Here's the deal. My wife and I recently got drysuits, and her old BC does *NOT* fit well at all with the drysuit on. (It was one of the 'special' women's BCs that are small and supposedly comfy. Unfortunately, it's the former, but not the latter).
I recently switched over to a BP/wings (Halcyon 36# setup), and she tried one out a few months ago.
Last night she decided that she needed a new BC so she could dive in her drysuit more comfortably, and remembered that the BP/wings setup wasn't too bad in the water. I temporarily re-rigged my BP, and after trying it on in the common common configurations (skin for pool work, wetsuit for warm water, and drysuit for normal Montana diving), she decided that yes indeed, the BP would be the best solution.
(Female divers take note). So, it looks like we're going to get a new BP/wings for her. However, there is a kicker.
Even with a 6# of weight in the BP, she needs about 18-24# for proper weighting with her drysuit using an Al tank (which is what we have for tanks at this point).
That means she needs to somehow get another 12-18# of weight somewhere on her kit.
The choices I'm aware of are:
1) Halcyon ACB system
2) Weight belt
3) Some other manufacturer's weight pockets.
4) Tank/trim weights
5) Heavier tanks
(1) Doesn't work, because the Halcyon system is too long (each pocket is 9" wide). With her small waist, there is no way to tighten up the belt without it hitting both pockets of the weight system leaving no room for the buckle, even with her drysuit on. (We tried that last night, since I have the Halcyon ACB+ pockets on my setup).
(2) She *hates* (!!!) weight belts with a passion. With her current BC, she is forced to wear a 4# belt since it's weight-integration setup won't take more than 14# of weight, but when she has more than about 10# of weight on her hips, the belt really digs in. The advantage of the BC/BP harness is that the weight is distributed on both the hips and shoulders.
(3) I don't want to have to buy a DiveRite and/or OMS setup just to get weight pockets. Does anyone know of other weight pockets that could be added to a BP harness that are not really 'wide'? (I'd also need a way to mount them to the plate so they don't slide off when putting on the harness).
(4) I threw some trim weights on her Al tank, which enables her to avoid using ankle weights. However, I also need to keep the trim fairly even so she doesn't end up head up or feet up, so any tank/trim solutions needs to be able to spread the weight throughout the entire tank lengthwise. Also, if we go on a dive trip, I need a system that is portable to rental tanks.
(5) We can't afford new tanks *and* a new BC, and the BC is more important. Also, when we go on cold-water dive trips, it may not be feasible to bring the heavier steel tanks with us, so we're going to need a solution for Al tanks.
Does anyone have any other suggestions for adding weight so my wife can be properly weighted?
I did find some ScubaPro S-Tek weight pockets at SimplyScuba, but I couldn't see how wide they were, or if they could be mounted on the belt so they didn't slide off when donning/doffing the harness.
Finally, cheaper is better. I was willing to pay for the Halcyon weight pockets, but that is the absolute limit of what I can afford.
Thanks for any pointers!
Nate
I recently switched over to a BP/wings (Halcyon 36# setup), and she tried one out a few months ago.
Last night she decided that she needed a new BC so she could dive in her drysuit more comfortably, and remembered that the BP/wings setup wasn't too bad in the water. I temporarily re-rigged my BP, and after trying it on in the common common configurations (skin for pool work, wetsuit for warm water, and drysuit for normal Montana diving), she decided that yes indeed, the BP would be the best solution.
(Female divers take note). So, it looks like we're going to get a new BP/wings for her. However, there is a kicker.
Even with a 6# of weight in the BP, she needs about 18-24# for proper weighting with her drysuit using an Al tank (which is what we have for tanks at this point).
That means she needs to somehow get another 12-18# of weight somewhere on her kit.
The choices I'm aware of are:
1) Halcyon ACB system
2) Weight belt
3) Some other manufacturer's weight pockets.
4) Tank/trim weights
5) Heavier tanks
(1) Doesn't work, because the Halcyon system is too long (each pocket is 9" wide). With her small waist, there is no way to tighten up the belt without it hitting both pockets of the weight system leaving no room for the buckle, even with her drysuit on. (We tried that last night, since I have the Halcyon ACB+ pockets on my setup).
(2) She *hates* (!!!) weight belts with a passion. With her current BC, she is forced to wear a 4# belt since it's weight-integration setup won't take more than 14# of weight, but when she has more than about 10# of weight on her hips, the belt really digs in. The advantage of the BC/BP harness is that the weight is distributed on both the hips and shoulders.
(3) I don't want to have to buy a DiveRite and/or OMS setup just to get weight pockets. Does anyone know of other weight pockets that could be added to a BP harness that are not really 'wide'? (I'd also need a way to mount them to the plate so they don't slide off when putting on the harness).
(4) I threw some trim weights on her Al tank, which enables her to avoid using ankle weights. However, I also need to keep the trim fairly even so she doesn't end up head up or feet up, so any tank/trim solutions needs to be able to spread the weight throughout the entire tank lengthwise. Also, if we go on a dive trip, I need a system that is portable to rental tanks.
(5) We can't afford new tanks *and* a new BC, and the BC is more important. Also, when we go on cold-water dive trips, it may not be feasible to bring the heavier steel tanks with us, so we're going to need a solution for Al tanks.
Does anyone have any other suggestions for adding weight so my wife can be properly weighted?
I did find some ScubaPro S-Tek weight pockets at SimplyScuba, but I couldn't see how wide they were, or if they could be mounted on the belt so they didn't slide off when donning/doffing the harness.
Finally, cheaper is better. I was willing to pay for the Halcyon weight pockets, but that is the absolute limit of what I can afford.
Thanks for any pointers!
Nate