Cozumel Weight Belt Loss on Deep Dive – Scuba Diving Incident Analysis

[jagfish]

Cozumel Weight Belt Loss on Deep Dive – Scuba Diving Incident Analysis

On a beautiful wall dive in Cozumel, two divers and a guide enjoy high visibility with spectacular hard and soft corals. One diver apparently did not secure his weight belt properly or the buckle failed, and around the middle of the dive, at 30 meters/100 feet, the belt falls off, causing the dive to lose buoyancy dangerously fast towards the surface. While the diver does little himself to remedy the situation, an alert dive leader comes to the rescue, catching the diver and giving him some ballast for the remainder of the dive.

Kudos to this diver, Bryon, for posting this video for us to learn from.

 

[inquis]

Had a buddy in Cozumel with full 3 mm suit forget to put ANY weights in pockets (normally 10 lbs). Planned as a negative entry / quick descent and didn't realize the issue as we were swimming down. No issue at 80 ft since suit compression and air not-yet-breathed obviated the need for the weight he should have been carrying. About mid-dive he realized it, got 4 lbs from the DM, and we made a normal ascent with SS (in contact with each other). No drama.

 

[Esprise Me]

Thanks for the written summary; I'm not always in the mood to watch a video. I wonder how common it is for weight belts to fall off, and how often it's a failure of the buckle vs. user error. I usually dive with integrated weights, but a buddy once pointed out to me the advantage of a separate weight belt or harness, especially when solo diving: it's much easier to take off your gear to deal with entanglement without popping to the surface.

 

[David Martel]

. I wonder how common it is for weight belts to fall off, and how often it's a failure of the buckle vs. user error. I usually dive with integrated weights, but a buddy once pointed out to me the advantage of a separate weight belt or harness, especially when solo diving: it's much easier to take off your gear to deal with entanglement without popping to the surface.

Once in ~300 dives I had a belt come off. it was my fault for not checking it and making adjustments after my decent. Weight belts are used millions of times a year without incident. In my case, I immediately dumped my BCD and exhaled, signaled my dive buddy and went head down hard kicking. That sequence had me under control in seconds as i was able to grabs something to stabilize my depth. My buddy retrieved my weight belt that was just a few meters below me. Completed my dive no issues. Integrated weights are great when you and your dive buddy are familiar with releasing them. Someone who is not familiar with the propriety and varying releases may not know how to detach them in an emergency.

 

[Khrissi]

Glad to read this actually, started out with ND bcd with weight pockets in it ( zip pockets) every dive i have been on, have had quick release belt forced on me ' cos thats what you should have' then spent most of dive pulling it up sagging around my bum that the possibility I would be scrabbling around under my bcd to release belt quickly if needed, didnt get mentioned......

 

[BlueTrin]

Glad to read this actually, started out with ND bcd with weight pockets in it ( zip pockets) every dive i have been on, have had quick release belt forced on me ' cos thats what you should have' then spent most of dive pulling it up sagging around my bum that the possibility I would be scrabbling around under my bcd to release belt quickly if needed, didnt get mentioned......

This summer, I was diving behind another buddy pair.

I saw something fall from the pockets of one of them on the wreck and it made a small cloud of silt.

I went to look at it and saw a small hole on the wreck, tried to look to see if I could get the item, but the hole went pretty deep. Thought it was bad luck to lose something in a hole on a wreck.

When I looked up, she was hanging on the permanent line 3 meters above.

Back on the boat I asked her if she lost anything and she was adamant that she didn’t.

At the end of the trip, literally 3 days later, she realised she lost a weight pocket with 3kg.

We connected the dots and realised that she lost buoyancy at that point and that’s when she grabbed the line after leaving a tiny crater in the wreck. She was lucky to have been overweighted and close to a permanent line, although she was not in deco.

She joked that her buoyancy was so much better after losing that pocket …

 

[DiveProKoko]

This also serves as a good reminder to dive pros to consider diving a little heavy when with clients/students so you have the weight to donate if needed. Great lessons all around.

 

[CT-Rich]

I had a belt come off on a boat entry in Grand Cayman. It had a nylon buckle. Now if I travel, I bring my own belt (metal buckle), in case I need it.

 

[scubadada]

I once jumped off a boat in Boynton Beach Florida without my weight pockets, 8 lbs I had no trouble getting down with a full tank. I loaded my BC pocket with rocks and fishing weights. I finished the dive normally and nobody knew that I had f**ked up so badly. Very embarrassing, but it happens. It has not happened again