BP/W + XS Scuba pockets

[raposarose]

Hello,

It has been suggested to me that using XS Scuba pockets attached to the harness of a BP/Wing system is a good alternative to the weight belt. I've practiced to make sure that I can ditch in an emergency and my dive buddy uses the same set-up.

Do you think that having only velcro to hold the weights in is a serious problem? Any other problems with this set-up? I know that it means you cannot hand your weight belt up first on a boat trip, but I can pull myself onboard with weights in it anyway.

The guy who suggested it to me was a DIR instructor (I am not DIR) and I have seen it mentioned by several people on this board. I just thought I would check in about the opinions of other with this.

In my set-up I use two 3 pound weights in pockets on my cam strap, and two 4 pound weights on my harness. So I have 8 ditchable lbs if I reach in the pockets and toss them out.

Thanks in advance for your opinions!

 

[onfloat]

I use 3 pockets on my cam bands (Cold water) and 1 on my waist strap (always) and have not had any problems.

 

[Scubaroo]

Have done numerous dives with this setup, and have not found it to be an issue - I've found I'm even able to reach back and remove/replace weights from the pockets when on the camstrap of the tank while wearing 5mm gloves mid-dive. Bit fiddly but doable.

The pockets have a good surface area of velcro - they are quite secure. Given that the pockets are only about $10 USD ea in the states, if the velco ever gets worn, just toss the old ones and replace them.

 

[KOMPRESSOR]

Have done numerous dives with this setup, and have not found it to be an issue - I've found I'm even able to reach back and remove/replace weights from the pockets when on the camstrap of the tank while wearing 5mm gloves mid-dive. Bit fiddly but doable.

The pockets have a good surface area of velcro - they are quite secure. Given that the pockets are only about $10 USD ea in the states, if the velco ever gets worn, just toss the old ones and replace them.

have you got a photo? I'm looking for a solution myself. Need to place about 5 kilos of lead somewhere else than in my weightbelt. Should be dropabable though, due to neoprene drysuit.

 

[Scubaroo]

No photos, but I have one on either side of my waist (plus a canister light on the right), and two on my lower camband, which allows me a bit over 7kg. I cut my lower camband to a custom length to allow the pockets to be placed either side of the tank without having a long flap of dangly camstrap. Wife has a very similar setup, with 6 pockets in total (two on each camband).

 

[PerroneFord]

Hello,

It has been suggested to me that using XS Scuba pockets attached to the harness of a BP/Wing system is a good alternative to the weight belt.

The guy who suggested it to me was a DIR instructor (I am not DIR)...

I am almost scared to ask who suggested this to you, but from what *I* have seen, I'd be very hard to convince that weight pockets held on by velcro only is anywhere NEAR DIR. Obviously this is only my opinion, and I am still trying to learn about DIR, but this just strikes me as "questionable".

That said, several manufacturers seem to produce these kinds of pockets so apparently they work. I guess it all comes down to you and what you are comfortable with. I've never found a weightbelt to be that big of a hassle.

 

[cool_hardware52]

I am almost scared to ask who suggested this to you, but from what *I* have seen, I'd be very hard to convince that weight pockets held on by velcro only is anywhere NEAR DIR.

The XS Scuba pockets have a sewn belt loop that holds them onto the belt, webbing, camstrap. The velcro is used to hold the pocket shut. When closed the velcro is loaded in shear, pretty secure. As with all sewn goods, and velcro in particular watch for wear.

I use the XS scuba pouch belt, and I like it. Couple things to look out for. Soft weight pouches can "dribble" out the open corners of the pockets, use care, and check these points.

Personally I prefer not to have weight pouches on my waist strap, it's really just ease of use for me. I have found that with pouches on the the waist strap it is more difficult to don the rig in the water. Without a weight belt, the buoyancy of my exposure suit kinda pins me to the surface, and with weight pouches on the waist belt the waist straps are just that much more difficult to reach. It's doable, but a weight belt for me is easier.

A 6-8lbs weight belt is not that big a deal anyway....


Regards,


Tobin

 

[StSomewhere]

I have two of the XS Scuba pockets on my harness with a three pound soft weight bag in each, the only thing I don't love about them is the one on the other side from the buckle has a tendency to slip off when the buckle is, well, unbuckled. They have a sewn sleeve that slides on to any 2" harness. I haven't decided yet if I want to just deal with this or put it farther back behind my SPG D-Ring or something else (really not looking to add another D-ring or triglide if I can help it).

OTOH, I'm using little bits of weight in various places. Only a small part of my weight would ever need to be ditchable, plus I'm still working on dialing in my trim.

I agree that once the pockets are on a harness the weight bags aren't going anywhere unless you wanted them too, but you can still pull them and hand them up to a boat or throw them on a dock or whatever. I'm thinking about some sort of DIY sleeve for the weight bags that would be even easier to grab if you wanted, this was the main reason I really liked the DR 16 lb (8 per side) ditchable weight pockets I've tried.

 

[Scubaroo]

I am almost scared to ask who suggested this to you, but from what *I* have seen, I'd be very hard to convince that weight pockets held on by velcro only is anywhere NEAR DIR. Obviously this is only my opinion, and I am still trying to learn about DIR, but this just strikes me as "questionable".

Well seeing as this thread is in the bouyancy compensator forum, and not the DIR one - who cares. As someone who is using this method (and not just reading about it on the internet) - the velcro is more than sufficient. You can put a 5lb weight into one of these pockets and shake the hell out of it and it won't fall out - I just pulled one of these out and tried that very thing. The velcro is more than secure, and measures 3" x 1.5" - that's 4.5 square inches of velcro. Velcro has a shear strength of 10-15lb per square inch, so theoretically it could withstand 45-67.5lb of dead weight before failing. So putting 5lb in there - that's a minimum 9x safety factor. The pockets I have which are about 2 years old are in fine condition.

 

[Scubaroo]

I have two of the XS Scuba pockets on my harness with a three pound soft weight bag in each, the only thing I don't love about them is the one on the other side from the buckle has a tendency to slip off when the buckle is, well, unbuckled.

A triglide slid onto the webbing butted up against the pocket solves this problem.