Drop your weights or not...

[Teamcasa]

There is a good thread in Accidents http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/accidents-incidents/377698-two-fatalities-monterey.html and towards the end the subject of when, if - should I drop my weights in (what kind) an emergency.

So, were you trained to drop your weights in an emergency or not?

 

[wedivebc]

Yes I was trained to drop weights and as a basic openwater diver that should be a conditioned response to an emergency at that level. There should be no question or hesitation on the part of the diver whether to do it or not. My answer does not apply to overhead or tech divers but definitely at this level of diving dropped weights could be a life saver.

 

[TSandM]

I was trained HOW to drop my weights, and we practiced a simulated arrival at the surface out of air, with oral inflation and weight drop. We did not discuss any other times you might want to drop weights, or what the drawbacks of doing so might be. In Rescue, I was taught to drop someone ELSE's weights to ensure they would be positive at the surface.

 

[AfterDark]

I was trained to ditch my weights if for some reason I can not attain positive buoyancy. A last ditch effort......

 

[Thiad]

Yes. I also like that the club (specifically the dive master) I dive with reminds us before every dive that you should never hesitate to drop your weights. It's a good refresher.

 

[Cave Diver]

I was trained to ditch my weights if for some reason I can not attain positive buoyancy. A last ditch effort......

Ditto.

 

[gcbryan]

I was "trained" as TS&M mentions above. The impression I was left with with was that it was generally a thing that you might consider when at the surface if you had a long swim, were having trouble staying at the surface, were helping a panicked diver, etc.

I don't recall much talk of when you should do it while underwater other than how to if it should become necessary.

I guess it depends on the "emergency". If my foot is stuck/twisted up in kelp I'm not going to ditch my weights for instance as I'll only be more stuck.

We were taught of course that lead is cheap and if you need to do it (release lead) do it!

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

Trained to drop weights if I was:

1.) Too heavy to remain at the surface under my own power (lost surface floatation, over-weighted, exhausted, muscle cramp, ill, injured, etc.)
2.) Too heavy to reach the surface under your own power (over-weighted).

My training predates the widespread use of BC's.... we used "safety vests" in our class. My kids' training is more current. They were certified in 2007 (PADI), and for them I believe the emphasis was on surface ditching of weights for the same basic reasons I was taught, plus of course failure of BC. I think ditching at depth might have been mentioned.

Best wishes.

 

[bygolly]

During my instruction in 1979 we would drop weights at the bottom and perform the buoyant swimming emergency ascent. A quick ride to the surface with 2 layers of 7 mil on as I remember. You got extra kudos if you got back to the bottom on your own and put your belt back on.

Release of the belt was also practiced at the surface with someone catching the belt before it headed for the bottom. Then oral inflation of the BC etc. but I can't recall if I had to put my belt back on while at the surface....probably did, but the cobwebs in the brain are interfering.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

There is a good thread in Accidents http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/accidents-incidents/377698-two-fatalities-monterey.html and towards the end the subject of when, if - should I drop my weights in (what kind) an emergency.

So, were you trained to drop your weights in an emergency or not?

I found some of the recommendations in that A&I thread rather curious.

I received my PADI OW certification in 1998. We were trained how to ditch our weight. We were told there could be situations in which we would have to ditch that weight or remove/replace it on the surface or underwater. My instructor discussed with us that, in an emergency, we should stop, think, get control, and then take the best course of action. We went on to discuss various scenarios that we might encounter as newly certified OW divers.

At no point during our OW class did he ever instruct us to ditch weight as the first step in any emergency scenario. That would effectively skip the "thinking" step in the approach we should be using to address the emergency.