real cases where U really needed to drop weight

[Granny Scuba]

I am wondering if there are any folks out there that have had to drop weight and why?
Just curious about what real situations force people to drop their weights.
Thanks,

 

[Garrobo]

Personally I can't think of any reason to drop your weights, especially while at depth.

 

[seaducer]

I am wondering if there are any folks out there that have had to drop weight and why?

I was once over 330 pounds and kept outgrowing the clothes in my closet. Now I am more streamlined and. . . .oh, I don't think that is what you are asking, is it?

I have never had to drop weight. If you are properly weighted you should not have too, with the exception of extracting an unresponsive diver from the water.

I suppose if I were adrift for a very long time I might ditch them as well.

 

[Mike Boswell]

I have never had to drop my weight, and since I don't hear much about it, I assume that it is a rare occurrence.

But I can think of some scenarios where I might need to drop weight at depth, so I do maintain the capability of doing so.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Dropping weights is something that, in an emergency, you should consider doing ONCE YOU'VE REACHED THE SURFACE ... in order to prevent you from sinking again. It's not something that you should consider doing while submerged except in the most dire of circumstances.

Dropping weights results in an uncontrolled buoyant ascent ... in other words, you're going to the surface at a rate that you cannot control ... and if you are wearing a wetsuit, a rate that will increase as you get closer to the surface. This can be very hazardous.

For that reason, no ... I've never done it ... the only reason I would ever consider it is if I were faced with a choice of dropping weights and potentially injuring/killing myself or not dropping them and facing a certain death. Otherwise, I'm going to make a more controlled ascent by swimming myself up while wearing my weights.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Teamcasa]

I am wondering if there are any folks out there that have had to drop weight and why?
Just curious about what real situations force people to drop their weights.
Thanks,

In an emergency - only on the surface and only if maintaining positive buoyancy is an issue.

 

[Granny Scuba]

I couldnt think of any reasons to ditch wt either (except on the surface either).

Oh and another question ...why is belt removal ane replacement a skill sometimes needed to pass OW?

6. Remove and Replace Weight System Underwater
Remove weight belt
Hold weights close to body
Hold both ends of the belt in right hand
Lean back so tank drops away from body
Pass buckle end to left hand
Turn on stomach
Straighten and buckle
Run hands around waist to make sure nothing is caught

 

[Gilldiver]

I’v done it three times in 31 years. All were at the surface and were rescue situations where I was going after a diver in distress or just to get as positive as I could for my own comfort. The first two were when I used to crew on a few of the 6 pack dive boats.

The worst case was a diver who had lost complete control of his dry suit and came up feet first and his weight belt had fallen “down” to his arm pits. I had to try to keep his head up so he could breathe while another rescuer tried to find his weight belt. At the time I had just got back on the boat and taken my tanks off when we see his feet break the surface, I just went for it off the boat and dropped my belt as soon as I hit the water when I figured out that I still had it on. Got to the diver grabbed his head and kicked like mad to keep his head up. It seemed like hours but could not have been more then 2 minutes till we got his weight belt off.

Just to show you how much of a cluster this was, this guy ditched his tanks when he hit the surface, which is probably why his weight belt ended up around his arm pits, and one of his buddies breaks the surface about ten minutes after we got him in the boat yelling that he just found a set of doubles! Crew on a dive boat and sooner or latter you will see everything. Before anyone gets all DIR on me, this was in the 80’s when we didn’t dive with a BC if we were using a dry suit.

The second time was also a rescue where I was working a panicked diver at the end of the trail line. I dropped my weight and filled my BC to get as much positive buoyancy as I could in order try to get some control on this guy.

The third time I had been blown off the anchor line and when I broke the surface the boat was not in sight. The seas were fairly rough so I dropped my belt and filled a bag and got on top of it to get as high out of the water as I could.

Weight belts are the cheapest piece of equipment and should be the first to go AT THE SURFACE when things start going south. It’s not getting to the surface that’s the problem, it’s stay at it that is a good thing to be able to do.

 

[Gombessa]

Personally I can't think of any reason to drop your weights, especially while at depth.

I can think of several, but mostly on the surface. I think it's a good philosophy to weight out your rig and exposure protection so that you will virtually never encounter a situation where dropping weights at depth is required (e.g., where it gets to the point where you're talking about a shark charging at you and chomping up your wing, drysuit and smb at depth).

Also good to note is that "dropping weights" doesn't always mean ditching them into the abyss. If you find yourself having trouble staying up on the surface for any number of reasons, it's perfectly acceptable to take off some weights and hand them to your buddy to hold while you assess the situation.

 

[elmer fudd]

I couldnt think of any reasons to ditch wt either (except on the surface either).

Oh and another question ...why is belt removal ane replacement a skill sometimes needed to pass OW?

6. Remove and Replace Weight System Underwater
Remove weight belt
Hold weights close to body
Hold both ends of the belt in right hand
Lean back so tank drops away from body
Pass buckle end to left hand
Turn on stomach
Straighten and buckle
Run hands around waist to make sure nothing is caught

I think the idea was so that you could put it back on if it accidentally came undone or fell down past your hips.