Has anyone ditched weights before?

[Packhorse]

Not I , but one time while diving at Leigh a dive school boat passed by us quite close and fast even though by law no boat may travel more than 5kt's within 200m of a boat flying the alpha flag which we were. I was a bit disapointed by this behaviour from a instructor/skipper but give him the big thumbs up (nice one bro). Anyway later on heading back to the ramp we slowed down to 5kts as we came past the boats moored there and soon after the same dive boat comes wizzing past us again full speed heading to the ramp. A few minutes later we get to the ramp and Im about to pull the skipper aside and give him a few words when I see a woman lying down in the boat looking a bit worse for wear.
It turns out she had surfaced had problems getting bouyant (probably over weighted) paniced got a lung full of dihydrogen monoxide and had to be rescued by someone who dumped her belt.
Anyway our next dive was closed to where the incident happened and I came across her weightbelt. I cant recall how much was in it but do recall it was more the what I was using and I had trouble getting it back to the boat.
The next day I phoned around a few dive schools that frequent Leigh and found the school and they said the woman was fine in the end (after some O2 by the local fire brigade) They asked me if I could return the belt but since they were out of my way I said if you want it back you will have to pick it up. 18 months later and I still have it.

 

[scubacorn]

It changed everything for me, this shop.

Mo2vation,
I was just wondering if the shop you're referring to is in SoCal. If so, would you like to share the name? It sounds like a cool place with cool peeps. Also, from where in SoCal do you hail?

 

[Mo2vation]

If the same thing happened again, would you also ditch your weights, or would you snap the inflator back on?

I'd handle it a thousand ways differently. I mean, as a new diver, who's ever seen equipment blast apart like that? What did I know.

Today I'd never ditch a belt over something like that. It cost me $20 of my deposit, dangit.

Yes, S'corn, it was / is a SoCal shop. PM me if you want details. I'm on the westside - MDR / Loyola / LAX area.

---
Ken

 

[nlbford]

makes you wonder what happened to the owner of that tank.

If there wasn't a BC and reg attached, my guess is that they had to endure a lot of ribbing for dropping their tank off the boat.

 

[Lone Frogman]

If there wasn't a BC and reg attached, my guess is that they had to endure a lot of ribbing for dropping their tank off the boat.

Thats the way I found it. Tank only, they must of dropped it off boat.

 

[renpirate]

I dropped my belt once. It was about 10 years ago and I was diving the North Coast. It had been a while since I had been diving and I was using some old gear. My bc was an old TUSA jacket BC with the platic backplate. Anyhow, as we were diving my tank came out of the strap. My buddy put it back in, but it kept coming out. Needless to say, I sucked down my air pretty quick, so we ended the dive and went to the surface. I had to take the bc off and hold on to the tank to keep it from falling out (a rented tank). Meanwhile the swells had picked up and we were in front of some wash rocks. I was getting tired at this point and decided to lighten my load, so I dropped my belt. Looking back now I also realize that I was probably overweighted.

I have no regrets, because I know that it was the right decision. The time to drop the belt is before you become exhausted, so that you still have energy left. I know a lot of experienced divers, who should have dropped their belts in various situations, but did not thinking they could handle it. It is not a mark against you if you do. Sadly, it is one of the reasons that 90% of dead divers, still have their weightbelts on.

 

[SoCalAngel]

Ok...this is a sad link, but another reminder that the price of a weightbelt can often be way too high... http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=167054

 

[crosing]

It turns out she had surfaced had problems getting bouyant (probably over weighted) paniced got a lung full of dihydrogen monoxide and had to be rescued by someone who dumped her belt.

'dihydrogen monoxide' is actually H2O — plain old water

 

[Cacia]

I dropped mine recently because I had been diving all year with my halcyon inflator disconnected and decided I liked it that way...could just inflate orally. Then I had an OOA (not my fault) and exhaled to the surface. Well...there I was and empty lungs, oral inflation was not so easy. So..I dropped my weights. (Boo Hoo, nice new belt with a metal buckle too)

I learned from that, that I am not always able to do things the way I like to do them if compromised. I am one of those people that has to learn everything the hard way.

I doubt I would ever drop my weights at depth.

 

[Wildcard]

'dihydrogen monoxide' is actually H2O — plain old water

Ummm , ya, I think we all got that.