt. What do you do?
Might I share some ideas from the scientific diving community or the USA as regards weights and such.
Problems:
1) The conventional airplane type weight belt buckle:
a) (especially when made from plastic) is, IMHO, an accident waiting to happen. Failures of this type of buckle are frequent enough that I, and many other Diving Safety Officers, have prohibited the use of this style buckle on a weightbelt.
b) requires a tread-through to don which can be difficult, at best, with gloves.
c) requires a tread-through to ditch, has often been seen to result in the belt hung up on some piece of gear, rather than beiung cleanly ditched, esp. with gloves.
d) requires being placed into a highly insecure mode whilst being adjusted for wet suit compression.
e) is easy to confuse with a buckle on a tank strap (conventional backpack or BP/W) and can not be differentiated solely by feel. The diver must trust to position of the body or rigorous application of a left hand release for the tank strap, right hand release for the weight belt protocol.
2) Integrated weight systems can place a diver in severe danger if, for any reason, he or she must remove the rig. If that occurs, the diver is positively buoyant and the divers gas supply is negative ly buoyant, a slip resulting in a loss of grip will, at best, result on a diver on the surface with his or her gas supply on the bottom and at worst ... well, think about being tangled in a net, having to remove your rig to untangle yourself, losing your grip on your rig and making a buoyant ascent into the net which is billowing over you.
Solutions:
1) There are two weight belt and buckle designs that solve the problems mentioned above:
a) Wire bail buckle with rubber belt. This is a great solution since the rubbber belt is self-compensating.
b) SeaQuest buckle and belt (as mentioned earlier). Originally developed by a Graduate Student at Scripps, named (if I recall properly) Mark Olson, who was also a fine machinist and who went on to found Deep Sea Power and Light. This belt was first marketed in the USA by SeaQuest and currently available here from Trident Diving Supply. It is a positive closing, cam actuated buckle that can tightened easily and securely, yet can be only be released with a motion of pulling it away from your body. Its really quite simple, inexpensive, and very ingenious. Its a bit hard to explain, but well worth trying.
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I could not agree more with the comment above. What does this community think?
Also, although I prefer the freediving Marseille belt (ie: rubber belt with buckle), I think due to the difficulty of adjusting the weights, their place is for diving at home. For travelling though, I am now inclined to get one of those Seaquest buckle and belt. What do you do?