Buddy did a Polaris

[nategasser]

(Aside: it's very sobering reading the tragic stories in this forum. It has absolutely reconfirmed my desire to actually make a point of working on my skills and equipment familiarity rather than just go vacation diving when I get the chance)

Anyway, mine is a lighter story that ended fine. We were in NC doing AOW with Olympus (first-class outfit IMHO) and on our very first dive out, about 80 feet into a 90 fsw dive, I turned around to check my buddy (best friends since grade school) and he was gone. Nowhere in sight. I looked the other way and our instructor was looking at me, motioning "Where the $#E@ is your buddy you idiot?" (that's what I felt like anyway) He and I both looked frantically for a bit, then surfaced. Turned out his weight belt had fallen -- he was actually attempting to tighten it and lost it.

Unlike one or two other stories I've been reading here, as soon as we were aboard our instructor sprang into action and about gave my buddy a complete physical. Wouldn't let him take the second dive, which we both agreed with. My friend really had no symptoms, just shaken. He did remember to dump his BC during his takeoff so that probably helped.

Lessons for me: I want a weight-integrated BC with secure releases. I know it's not foolproof, but seems less error-prone than the belts. Also, watch my buddy like a hawk.

Cheers,
Nate.

 

[Quarrior]

Nate, thanks for the post.

Here's a tip when dealing with weight belts. They will always lossen up when descending, this is due to the shrinking of the wetsuit.

The easiest way to deal with this, other than the weight integrated plan you mentioned is to descend horizontal, same with the ascent. This will keep the weight belt around you thus seriously limiting the chance of it falling off during adjustment.

Give it a try and see what you think.

 

[SeanQ]

Your friend is lucky that happened on the beginning of the first dive. Glad to hear everyone is alright.

 

[diverbrian]

(Aside: it's very sobering reading the tragic stories in this forum. It has absolutely reconfirmed my desire to actually make a point of working on my skills and equipment familiarity rather than just go vacation diving when I get the chance)

Anyway, mine is a lighter story that ended fine. We were in NC doing AOW with Olympus (first-class outfit IMHO) and on our very first dive out, about 80 feet into a 90 fsw dive, I turned around to check my buddy (best friends since grade school) and he was gone. Nowhere in sight. I looked the other way and our instructor was looking at me, motioning "Where the $#E@ is your buddy you idiot?" (that's what I felt like anyway) He and I both looked frantically for a bit, then surfaced. Turned out his weight belt had fallen -- he was actually attempting to tighten it and lost it.

Unlike one or two other stories I've been reading here, as soon as we were aboard our instructor sprang into action and about gave my buddy a complete physical. Wouldn't let him take the second dive, which we both agreed with. My friend really had no symptoms, just shaken. He did remember to dump his BC during his takeoff so that probably helped.

Lessons for me: I want a weight-integrated BC with secure releases. I know it's not foolproof, but seems less error-prone than the belts. Also, watch my buddy like a hawk.

Cheers,
Nate.

Nate,

I have seen as many weight pouches on the bottom than belts (or possibly more). I own a WI buoyancy compensator that I now seldom dive. I basically use it for pool and "working" dives.

I am using a weight harness. You may want to check that out as well. Mine is a DUI weight and trim system, but other companies make them. They are all pretty much foolproof as far as dumping weight ONLY when you want it dumped. They also allow (and this is an advantage with a weight integrated BC) you to dump a portion of your lead instead of all of it. This reduces the height of your jump after takeoff (LOL). If you are weighted correctly, losing half or a third of the weight will be enough to send you to surface, but it won't be as dramatic as dumping 20+ pounds (I dive cold water with all kinds of exposure protection) all in one fell swoop.

Also, the staying horizontal is a great idea and the way that many of us try to dive. I do have to go vertical for short periods for miscellaneous reasons though. One major one would be to squeeze all that air out of my drysuit prior to final ascent.

Anyways,

Merry Christmas (or whichever Holiday you celebrate this time of year, for me it's Christmas)

Brian

 

[Rick Inman]

Turned out his weight belt had fallen -- he was actually attempting to tighten it and lost it.

You are getting good stuff from diverbrian & Quarrior!

Your friend was attempting to make an adjustment to his weight belt and lost it. This is kind of a basic skill, and my guess is that other things were happening at the same time, and that the multitasking caused him to drop it (maybe he was trying to equalize and slow his descent at the same time, or something). The lesson here for all of us is to continually practice those basic skills until they are second nature. As you know, a small thing like this can really ruin your day!

 

[jbd]

Lessons for me: I want a weight-integrated BC with secure releases. I know it's not foolproof, but seems less error-prone than the belts. Also, watch my buddy like a hawk.

Cheers,
Nate.

I agree with Quarrior and with diverbrian. I have found more weight pouches from intergrated systems and have had more dives negatively affected by intergrated systems including during my ITC than with weight belts. I have actually been able to complete a couple of dives with a weight belt that came un-done. The reason is that I dive horizontal with the weights to the front so with the un-done buckle the belt just hung across my back.

Lessons for me from that day, dive horizontal, get a longer belt.

 

[scubapolly]

Inadvertently losing weights no matter if it is a belt or integrated seems to happen a lot more often than it should. Many argue that for this reason we should get away from ditchable weights (several postings to this are on SB mostly in this forum).

As mentioned here with weightbelts and thick wet suits, compression of the wet suit on the decent can cause a loosening of the belt, this hazard can be minimized (as mentioned) by a horizontal decent, just make sure that you check the weight belt or you might lose it as you begin you ascent which is actually more dangerous.

WI systems also are not full-proof, older systems (5+ yo- which I have) which have velcro only are quite dangerous as velcro really wasn't designed to hold 20 lbs of lead, the newer systems which incorporate a buckle into the pockets are much better, but only if you securely fasten the buckles. Another nice thing about the WI systems is that you only lose half of your weights instead of all of your weights (typically) as you do with a belt system (even less than half if you utilize balance pockets or the like)

Many technical divers avoid these problems by greatly limiting their ditchable weights. Affixing tank weights between double cylinders and the use of SS back plates reduces if not eliminating the need for weight belts.

Harness systems are also a good choice (I have never personally used such a system) but friends who need a lot of weight (mostly due to neoprene dry suits) swear by these weighting systems.

IMO the best advice is to not put all of your eggs in one basket, or all of your weights in one weight belt.

Polly

 

[DamselDiver]

I have an older seaquest BCD with IW. I lost a pouch on a liveaboard in thailand. I was able to replace it, but I modified my rig by adding snap clips to my BCD and the Pouches. I pass the chord of the snap end through the webbing of the pouch and the other snap clip to the ballast pocket on the BCD (Small non releasable pockets near the tank bracket).

If I want to dump weight I must release the snap clip before I can undo the velcro and remove the pouch.

IMHO accidently releasing weight is more dangerous than making the action positive and deliberate.

Weight belts and weight pockets each have advantages and disadvantages, I still prefer integrated system.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

As scubapolly mention, many divers use non-ditchable weight. I use a stainless steel backplate, six pounds, a homemade eight pound V-weight between my tanks and a two pound canister light. This allows me to be negative at the beginning of a dive and neutral throughout the last half of a dive. This helps me avoid any out of control ascents by never having too much air in my wing at any point during the dive. If, for any reason I had to ascend before losing the extra weight of full tanks I don't need to swim against the weight of any extra lead. I also carry three sources of lift; my wing, drysuit and a liftbag.

 

[lostinspace]

I carry 4-5kg of lead on a dive in warm water (29+degC) with a 3mm wetsuit.
I put 2 times 1kg weights either side of my tank in non-dumpable pouches of my BCD. I then put 2 times 1kg weights in each snap-lock-release integrated pocket holder. Depending on the salinity of the water (I often dive offshore close to river mouths) I would carry my 5th 1kg weight in the centre BCD pocket, effecting an easy release if necessary but also so I am not lop-sided