Travelling diver who hires equipment and hate weight belts...solution?

[Fastnail]

Hi All,

I travel to different dive locations and travel lightweight as I can so I only carry my mask, wetsuit, Eezycut trilobite and my dive computer in my luggage.

I, therefore, have to rent the regs, BCD, tank, fins and weights to dive.

What I am posting about is I hate wearing a weight belt and I find frequently that rental dive BCD's are the cheaper type to buy and do not have integrated weight pockets so I am forced to install a couple of weights to the tank cam band and distribute other weights anywhere I can OR begrudgingly wear a weight belt )-:

Does anybody else have a dislike of wearing weight belts and have set up their own weight rig out of webbing for example or found another solution to my problem?

Any ideas and solutions would be greatly appreciated.

Best regards and a Happy New Year.

Fastnail.

 

[CWK]

Diet.

I can dive my 3 mil wetsuit without adding any lead to my BPW. There is an ally backplate weighing about 0.8 kg, but I reckon that I can remove that and still be OK.

 

[diversteve]

Buy a Travel BCD. Some of them fold/rollup pretty small and weigh around 4 Lbs.

Two to look at -
Zuma | BCDs | Aqua Lung
Zragle Covert XT

The original covert - not the XT was 3.7 lbs, Zuma's run around 4.5lbs.

There's a couple others also - Cressi's Travellight and Dive Rite's TravelPac - I'm not familiar with them.

 

[Peter Bomberg]

how much weight, I used to carry 2 small weight pockets (5lb max per) that I would just put on the tank band as I only need 2-4lbs, but I have moved to a super light weight setup.

If your interested I can sent you pics of the pockets (they are lying in the basement, in the to be sold pile)

 

[Still Kicking]

What's the issue with the weight belt? If it's because the nylon belts tend to slip, try taking a good quality rubber belt with you. Because they are grippy and compensate for depth they don't slip.

 

[chris kippax]

Buy a rubber free diving belt from cressi/mako or any reputable free dive company. There is no comparison to a webbing belt vs a rubber belt. They are hands down the best belt available. Make sure you do it up tight and low so It does not impact on your diaphragm

 

[Centrals]

Weight Harness | Dive Rite
Expensive.

DIY?

 

[NothingClever]

Does anybody else have a dislike of wearing weight belts and have set up their own weight rig out of webbing for example or found another solution to my problem?

I definitely dislike wearing weight belts.

You’re mentally tough. Seriously. If I were to travel like you do and have to rent my kit, I don’t think I’d be very content having to pick from amongst all the knackered bits for rent.

Why not splurge and pick out a travel BC? With some slick little weight pockets that allow you to grab some hard or soft weights and slip on your perfectly-sized rig every time, you’re very likely to dive with greater satisfaction.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

depending on how much weight you use, buy a quick release cam strap and a couple of weight pockets. attach to the rental tank so you can reach behind you and release it in case you need to ditch.

 

[KathyV]

A pocket weight belt is easy to pack and more comfortable than a traditional nylon strap weight belt.