Question Using a weight belt with drysuit

[Edward3c]

Hi @Seville,

I just use a weight belt with 13Kg. Suit is 4mm crushed/compressed neoprene. Only if diving below 35m do I put gas into the bc, the suit is my primarily buoyancy device. Using the two means you have two gas bubbles to manage.

 

[Edward3c]

Hi @Seville,

I just use a weight belt with 13Kg. Suit is 4mm crushed/compressed neoprene. Only if diving below 35m do I put gas into the bc, the suit is my primarily buoyancy device. Using the two means you have two gas bubbles to manage.

@Curious_George what's confusing, so I can be clearer next time.

 

[Gone for diving]

the suit is my primarily buoyancy device.

Yeah I think we all got taught that,,,
But after a while, it becomes bcd is primarily bouyence, and the suit only gets enough air to be comfortable squeeze wise,
Its alot easier to dump air out of your bcd than wait for your air dump on the suit,,,,
Less air in your suit less burping your neck seal,

Putting weight on a belt is no problem,
My buddy puts 30lb on his belt,

 

[drk5036]

Yeah I think we all got taught that,,,
But after a while, it becomes bcd is primarily bouyence, and the suit only gets enough air to be comfortable squeeze wise,
Its alot easier to dump air out of your bcd than wait for your air dump on the suit,,,,
Less air in your suit less burping your neck seal,

Putting weight on a belt is no problem,
My buddy puts 30lb on his belt,

I think if you are diving a single tank of standardish size (10L?) you should be able to get away with using just the suit.

A 10 liter tank can hold 2000 L of air at 200 bar. If we dive to 45 bar, that means we used 1550 L of air, which weighs almost exactly 2 kg. That requires 2 liters of air in our suit at the beginning of the dive. Picture a gallon of milk; that’s about half that volume, spread out over the whole suit. It’s just not that much.

I think if you really feel the need to control two air compartments with only a single moderately sized tank, you’re probably diving with too much weight.

 

[Edward3c]

Yeah I think we all got taught that,,,
But after a while, it becomes bcd is primarily bouyence, and the suit only gets enough air to be comfortable squeeze wise,
Its alot easier to dump air out of your bcd than wait for your air dump on the suit,,,,
Less air in your suit less burping your neck seal,

When I see unplanned ascents it’s often because the diver has gas in both suit and bc. If you have gas burping out you’re neck seal, you likely to be overweighted.

I’ve been diving dry since 1993 and still use the suit for buoyancy.

 

[Bowers]

Yeah I think we all got taught that,,,
But after a while, it becomes bcd is primarily bouyence, and the suit only gets enough air to be comfortable squeeze wise,
Its alot easier to dump air out of your bcd than wait for your air dump on the suit,,,,
Less air in your suit less burping your neck seal,

Putting weight on a belt is no problem,
My buddy puts 30lb on his belt,

I was taught to use the bc for primary because it’s faster to dump if needed. But with experience i found that diving properly weighted and using the suit is a lot easier. If your suit is a comfortable squeeze and you’re perfectly weighted, then just keeping the suit comfortable during the dive will maintain proper bouyancy. The only
time my bc gets air is for big dives with lots of volume loss so i weigh much more at beginning of dive than at the end. But for single tank and even a lot of my sidemount dives, I don’t need a bc, it’s just for backup lift.

 

[MrVegas]

To try to answer the original question -- some use belts and some use a harness for weight. Whatever is more comfortable and works better. I like the harness better because it is more comfortable out of the water, and the weights won't slide around.