Is remove and replace weight belt at the surface skill out dated?

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I misspoke. Yes, I'm sure anyone CAN put ANY weight pocket back in while in the water. Should have first said that with some BCDs it is probably a pain. Our classes remove belts and replace them, both in pool and ocean, as per the standards. We have students drop the pockets in shallow enough ocean water for me to easily/quickly retrieve them--this is to fulfill the (new) actual requirement of dropping weights so students experience the change in buoyancy. Maybe an instructor at some point will ask them to put them back in themselves--would be interested to see how that goes.

I agree with most here that removing and replacing any weights is certainly an important skill, and of course should remain a requirement. I suppose my inexperience shows in asking this, but I've wondered what scenario would require one to not just drop weights in an emergency (or remove them to pass up to the boat), but to also then put them back on?

Now I wouldn't know from experience or anything like that but if a diver LEAVES the weight belt on the boat and someone can hand it to the diver,putting it on in the water saves the and effort of getting back into the boat;especially when the diver is older and has bad knees and the surface is rough.
 
It is a good skill. Full removal and replacement of the weight system is probably not something one needs to do often, but there are other reasons.

1) Ditching weight on the surface at the first sign of trouble can be a survival issue. This skill practices the ditch part. Knowing how to put the weights back on in-water can also reduce the natural barrier we have about ditching $100 of lead.

2) Sooner or later we will probably all splash with something loose, crossed or messed up. Having the skills to feel the positions of the straps and fix means you should be able to diagnosis and correct yourself without aborting the dive or requiring a buddy (buddies are good, but its always better to be able to handle the issue yourself)
 
Huh? We start all our private students in backplates. It's just a back inflate BC that's easier to adjust to multiple body sizes.

I guess I'm obviously inept, because I can't stuff a ten pound weight pocket back into an inflated BC (diver at the surface) with dry gloves on. Shoot, I could hardly get a 10 lb weight pocket into a BC on the table in the dive shop, when I was learning. I suppose I could DEFLATE the BC, since the diver is 20 pounds light now, but that kind of defeats the purpose of teaching students that at any they are at the surface, they are to have their BCs inflated. I don't believe our curriculum requires that you replace the weight system in open water, just in the pool, and we do it there.
So long as you aren't teaching PADI Open Water students, you're good and not violating any standards. But if you are, the skill is a dive flexible skill in the open water (not confined water) dives.
 
I'm a fairly new diver (about 30 dives) and on my last trip, while I was on the tag line waiting for the rest of the divers to jump in, my weight belt buckle came undone, and I realized it was broken. I was using my own equipment, non weight integrated BCD, but the boats weights and belt. I had to take it off and replace it while on the surface. So it was a good skill to know. OTOH I had to adjust a weight belt on one of my first dives too because I was overweighted and didnt realize it until I was bouncing along the bottom.


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How does putting the weight in the vest keep it off your back? It's still pulling downwards, just on the vest.

I don't know what the reason was, but I had horrible backaches as a new diver, when I was using my SeaQuest BC. They went away when I changed to a backplate with a weight belt, but a lot of other things had changed in the meantime, so I have never claimed the gear change was the reason.

My point was not to denigrate integrated weight systems, although I don't like them myself at all. My point was just to say that there are still a lot of divers who use weight belts, so the skill should not be taken out of the OW class, as the OP was suggesting.
 
I think most of you are WAY too far removed from actually being a total newb in an OW class to see it the way I (newb supreme) do. You folks can forget how foreign the entire experience with the gear, etc can be to an OW student (fewer than 6 dives total.)

I did (PADI) OW in a rented weight integrated bcd (10 lbs in each pocket.) We were required to practice removing and replacing our weight systems during an open water dive, and I still think it was a fine idea. Didn't take much much time, and:

- the instructor showed me how to lean to one side to help get that fat little sucker back into it's slot
- made me a bit more familiar with another little piece of my (rental) gear.
- was a nice little "stressor" under controlled conditions. I think it's good to be put in uncomfortable positions in the water as part of general training with an instructor. Instructor can teach the student how to relax, not get frustrated and finish a task. Unless the instructor is a impatient jerk, of course :wink:
- it showed me how hard it can be to get them back in while wearing the bcd in the water (so don't take the weights out "just to see"!)

My next series of dives were with a weight belt. Because of my current body shape does not include a waist that is smaller than my hips, I had to periodically readjust the (8 kg) belt to keep it from sliding down to my thighs. I had to loosen it, pull it up, and re-cinch. It wasn't a big deal for me, but for some new divers, a bit of practice with the belt might have been reassuring. These things can happen, and it good for new divers to experience things while under the "gentle" tutelage of an instructor.

BTW, I'm looking at a bp/w system and will go for a SS plate (and steel tanks whenever possible). I'll still be carrying lead ballast, but less is better, at least for my body morphology!
-Don
 
Thanks for those examples of needing to put the belt (back) on in water. Didn't think of those reasons as I haven't done or seen them done.
 
It's a good drill, not just to accomplish that task but to deal with the struggle and being out of balance that comes from having a weight belt in 1 hand. Having a slipping weight belt or needing to help someone with a slipping belt is quite common. It's good to have the skill practised. IMHO this is esp. true for vacation-hotspot divers because these sites may have lots of divers, some of whom might be right below you and really don't need a chunk of lead dropped on their head/neck/back.

Remove/replace and esp how to NOT DROP by accident is a good drill for weight pockets too. Those buggers are expensive.
 
... I don't believe our curriculum requires that you replace the weight system in open water, just in the pool, and we do it there.

You just had a mental lapse, that's all (it's a Dive Flexible skill in OW):


  • Remove and Replace Weight System and Scuba Kit —Remove and replace the weight system in water toodeep in which to stand. Remove and replace the scubakit in water too deep in which to stand.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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