Drop Weights: What's the Scoop?

[H2Andy]

I heard about drop weights for the first time today. A very experienced
cave instructor, well known in the dive industry, reccommended that
i go with six pounds on my BC and six pounds as drop weights for my
cavern diving. once at the secondary tie-off point, i could leave the drop
weights behind and go on with only six pounds on my BC.

how do you feel about drop weights? use them? love them? hate them?
fear them?

do any open water divers use them? is this something only cave divers use?

how come i'd never heard of them before?

your thoughts, as always, are appreciated.

 

[Rick Murchison]

First of all, why use drop weights? The idea is that when diving a thick wetsuit, once at depth you just don't need the weight - so why carry it. Indeed, in an exterme case the BC may not be able to overcome all the weight you had to carry to start down, once the wetsuit is compressed and loses its buoyancy, so safety dictates dropping some of it. (In the "good old days" before BC's we often used drop weights to control buoyancy once on the bottom)
But there's a down side, and this brings up the when to use drop weights. Since losing the weights could result in an uncontrollable ascent once the wetsuit expands enough to provide positive buoyancy without them, it is essential that drop weights only be used in situations (cave diving is one) where they can absolutely be found and reattached at the end of the dive. In other words, if you drop weights, you have committed to returning to get them; you've just cut away many options (in cave diving you usually have to come back the way you went in, so your options are already cut off).
The best way to eliminate the need for drop weights - and the reason I don't use 'em - is to go to a dry suit rather than a thick wetsuit when it gets cold..
As for your poll... Have used them, don't use them any more.
Rick

 

[The Chairman]

Are you using the term "drop weights" in a different manner than "ditchable weights"??? I am not familiar with the former, but believe that all divers should consider the latter. I firmly believe that a weight belt should carry no more than 10-12 pounds, and preferably LESS. 4-6 would be ideal, and the rest should be permanently stowed in the BC. This way if you inadvertently lose your weight belt, you can still swim down for it without killing yourself trying.

 

[Rick Murchison]

Are you using the term "drop weights" in a different manner than "ditchable weights"??? I am not familiar with the former, but believe that all divers should consider the latter. I firmly believe that a weight belt should carry no more than 10-12 pounds, and preferably LESS. 4-6 would be ideal, and the rest should be permanently stowed in the BC. This way if you inadvertently lose your weight belt, you can still swim down for it without killing yourself trying.

How young are ye, NetDoc? Drop weights are clipped on with the objective of dropping them off at depth (and picking them back up on the way back) to improve buoyancy control. In the days before BC's they were quite common; not they're rare, and with the increased availability of drysuits and BC's with plenty of lift they're on the way out entirely.
Rick

 

[H2Andy]

yeah, the ones i was shown were two old-fashioned lead weights tied together to a clip.
you clip it on, descend, unclip, and "drop" them at the cave entrance.

 

[The Chairman]

Rick

old enough to remember diving with no BC and no weights...

 

[Diver0001]

I heard about drop weights for the first time today. A very experienced
cave instructor, well known in the dive industry, reccommended that
i go with six pounds on my BC and six pounds as drop weights for my
cavern diving. once at the secondary tie-off point, i could leave the drop
weights behind and go on with only six pounds on my BC.

how do you feel about drop weights? use them? love them? hate them?
fear them?

do any open water divers use them? is this something only cave divers use?

how come i'd never heard of them before?

your thoughts, as always, are appreciated.

I'd say it's a pointless fallback to a bygone age. Don't forget when these things were common people used to use bleach bottles filled with air to keep them neutral. Adding and removing weight was easier than adding and removing air for trimming. Is that still the case today?

R..