Weight belt placement

[alewar]

Hi there,

does anyone have a picture of a properly configured DIR diver wearing a weight belt?

I recently started diving using a BP/W and don't know how to conciliate the weight belt and the waist strap.
Since I'm diving wet, I use the belt over the crotch strap, but somehow it sits too low on my waist and brings my legs legs down. I can't pull it further up without hitting the BP.

How to you manage the overlapping straps?

Thanks!

 

[PfcAJ]

Try positioning it above your waist strap. It will still be under the backplate, but able to be dropped without being all up in the crotch strap.

2nd point, make sure the weight belt has just enough weight on it so that you can swim your rig up once you drop it. No need to do a rocket-ascent to the surface if you drop it. Balanced rig and all that.

 

[TSandM]

What kind of weight belt are you using? If you are using pockets or hard weights, you should be able to arrange them so you only have the flat strap in the back. Then you can bring the belt up to the bottom of the plate -- if that's not high enough, you may have to think about a weight harness. Another option is to take some of the weight off the belt, and put some weight pockets on your cambands to help your balance. As AJ observes, you only need enough weight on the belt to be able to swim the rig to the surface; if you are diving wet, you'll have some wetsuit buoyancy to help you there, too.

 

[alewar]

I use a normal belt with 7kg (15.4 lbs) lead on it (3x2kg +1kg bars). Would it be be wise to move 3kg to the cambands? I would be left with only two 2kg bars that I could comfortably and symmetrically place on the front of the belt. I dive a half-dry 6.5mm suit, aluminum BP (.75kg ~1.7 lbs) and a 7L steel cylinder (LP50?).

I bought a luggage scale to weight the bouyancy of my gear but haven't done it yet.

 

[SnorkelLA]

In tropical waters with no wetsuit I just place 2 4lb weights into my cam band trim pockets (I require no weight with 6lb SS backplate in fresh water with no exposure protection), because I dive with a SS Backplate. Makes it much more natural to get into trim.

In the event that I should dive a wet/drysuit, I place my weightbelt UNDER my crotch strap. Reason being, all buckles can and will, in theory, fail. So, the idea of having some redundancy is reassuring. It is also much easier to doff gear after a dive if you don't have to fool around with an extra buckle in order to get the bulk of my gear off.

But, on the off event that my steel weight belt buckle AND steel harness buckle should simultaneously fail while on a deep wreck dive with a deco obligation, drysuit and doubles on with 80cuft pony, then I would venture to say that it was my time to go anyways.

 

[tracydr]

You might consider getting some weight pockets, like Halcyon's pockets that go on the waist of your harness. Much less clutter this way.

 

[Imla]

Get a steel plate, and place 1 2kg on each side, and 1 kg on the lower camband.

As a sidenote... Odd choice of tank...

 

[alewar]

Get a steel plate, and place 1 2kg on each side, and 1 kg on the lower camband.

I want to keep my rig balanced. If I move all the weight to my BP or cambands, I won't be able to swim up in case of a wing failure at depth. I'm trying to determine just how much weight I can safely transfer to the BP without compromising balance.

As a sidenote... Odd choice of tank...

I know. Those are the cylinders my diving club has. There are some 10L tanks too, but since we usually dive very shallow, the 7L bottles are ok for beginners like me.

 

[Imla]

I want to keep my rig balanced. If I move all the weight to my BP or cambands, I won't be able to swim up in case of a wing failure at depth. I'm trying to determine just how much weight I can safely transfer to the BP without compromising balance.




I know. Those are the cylinders my diving club has. There are some 10L tanks too, but since we usually dive very shallow, the 7L bottles are ok for beginners like me.

I was not saying put ALL your weight on your plate... You will still have 4kg (ie. 2kg on each side) on your belt.

This way you have 2.7kg (normal weight of a steel back plate) close to your back, 4 kg on your waist in your belt that is dumpable, and the last kg you attach to your tank to balance the whole thing out.

However... The other matter is that you should be close to neutral at 3m with no air in your wing. With this small cylinder the weightdifference with regards to the air you spend should be just a few kg. So, if you are weighted correctly, not overweighted there should be no problem swimming the rig up aven with a wingfailure if you are diving a "balanced" rig.