Weights on Belts V. in BCD

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I tend to a harness / belt for 2 reasons, both personal preferences..

Most important is a belt rarely gets released by accident. I have found multiple weight pouches over the years on the bottom at popular dives sites, never a belt. Personally, I have dropped 1 pouch myself boarding the boat and watched my buddies drop 2 more while diving, so my level of trust is low.

Also I find the weight belt easier to adjust trim on the dive. Just slide the harness/belt up or down a bit to trim out. With the integrated system you have to move weights around between dives.

 

[vladimir]

I don't normally wear any weight with my backplate and wing. If I need weight because of a heavier wetsuit I wear it on a belt. It's just easier—easier to doff and don the gear and easier for the crew if they are handling the gear. In the past when I needed more weight I split it between my belt and my BC.

 

[Bob DBF]

I split up my weight between the rig cam bands, 4 to 6# for trim, and belt with 4 to 14# depending on configuration and dive site.

I pick up more weight belts, but there are a lot of Abalone Divers (must freedive) and a lot of them are less than competent freedivers, along with Ab bars, ab gauges, as well as the occational pole spear or speargun. The knives are probably from Scuba divers from the areas where I have found them.


The last boat trip I took I found a weight pocket on my way back to the boat. I noticed something on the bottom so swam down to 30' grabbed the pocket then went back to my swimming safety stop. Back on the boat I ask everyone I could find if they had lost one and to check with their friends since I found it relativly close to the boat and, from the looks, it didn't have much bottom time. It was the buzz around the boat for a bit and I figured I had gained 8# of soft weights and would leave the pocket with the boat 'cause they would need it before I ever would.

The next morning, one of the guys I had personally talked to, asked if I was the diver that had found the weight. Seems he had been diving and had a problem with always rolling to one side. He did the whole dive without any other problem with buoyancy so he he figured he couldn't have lost his weight pocket. I gave him the pocket and suggested that he dump the pocket weights into his gear bag and shift half the weight from one pocket to the other.

I didn't harrass him nearly as much as his buddies did on the rest of the trip.





Bob
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I may be old, but I’m not dead yet.

 

[vixtor]

0-3kg when diving wet (3 or 7mm), as 2-3 pcs on a belt; 8kg (as 2-4 pcs), again on a belt, when diving dry.

i don't like the integrated weights since three years ago I saw them falling out of the pockets of a BCD.

I know the belt may also fail, but I put it under the crotch strap of the BPW, and the free end is rotated over the buckle to stop it from opening in most circumstances.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

The only integrated weights I use are plates bolted to my SS plate for dry suit diving. Everything else is on a belt with pockets, in pockets on the cam bands, or not used. Properly weighted divers should not need to drop more than 3-4 lbs to stay positive on the surface. If they do then I'm suggesting you are overweighted. Having 1/3 to half of your weights in the removable pockets of an integrated BC is asking for trouble. Especially with new divers. They are taught to dump weights for damn near any emergency and the reaction is to pull both pockets. I saw someone do it at depth. Luckily their buddy was able to grab them to keep their fins from clearing the water like a missile. My weight belt has individual pockets that I can pull whatever weight I am carrying out in the necessary increments. Worst case is to just dump the rig at the surface. In any kind of suit over 3 mil I will float.

When I used an integrated bc with a dry suit the 26 lbs needed was distributed in this way. 8 lbs in the rear non dump-able trim pockets, 5 lbs in each integrated pocket, and 8 lbs on the belt with the understanding that if I needed to dump weights only one pocket was going to get dropped or if a pocket somehow came out I could still do a controlled ascent. That allowed me to have more than one option. I could also then dump the other pocket or the belt ON THE SURFACE and be as positive as necessary. Putting 26 lbs in a BC was also a pain in the butt when it came time to lift it to get it on. Had not started diving steel doubles yet.

You should always be weighted so that you can lose part of your weight and still perform a controlled ascent. When diving a 3 mil I use steel tanks most of the time and have no ditchable weight. In a 5 mil I carry about 4-6 lbs at most that could be dumped in a belt under the crotch strap of my BPW's or Express Tech. Even when teaching in one of the shops BC's I use belt.

 

[spectrum]

Only the weight needed to adjust trim goes in our BC or more accurately trim pockets of plate & wing rigs. The same was true when we dove jackets BCs. I speak for myself & my wife.
1) If you need to get out of your rig UW it will be much easier if the weight is on your person. This especially true as the suits get thicker & more buoyant. of course if you have a buoyant BC and an aluminum cylinder you will want enough weight on board to keep it from ever going positive.
2) A BC loaded with (cold water) weights is a heavy beast. Make it easy on you, your gear and boat hand if applicable and distribute the lead.

If you do not have the hips to safely perch a weight belt then something like a DUI Weight & Trim harness is a nice answer, especially for diving dry. The harness also lets yu carry the weight someplace besides where you anatomy will hold it, This can be handy when massaging trim. When diving dry I wear my harness a little low and it cancels the lower leg buoyancy.

Loading the BC with weight does have the advantage of keeping the shoulder straps down on your shoulders. The root cause of a BC that rides up on the surface is usually poor fit or bad cummerbund technique. The cummerbund needs to be pulled taught when closed on the surface. You may even care to reset it to be under tension once prone in the water. Alternatively you could be lacking a crotch strap or be in poor adjustment.

If were talking about diving in the tropics in a shorty with 6 pounds of lead take your pick.

Pete

 

[diversteve]

I dove with a weight belt for a few years. I must be one of those hipless people because I never felt like it would stay on. Unless I fastened it in some completely unsafe fashion - like thru a crotch strap. At the time I was doing a lot of high surf (SoCal) shore diving so did not like the feeling. Although I never did lose it.

I now dive an integrated Zeagle system and like it the best.

For several reasons:

I have the rear trim pockets so I do about a 70/30 split. I have the Ripcord system so if I pull it, only the front pockets dump. That's enough of a difference to get to/maintain on the surface. And yet I can trim horizontally fairly easily.

Unlike some other systems, the Ripcord seems reliable. I've never once lost a weight. I also have the yellow Zeagle weight pockets so if I do need to hand up my weights, I can do so easily as they have handles (sewn straps) on them. At one time I dove with lead shot so that was helpful also.

Like others have mentioned, I've found 2-3 weight pockets on the bottom over the past few years - often near a mooring. I think they're Mares - sort of a long black pocket with a red plastic fastener. A friend who dives a Mares BC lost one of her pockets jumping off a boat one year. The Last dive of a trip the next year she was walking out onto the beach and the new one slipped out somehow in the surf line - we never found it. So I think if you're going to go integrated, you might spend time considering the best system also.

 

[supergaijin]

+1 for spreading the load.

Now I have 1kg in each trim pocket- that's enough for me personally here in the Maldives. Not ditchable but not much to swim up against and I accept the added risk.

When teaching/guiding I have anywhere between 2 and 4kg on a belt. This makes me up to 4kg heavy, but it doesn't take much to force myself into the right position when swimming normally. For sure there is more drag, but I consider this a part of the job.

In NZ I had 12kg- first it was all on a belt- that really is too much weight dragging your body down and BCD trying to float away- if the BC fits like a glove it maybe OK, but mine wasn't a great fit. Got a integrated BC to use from the shop and made a huge difference. 6kg on belt, 4 in pockets and 2 in trim pockets. Still overweighted but I always guide and make the first dive(s) with students with me being overweighted.

 

[Centrals]

I have never dived with weight integrated bc, always with weight + belt. BTW, I don't dive dry and never need more than 5kg even with brand new 5mm wet.
Did jump into water without the weight belt couple of time before.
Simple bc weight less as well.

 

[krukster86]

I started diving with a belt and on my last trip I tried out weight integrated BCDs for the first time. I found the integrated belts were easier to add/subtract weight and it felt more comfortable during the dive. However, I found that it was easy to unintentionally drop the integrated weights!