Are Weight Belts Obsolete?

[evil_xander]

Wetsuit, weight belt anytime.

I never have problems with the belt moving, and for lead movement I use plastic stoppers, they work perfect. I dive 5mm two piece wetsuit, and use 8kg of lead. Switching to BP/W one day might reduce and redistribute the weight, but the belt is there to stay, no soft pouches or other kinky stuff.

Haven't dove yet with drysuit, so I cannot comment on that part...

 

[spectrum]

A weight belt to distribute the weight and help you get onto a dive boat by shedding it is nice.

The boat aspect is a good consideration. When you need to shed gear in the water you do not want to be removing the weights from your harness. That means making sure you can float the weight after getting out of your BC, a sometimes precarious situation. With a belt you can hand off the weights first.

Pete

 

[cummings66]

What some people here have forgot is that a weight belt lowers the weight and for many drysuit divers getting the weight lower keeps the legs from floating upwards. Also not every diver would find they need tons of lead and thus not be able to keep it in weight integrated pockets. I have a BC with those pockets and can't use them at all, they're too high and make me head down during a dive. With a belt and my BP/W the trim is good.

I wear 8 to 10 lbs of lead with my Viking Extreme drysuit and no lead with my Viking Sport drysuit. You can see the statement made about not fitting it in a BCD would be very false for me due to the small amount of lead I use.

 

[spectrum]

What some people here have forgot is that a weight belt lowers the weight and for many drysuit divers getting the weight lower keeps the legs from floating upwards.

True, but a harness lets you drop it even more if desired.

 

[johnnyseko]

Until a better alternative is out there, I'll go with a weight belt. I don't think integrated is the answer. Best move I made was getting rid of my integrated BC and going BP/W with a weight belt. Just so much more comfortable! (in and out of the water)

Just note, I was diving with +25lbs of lead. I guess warm water might be different if you're using a lot less weight to sink.

 

[RJP]

Diving cold, there is an absolute need for a belt. There is no way you can cram all the weight needed to sink a drysuit + thick hood/gloves into an integrated BC. Even if you can/could, the BC would become incredibly unwieldy/hard to don. Not to mention, I feel like having weight in several places helps with trim.

Au contrare, mon plongeur!

No need for a weight belt here. Drysuit + 400g thinsulate + a layer of capilene + 7mm hood + thick gloves + back plate + a steel 119 = NO LEAD + perfect trim

 

[ZzzKing]

1st preference, no ditchable weight on a balanced rig. 2nd preference, weight belt with as little weight as absolutely neccessary to achieve positive buoyancy (4-6#).

 

[lucybuykx]

The most I ever dive with is 10kg and to spread that around my waist is bulky and very uncomfortable on my hips. It's even worse at the end of a dive when I need a pee.

With my pocket pouches they go in at the last minute (for shore dives) and come out before exiting the water. Much easier to handle than a belt.

I have heard talk of harnesses being good for positioning but those I have seen don't seem to take in consideration those of us with natural buoyancy on our chests.

 

[DanBMW]

DISAGREE, in general .... Really depends upon the situation. Weight integrated BC's for some, work well, I just personally prefer to evenly distribute the weight I'm carrying. Hate to have to lift up a fully loaded Weight integrated BC and tank. Hard on the back. Weight belt just works best for me. Use it skydiving too when jumping with the fat boys.

 

[Nemrod]

Dissagree completely. Diving a wing/BP or diving with a horsecollar BC (they are still around) or diving without any stink'n BC you need a weight belt.

I actually hate jacket BC units with the weight built in and I include all of the hybrid pretend back inflate wrap around types in the jacket catagory. If you dive that type of BC then they have built in weights, many if not most experienced divers graduate away from jacket BC integrated units into a modular wing/BP system which is far superior to a jacket (wrap around, back inflate integrated thingy).

When diving the wing/BP much of the weight can be transferred to the BP or eliminated by the BP. Of course tank selection can further reduce the actual amount of weight on the belt and while some Nanny type dive ops freak out over trim weights on a tank some additional weight can be placed there (on the tank--aluminum 80 tanks like 2 to 4 pounds on the bottom)

In my 1/4 inch sharkskin suit I need around 14 to 16 pounds (with aluminum 80)--the thing floats like a cork. Faber steel 85 takes off about 4 lbs, aluminum backplate takes off another 4 pounds, additional 4 lbs attached to plate or tank leaves only 4 to 6 pounds on my belt. Approximate.

Diving my Bare 5/4 I need about 9--say 10 pounds with aluminum 80. Attach 4 pounds trim weights to tank, BP removes 4 pounds and that leaves 2 to 4 pounds on my belt--or none in freshwater. Approximate for example purpose only.

No, I will keep my belt, thank you.
N