Weight Belt Suspenders

[fnfalman]

I cannot think of ANY circumstance where I would be removing a BC underwater, and I've thought about this long and hard. If I every truly got stuck in an overhead environment, I might cut one side of my harness to free an arm but I am NOT separating myself from my life support equipment.
Has anyone ever heard of anyone that was saved by removing their bc or bp/w? I have heard a couple of stories about divers dying because they took it off.

"Supposedly" I've heard stories of people who were so entangled that they had to get out of the BC then freed the BC from entanglement. Also "supposedly" there were cave divers who came to places so tight that they had to get the BC off, go in then towed the BC in after them.

Those are war stories, so take them for whatever they're worth.

 

[fnfalman]

Oh -- and John -- I have a back inflate weight integrated but I worry about loosing consciousness on the surface. I can keep myself upright but I have to work at it a little. Unconscious I'm not too sure if my face would be out of the water or not. Maybe some more weight around the hips or ankles might help out in this situation.

Unless you're so grossly overweighted with lead that you had to keep the wing fully inflated, chances of you ending face in the water is slim to none. Also, back inflates make for wonderful backfloats.

If you were to do an emergency buoyant ascension because you were on your last breath, then at the very end before you pass out, arch your back a bit. You'll be floating on your back by the time you hit the surface, especially with a back inflate BC.

 

[Bonairetrip]

I agree on just breaking out the shears with a random diver in distress you happen upon.

As to weight integrated, I think there are two questions:
a) Does the BC have enough lift to float your BC and everything (but you) attached or in it? I can't think of a BC where the answer isn't yes.
b) Are you able to handle the BC with weights and tanks attached when you are gearing up (is the thing too dang heavy)?

If the answer is yes to both (a) and (b), then I think you are good to go.

In my OW class (!), we were taught how to take off first the BC then the back pack and move the tank in front of you. The stated purpose was narrow passages in wrecks.

I can think of scenarios where one would want to take off their BC and and still be close to neutrally bouyant. But, for me, they all seem very^10 unlikely. Here are the ones I can think of:
a) Gear entanglement such that I can't cut my way free. And neither can my buddy. But not so bad that I can't get my BC off. But so bad that I can hold on to my BC (as that would keep me neutral).
b) Wreck diving and I just have to get through a very small passage (or entangled, see (a)).
c) Swim-thru and/or cave where I have to get through a very small passage (or entangled, see (a)).

In other words, for me and my diving, I wouldn't worry about it if I went back to a weight integrated BC...

 

[RonFrank]

I use a DUI weight harness. I like it.

I have used weight belts. They are a PITA. I actually like the Zeagle weight integration system best, but I dive a BP/W cold, so I need some way to carry weight when I am without my weight integrated BC.

Putting a 10lbs weight belt around your waist is not much of an issue. Hanging 20lbs+ of weight on a belt is a bit of a PITA. If you need a bunch of weight, it is hard to beat a harness type system.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

We still have 2 sets of suspenders. We are big guys / cold water and really need some lead on a belt and have no butt. They work, but as others pointed out it is difficult to release. Also hard to adjust. We kept a small amount of lead in the integrated pockets to allow a quick release if needed.

That said, once we spent the $100ea on a DUI weight harness, the suspenders fell into the bottom of the junk box. Nobody really wanted to screw with them when you have have a better system available. The DUI allows you to adjust the position of the weights on the fly to perfect your trim, a real nice bonus.

 

[rick00001967]

For my 2 cents worth ---- I am not an experienced diver with a lot of weight belt experience behind me so just take what I say with a grain of salt. My first few months of diving I needed to use a belt w/ suspenders because I have a pear shaped belly due to my beer belly I acquired in my youth and can not seem to get rid of. A standard belt kept falling off. I was using a standard bc. This did the trick but is impossible to easily ditch the belt in an emergency. I have since gone w/ bc w/ integrated weights. I am having second thoughts and am reconsidering. All my weight is now on my bc. If for some strange reason I seperated from my bc I would not be neutrally buoyant any longer. I'd probably pop to the surface like a cork. I am tempted to go back to the belt/suspenders under the weight integrated bc and only put enough weight on it to put me nearer to neutral buoyancy [let's say at 20'] when just wearing my wetsuit. I'm still trying to figure out how this works and if there is any benefit to it. Soon I will be doing some experimenting with neutral buoyancy under different scenarios. I don't think you should have all the weight on your body buried under your bc nor do I think you should have it all on a bc. I know this subject has probably been beaten to death under other threads/forums and I may be full of misconceptions and bullcrap but that's my 2 cents.

sorry to revive such an old thread but i am considering using some type of belt/suspender system for the reasons this poster points out. i do not like packing 25lbs (or more) into my BC. and i hate standard belts over my dry suit. they move around if not tight enough and are not comfortable if they are tight enough. plus, the less weight my old back has on it, the better.
so i am going to try out just what this poster is suggesting. i want to keep most of the weight in my integrated BC and add a suspended weight belt of some type to hold the rest. the exact distribution of my total weight will have to be determined after some trial and error. i will try to wear just enough on the belt so i am neutral or slightly positive while wearing my suit and hood/gloves etc. if i am successful, it stands to reason that the BC should end up neutral or slightly negative.

i figure there are some good reasons to try this......
- my BC is just too damn heavy with all the weight in it
- as asked by someone in this thread, no, my BC will not float on its own without me in it. so putting on gear in the water is impossible. and depending on the boat (as i found this past weekend) you may want to take your gear off in the water to get on the boat safely. that too is impossible for me.
- by having some weight on the belt and in the BC i can feel better about ditching some of my BC lead if needed and i won't "rocket" to the surface as mentioned earlier
- and if for some odd reason it is necessary to remove my BC under water, it should be much easier to not become separated from it.

if i find a happy balance i'll post the results. just gotta come up with my own homemade way of doing it just to try the theory. then if i like it, i may look into purchasing a system.

 

[rhwestfall]

Trident suspenders on a regular web style weight belt with (two to four) XS Scuba quick release pockets threaded on the belt. Advantage of suspenders, advantage of quick dump pockets, advantage of not being as bulky as the DUI W&T (which I own and have used for years), advantage of moving the pockets to the rear (unlike many that hang them too close to the front) and advantage of a relatively low cost. Likely, due to the quick dump pockets, I will eliminate the large release buckles on the chest that would be under the BC....

I'm pleased, but YMMV...

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

sorry to revive such an old thread but i am considering using some type of belt/suspender system for the reasons this poster points out. i do not like packing 25lbs (or more) into my BC. and i hate standard belts over my dry suit. they move around if not tight enough and are not comfortable if they are tight enough. plus, the less weight my old back has on it, the better.
so i am going to try out just what this poster is suggesting. i want to keep most of the weight in my integrated BC and add a suspended weight belt of some type to hold the rest. the exact distribution of my total weight will have to be determined after some trial and error. i will try to wear just enough on the belt so i am neutral or slightly positive while wearing my suit and hood/gloves etc. if i am successful, it stands to reason that the BC should end up neutral or slightly negative.

i figure there are some good reasons to try this......
- my BC is just too damn heavy with all the weight in it
- as asked by someone in this thread, no, my BC will not float on its own without me in it. so putting on gear in the water is impossible. and depending on the boat (as i found this past weekend) you may want to take your gear off in the water to get on the boat safely. that too is impossible for me.
- by having some weight on the belt and in the BC i can feel better about ditching some of my BC lead if needed and i won't "rocket" to the surface as mentioned earlier
- and if for some odd reason it is necessary to remove my BC under water, it should be much easier to not become separated from it.

if i find a happy balance i'll post the results. just gotta come up with my own homemade way of doing it just to try the theory. then if i like it, i may look into purchasing a system.

I sympathize, I dive with up to 32lbs in s/w with my thickest wetsuit and more dry. Its a lot of weight and more than I would trust with most quick release pockets (Zeagle is the exception). My jacket BC's have more lift than I need, so that was not an issue.

I think I posted this before, my son's and I all tried the suspenders. Not ideal, you loose the quick release ability unless you also use the BC weight pockets. Then you end up with a complicated system (belt, suspenders, pockets + maybe trim weights on the tank.) It works and fine to experiment with, but not elegant.

Long term, the DUI weight and trim system solved the problem, all the weight in one place and being able to slide the weights up and down while diving to perfect your trim. I switch between 4 wetsuits and one dry suit and 2 back plates plus a jacket BC. The same DUI works for all, only the total amount of lead I use changes. Simple and elegant.

 

[oldflounder]

I ended up going to a DUI harness. I have been using it for a couple years now and am very happy with it. It was money well spent. I dive year round and find it to be very versatile. I use it snorkeling for one thing. It is very comfortable. I use it on the drysuit in the winter. One big problem when you are all bulked up in the ice water is lack of manuverability. It is hard to find things attached to and/or under your bc. You have to go by feel. The big yellow handles are easy to find.

Another plus is for boat diving - you just yank on the handles and pass the weight pouches up to the boat crew after the dive. It only takes a few minutes to re-thread each one and gives you something to do during the surface interval.

How I use the DUI depends upon which bc I am using and/or what kind of dive I am doing. If I am using my weight-integrated, I might put the bulk of the weight in my bc and a few pounds for trim on my hips in the pouches. If I am using the other bc, I might throw a little into the pockets to balance the weight out.

 

[rick00001967]

was doing rescue training this past week. while doing scenarios, and pulling "unconscious" divers from the water, it became apparent quite quickly that my bcd will sink like a rock even when full of air. i had about 20lbs in it (using a lp77 steel tank). so i am def gonna be putting some lead on my body and out of my bcd.