First equipment purchase & BP/Wings ?

[Uncle Pug]

1) 10lbs in one of Heath's belts is only one 2# weight pouch in each pocket... very comfortable and won't slide off even the truely buttless...
2) Have you tried a Halcyon 27# and 36# wings? We've tried them all and I can tell you there is a difference.
3) see 7
4) www.idsewing.com
5) take your rig off UW sometime and see which way it goes... and which way you go... do it shallow...
6) good grief... you've never seen a SS weight belt buckle?? where have you been man... anyway Heath has a very heavy duty plastic buckle on his belt... if you don't like it throw it away and put a SS buckle on... piece~o~cake...btw it is proper to wear the belt under the crotch strap and even if it did come undone it isn't going anywhere unless you undo the harness buckle...
7) the ACB profile isn't blocked by the arms and shoulders when in a horizontal attitude.... that's sales hype... and if a 10# weight belt is considered heavy and too difficult to don then you need to get with my new fitness program for DIR divers.
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10747&perpage=15&display=&pagenumber=1

 

[Uncle Pug]

Originally posted by Jeblis
I saw the thread somewhere about the heath weight belts. They
sound good and I do like the idea of having ditchable weight.

I couldn't find anything on why the 27 or the 36 is better. I'd like enough lift so I can dive with steel tanks in cold water with a dry suit or tropical waters with almost nothing.

The 27 doesn't have the side panels and just folds up flat along the sides of the tank when you are swimming horizontally... I had one person on a dive charter ask me where my *BC* was... she couldn't even tell it was there...

The 36 and 45 have side panels that allow the wing to inflate more and give the extra lift and if it is truely needed then that is what you should get... but UW those panels allow the wing to pooch out from the tank with any air in them and that does present extra drag... maybe not much but it is measureable...

Remember, like I said... I dive cold water, wear a drysuit, use a PST LP104 steel tank and sometimes even carry a Gavin scooter with a 27# Pioneer wing. But then I'm not afraid of the water either Some folks might prefer to have the extra buoyancy.... Shane uses a 45# Pioneer when we are single tank diving.

 

[metridium]

Originally posted by Uncle Pug
1) 10lbs in one of Heath's belts is only one 2# weight pouch in each pocket... very comfortable and won't slide off even the truely buttless...
2) Have you tried a Halcyon 27# and 36# wings? We've tried them all and I can tell you there is a difference.
3) see 7
4) www.idsewing.com
5) take your rig off UW sometime and see which way it goes... and which way you go... do it shallow...
6) good grief... you've never seen a SS weight belt buckle?? where have you been man... anyway Heath has a very heavy duty plastic buckle on his belt... if you don't like it throw it away and put a SS buckle on... piece~o~cake...btw it is proper to wear the belt under the crotch strap and even if it did come undone it isn't going anywhere unless you undo the harness buckle...
7) the ACB profile isn't blocked by the arms and shoulders when in a horizontal attitude.... that's sales hype... and if a 10# weight belt is considered heavy and too difficult to don then you need to get with my new fitness program for DIR divers.
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10747&perpage=15&display=&pagenumber=1

1) How comfortable is it with typical cold-water singles weight? I use 27lbs or so...not comfortable on any belt I've tried.
2) Guess I fell for sales hype, but where's the extra drag coming from? They have the same bow-on profile, and deflated at depth, why would the aft profile differ? There's no increase in width or length, only in depth (breadth?) when inflated past 27lbs, right?
3) Not that I've noticed. YMMV. And getting any style weight belt on over your harness is a PITA, IMHO, especially on a rocking boat. The real problem is getting it snugged up under the plate in the back.
4) Thanks.
5) When practicing that, I hook an arm through the harness to prevent just what you're talking about. Not ideal, but from my extremely limited experience, I recall thinking I'd rather be stuck on the ceiling than in the silt on the floor.
6) No, never. The ones I found or rented were all plastic buckle types, and I've never noticed one on a dive boat, either. Of course, I don't make a habit of going around looking, either...
7) Personal observation. If I swim with my arms trailing, then the ACB pockets are indeed exposed. But I always swim with my arms folded across my stomach, thus incidentally blocking the ACBs from the waterflow.

 

[Uncle Pug]

1) I thought you said you used 10# and a SS plate??? I can't imagine any 27 belt being comfortable but Heath's will hold that much. My standard single tank rig is a steel LP104 and ss backplate and a 12# belt ... but now I have to use 16# because when diving the CF200... why are you using so much weight?!?!?!

2) I expained that in the post to Jeblis

3) That's why I put it on first... under the crotch strap

4) you are welcome

5) don't know about ceilings and floors with a single tank... but it is nice to have a balanced rig...

6) take a look at your harness waist buckle...

7) I don't swim with my arms blocking any flow... I let them find the place of least resistance... and when I am scootering my right arm is outstreched.... ACBs are definitely in the flow creating drag... when floating serenely at rest or deco I do clasp my hands in front of me.

 

[metridium]

Originally posted by Uncle Pug
1) I thought you said you used 10# and a SS plate??? I can't imagine any 27 belt being comfortable but Heath's will hold that much. My standard single tank rig is a steel LP104 and ss backplate and a 12# belt ... but now I have to use 16# because when diving the CF200... why are you using so much weight?!?!?!

2) I expained that in the post to Jeblis

3) That's why I put it on first... under the crotch strap

4) you are welcome

5) don't know about ceilings and floors with a single tank... but it is nice to have a balanced rig...

6) take a look at your harness waist buckle...

7) I don't swim with my arms blocking any flow... I let them find the place of least resistance... and when I am scootering my right arm is outstreched.... ACBs are definitely in the flow creating drag... when floating serenely at rest or deco I do clasp my hands in front of me.

1) 10lbs tropical, 27lbs coldwater dry. Why so much? Hollow bones and a solid stomach, I guess.
2) Crossed in the mail.
3) So it's no longer ditchable weight....not easily or immediately, anyway.
5) Working on it.... (that particular trial was in a cavern, btw).
6) Know what it looks like; just meant I've never seen one used on a weightbelt. Could send off and add it to a personal weightbelt, but for me it's suboptimal.
7) Point taken on scootering. If I ever find myself scootering frequently with a single tank, I'll keep that in mind.

That particular arm position (crossed at the wrist, just below where a belt buckle would be) is the lowest-profile comfortable position I've found.

Thanks for the discussion. I'd heard that the ACB isn't DIR, and I've wondered what I've overlooked. So far, I can't see a reason to ditch the ACBs....

 

[GreenDiverDown]

 

[metridium]

Followup to UP:

I have to admit I'd forgotten that you dive with a canister light, and after playing around a bit this weekend, I can see why the ACBs wouldn't be preferred in that case. Ditto for the scootering, though I didn't have a chance to test out that one.

Guess I'll keep the ACBs for the moment, but when the canister light's on order.....

ebay.




P.S. Discovered a transcriptional error from my last dive. Actual weight used in coldwater configuration is half what I'd written above. Makes the weight-belt decision even easier.

Still have to get the rig balanced out first....