Forgot my weights

[ferretchen]

Complete dive report at http://spleen-me.com/blog/?p=117 but here's the short version:

A 55 minute surface interval was a trial because of the swells. Eager to get back in the water, where I knew I’d feel better, I splashed without my weight belt. I didn’t figure this out until I’d struggled down to the wreck, desperately trying to understand why my legs kept floating over my head. Eventually, upside down, wriggling, floating upwards like a cork and not having much fun, I felt at my waist… and found nothing. Idiot! I called the dive. my buddy, cold and miserable - although unlike me, properly weighted - eagerly agreed. Up we went.

Another couple of minutes on the line, and then the struggle to get on the pitching boat. I was glad it was over, but also glad for the experience. I clearly need more practice, but will use this experience to improve future dives.

Do a checklist in your head, or have your buddy check you out! On the crowded and busy dive boat, with everyone struggling to gear up and get out, it’s easy to overlook something like this. Having unfamiliar rental gear also makes this more likely. i usually have my own weight belt, with a distinctive metal buckle, and somehow my brain just didn't see the black plastic rental gear when it expected the usual hardware.

This isn't the scariest thing that could happen to someone, but it's still a lesson learned. Buoyancy issues could cause DCI, and any unprepared diver is at least a nuisance, if not a danger, to other divers.

 

[cavediver08]

I know you haven't under gone any type of formal Cave or technical training... But I know in at least open water you guys are required to do a checklist before you head down. =) Diving is like being a pilot, pilots must do a pre-flight checklist before every flight; as should you! Always go through every piece of equipment you have and make sure your ready to roll before you even hit the water =)~ If you feel anything is abnormal at any point in the dive, call it. You did the right thing by calling the dive when you realized you had no weight belt. Good luck, and happy diving! =D

 

[cmburch]

I'd like to forget my 24lb weight belt, but it is pretty much impossible. The worst I have ever done was forget my license on the kitchen table which is considerably worse if your whole weekend is hunting with your friends and family. We always check each other before jumping in, and for shore dives also check each other before submerging. Simple things like the wife's hair under the mask or an adjusted hood for a more comfortable and enjoyable dive. Haven't had anything major like a shut-off valve that I have also read about.

 

[ClayJar]

Eager to get back in the water, where I knew I’d feel better, I splashed without my weight belt. I didn’t figure this out until I’d struggled down to the wreck, desperately trying to understand why my legs kept floating over my head.

I must admit that I have had an instance of forgetting my weight belt. Okay, so it was while DMing at a pool session, so I just had to hop over to fetch it, but that still counts. I realized I had a problem right away, but why?

The key is that I live by the rule that you *coast* down, *never* swim down, to start a dive.

Everyone knows that they should be neutral at the end of the dive with no air in their BC and their tank empty. Using that as "properly weighted", a diver will never have to worry about struggling to hold a shallow stop at the end of the dive. (The end of the dive *is* the important part, eh? :biggrin Of course, if a diver is neutral with an empty tank, when they start the dive, they must be negative by the weight of the air in their tank. For an 80 cubic foot tank, that's about six pounds.

If you are properly weighted (and you don't have an empty tank ), letting the air out of your BC should start you on the glide to the bottom. I personally like to do a tiny surface dive right at the start in order to get in the "skydiver's descent" position without having my fins sticking up out of the water like a two-headed cross between Nessie and a duck, but if I've forgotten my weight, I'll glide right back to the surface after that little pike or tuck dive (instead of gliding down into the dive).

In fact, that's precisely what happened when I forgot my weight belt. I piked over to head to the bottom, and immediately, I floated those two or three feet right back to the surface. I wasn't kicking to swim down, so the positive buoyancy made itself obvious before my depth gauge could even get onto the scale.

The "Skydiver's Descent" vs. The Feet-First Descent

The "skydiver's descent" is my very favorite descent. To try it, get your body horizontal with your knees bent 90 degrees and your fins pointing straight out (flat side parallel to the surface). Of course, the most popular descent to teach new divers is feet-first. How do they differ?

Skydiver's Descent | Feet-First Descent Possibly Harder Equalizing: Equalization more difficult for some people.| Better Equalizing: Equalization is easiest upright.
High profile: More vertical drag to slow you down, giving you more time to find neutrality.| Low-profile: Small changes in negative buoyancy can speed your descent considerably.
Highly maneuverable: Easy to move and turn in the horizontal plane.| Less maneuverable: Turning is easy, but horizontal movement is not.
Buoyancy-controlled: No vertical finning, so continuous near-neutral buoyancy is emphasized.| Finning-sensitive: Easy to fin, even absentmindedly, making true buoyancy less apparent, but making it easier to get by without it.
Buoyancy-terminated: Simply inhale to stop at any point, assuming you kept on top of your buoyancy.| Thrust-terminated: With true buoyancy somewhat obscured, kicking to stop descent is often used, leading to reduced viz, but you *can* stop at any time by kicking however hard you need to.
Possible Splat: If you don't keep on your buoyancy, you could splat on the bottom. :biggrin:| Death From Above: If you don't keep on your buoyancy, you can stomp on other divers like a pile driver with fins.

Truth be told, both descents are useful, and neither is "right" or "wrong". Many descents are even a combination. You may start a descent feet-first (or mostly upright) to equalize for the first few feet and then transition to a skydiver's descent. You may do a skydiver's descent but realize you didn't keep up with your buoyancy well enough, at which point you tip up and kick to keep from splatting. Feel free to mix and match, but once you've gotten the hang of it, you really can't beat the skydiver's descent in most diving. (Of course, please, *please* do what you need to keep your ears equalized on the way down! )​

Anyway, any coasting descent (even head-straight-down) will keep you from finding out you left your weights 72 feet above you. Don't even think of struggling to get down (which would only lead to *really* struggling later to stay down, anyway). Save the swimming for other times and just enjoy the wind... er... current?... through your hair on the way down. :biggrin:

(Plus, relaxing your way to the bottom is a great way to improve air consumption. )

 

[InTheDrink]

BWRAF - Burgers with relish and fries.
Buoyancy (Inflate/deflate)
Weights
Releases
Air (second stage, octopus)
Final Check (fins, camera, etc.)

Easy to remember. I know it's just a PADI standard but it's the absolute least anyone must do before diving. Indeed, the pilot analogy is correct. These basics need to be confirmed everytime, otherwise results could be bad. This check is the absolute basic of basics and all divers should do this as a matter of routine, or whatever the basic check their agency trains you to. Needs to be automatic.

 

[Tricia]

JClynes,

I totally agree with you, but even then it can go wrong. I once got assigned a buddy at a resort and she was in a hurry to get in the water. I paused and did BWRAF for her gear and then asked her to do the same. She said she did, but she didn't notice I didn't have my integrated weights in my BCD (I had had the sense to show them to her earlier). So when I realised I was missing the weights (not very far down), I swam back to get them. But there were two student groups coming off the boat and the DM just handed them over the side to me. I inserted them myself underwater, but didn't realise the velcro hadn't caught well...

So about halfway through the dive, I started having major bouyancy issues. Tried to adjust and that helped a bit. Didn't realise what had happened (I had lost one of the weight pockets) until the other one slipped out, too and I started unintentionally shooting for the surface. My buddy managed to yank me back down to her and to help me find the second pocket in the sand below, which I reattached FIRMLY.

So here I am, trying to resurface with half the weight I normally have (and did I mention I have this weird super-bouyancy thing where once I'm at 5 meters or less, my body always wants to shoot up like a cork?)

Yes, it was festive gassing off (I hung on to some weights that had been dropped over the side and that helped a bit, but it was not pretty, nor pleasant).

The rule (for me, anyway): you have to do BWRAF to yourself and your buddy is just a secondary check. It's your gear and your life and you, first of all are responsible for it.

Needless to say, I've never forgotten my weights since.

 

[Deefstes]

I had the strangest experience during my third open water training session. This was in a quarry where I did my checkout dives. Prior to this I had done only pool sessions and the two open water sessions earlier that morning so buoyancy was still a new concept to me.

As my instructor and I came out of the water and joined the rest of the group, one guy asked me which weight belt I had been using as they counted one too many lying with them. I looked own and notice that I had forgotten to don a weightbelt.

The really weird thing is that the dive was perfect. I had no buoyancy issues whatsoever and even did a swimthrough of a bus in the quarry to see if I could do so without touching anything, and I succeeded. Nowadays I can forget about neutral buoyancy if I'm weighted any less than 4kg (9lbs).

 

[spectrum]

Anytime there are distractions while getting ready to dive the risk goes up. This includes departures from your typical routine and other interruptions. I always try to go through a top to bottom checklist. Sometimes the situations makes even that a chalenge.

Pete

 

[openmindOW]

Check-lists are a good idea. And PADI teaches BWRAF, as has been noted above. We have all forgotten something. Haste makes waste.

 

[Rileybri]

I am sorry but I am going to have to call a big BS on that. EVERYONE knows that you NEVER EVER put relish on a burger or fries (with the exception of drunk in collage or both!)

BWRAF - Burgers with relish and fries.
Buoyancy (Inflate/deflate)
Weights
Releases
Air (second stage, octopus)
Final Check (fins, camera, etc.)

Easy to remember. I know it's just a PADI standard but it's the absolute least anyone must do before diving. Indeed, the pilot analogy is correct. These basics need to be confirmed everytime, otherwise results could be bad. This check is the absolute basic of basics and all divers should do this as a matter of routine, or whatever the basic check their agency trains you to. Needs to be automatic.