DIY softweights for 1/4th the Cost!! eco friendly as well!

[bevansmw]

The air inside the bags will compress as you descend, since you're not adding any air to the bags during the dive there shouldn't be any problem as you ascend, the air will just re-expand to it's original volume from when you started.

Shouldn't be a problem, only worry the zip seal breaks and you lose some lead. Hopefully not enough to make you surface

I still prefer the mesh bags double or triple stitched, my wife has a sewing machine so I may make some.

 

[Hatul]

I experimented with Ziploc bags, with the freezer bags that have a valve and manual pump, and "dry" bags, not to make pouches but to seal pouches, and it did not work. They all leaked. Once the plastic bag leaks it makes a mess because it will never allow the lead to dry.

What finally worked for me is FoodSaver vacuum sealer. I used the 8" rolls and use light vacuum to keep the weights soft. This does not use a zip lock but heat to weld the plastic shut.

Adam

 

[kevinl4270]

That's a brilliant idea Chaz. I should have thought to make mini pouches inside of mine, that way I can add and or subtract weight as needed.
Thanks!

 

[Lockdownx99]

thanks for the input. i came up with this same solution but since i didnt have one readily available, i felt i should stick to what i could prove. i guess i should add that idea into my DIY. thanks. sorry no pics still. my camera had gone down and i was sick for almost a week. kinda strayed away for a bit.

 

[Jim Baldwin]

Back about 30 years ago I also found myself in need of diving weights and didn't want to buy ready made. So being the DIY type guy that I am I borrowed a buddy's aluminum weight mold.

I stopped by the local tire store and they gave me a five gallon bucket of wheel weight. As I was doing a lot of competitive shooting back then I had pot for melting weights. I ran the weights through the pot and got all the excess material out. I made eight 4-pound weights. Heated the mold on a gas burner and let them cool.

The nice thing about lead is it doesn't go bad. I'm still using some of those same weights today. The four pounders easily fit in intergrated weight pouches and I have two four-pounders on a weight belt I use when diving with my drysuit.

Cost was near zero and about an hour's worth of labor.

 

[RAWalker]

Back about 30 years ago I also found myself in need of diving weights and didn't want to buy ready made. So being the DIY type guy that I am I borrowed a buddy's aluminum weight mold.

I stopped by the local tire store and they gave me a five gallon bucket of wheel weight. As I was doing a lot of competitive shooting back then I had pot for melting weights. I ran the weights through the pot and got all the excess material out. I made eight 4-pound weights. Heated the mold on a gas burner and let them cool.

The nice thing about lead is it doesn't go bad. I'm still using some of those same weights today. The four pounders easily fit in intergrated weight pouches and I have two four-pounders on a weight belt I use when diving with my drysuit.

Cost was near zero and about an hour's worth of labor.

I do the same for anchor weighs for my dive buoys. I add a SS eye with washer and jamb nuts to make sure the eyes don't come out. My pot is just a enamel coated pot from the dollar store and I heat it on the side burner of my BBQ. I also make weights to weigh down a portable pop up shade when it can't be staked. I just let the pot cool and flip it over the lead slug drops out and I drill a hole for a loop.
Yep, cost is near free. Just a few bucks worth of propane.
It is however getting harder to find the scrape lead to many of us are raiding our local tire dealers.