Is quick release important?

[taliesin58]

I am new to diving with a BP/W, so this may be a stupid question, but do you really need to have quick release weights?
Right now, I am only slightly negative at the beginning of the diver (to off-set the bouyancy of an empty tank). With the BP/W, I wear my weight belt under my harness, but I want to put my weights in pockets next to my tank (for easy trim). I can still remove weights from the pockets, but they are not quick release.
Under what circumstances would I really need to drop weights? Even at the beginning of the dives, I only have to fin a little to go up (I am slow to equalize), so I think I would have little trouble swimming up if my wing failed.
Is it ok to move my weights to those pockets? Should I still keep 1 kg or more on my weight belt? Is the weight belt still considered quick release if I must undo my harness first?

 

[rockjock3]

There are many schools of thought on this, but I will explain my position for you. Ultimately you will have to decide the method you best agree with and that fits your style best.

I dive BP/W with an aluminum backplate in the warm waters of Hawaii.

With my single setup I have no ditchable weights at all. I carry 2-2lb weights on my upper cam band for trim purposes. I am approximately 2lbs negative when I am at the surface with <500psi in my tank (right about where you want to be). I have no problems swimming my rig to the surface when I start my dive and have a full tank w/o using my wing for flotation. I have tried it before just to practice.

With my doubles setup I wear a non-ditchable 2lb weight on my left waist strap to offset my canister light. I am just about perfectly neutral with 500psi in my tanks. I have tried swimming this rig up at the start of the dive and also had no problem.

Bottom line (my opinion). If you dive a drysuit and have to carry a lot of weight then, yes, ditchable weight is something to look at. If you dive warmer water and/or don&#8217;t carry a lot of weight then it is not.

I figure if somebody can&#8217;t swim me to the surface the 4lbs that I carry on either of my rigs is not going to make a difference. If I was carrying maybe 20+ lbs then it might be a problem. The biggest issue for ditchable weights is the average recreational diver that is severely overweighted. They need to have ditchable weights. If you are weighted properly then there is really no need for ditchable weights unless you have some reason to carry a lot of weight due to something like a drysuit.

 

[victor]

My 2c
Your quick release weight belt is not for you it's for the person who is trying to save your life.

Maybe a story might help.

You are about to leave the boat, it's a bit rough, you slip at the transom and fall overboard hitting you head and winding yourself.
You are unconscious, empty lungs under the water, no regulator and sinking.
The divemaster sees you are in trouble when the bubbles start to clear. You are 10 to 15 ft down, your tank weights have turned you face up and you are sinking slowly.
He dives into to help, no mask or fins.
When he gets to you he won't be able to swim you to the surface, no fins.
He won't be able to see very well, no mask.
He grabs your harness and feels for your weight belt then one flick and it should drop free, oh dear you have yours inside your harness.
You’re both still sinking and sinking fast now, maybe 30ft, the divemaster is running out of air. He had no time to hyperventilate, and the blood is starting to pound in his ears.
He knows he is running out of options fast.
Should he leave you and head for the surface, that’s what panic is shouting in his ear.

Fortunately for you his training and experience kick in. He goes for your tank valve, follows a hose and comes up with a pressure gauge.
Another hose, this time a regulator, in his mouth and a breath of air
Next an inflator hose, and the noise of air filling up your wing
You’re both on your way back to the surface.

 

[SkullDeformity]

Except the first thing you do on a boat dive is put air into your BC victor. Sooo that is really not a realistic situation.

As long as you have a balanced rig, you do not need a ditchable weight belt.

It also doesn't make any sense that if you have a drysuit you should have a ditchable weight belt. It, in fact, makes less sense! If you dive a drysuit you have two methods of buoyancy control. Why do you need to be able to ditch a weight belt in that situation? You don't.

 

[DiveTub]

I have a couple of these on all my plates, they are non intrusive and do not get in the way of the Hip DRing.

Cheers
Chriso

 

[halocline]

My 2c
Your quick release weight belt is not for you it's for the person who is trying to save your life.

Maybe a story might help.

You are about to leave the boat, it's a bit rough, you slip at the transom and fall overboard hitting you head and winding yourself.
You are unconscious, empty lungs under the water, no regulator and sinking.
The divemaster sees you are in trouble when the bubbles start to clear. You are 10 to 15 ft down, your tank weights have turned you face up and you are sinking slowly.
He dives into to help, no mask or fins.
When he gets to you he won't be able to swim you to the surface, no fins.
He won't be able to see very well, no mask.
He grabs your harness and feels for your weight belt then one flick and it should drop free, oh dear you have yours inside your harness.
You’re both still sinking and sinking fast now, maybe 30ft, the divemaster is running out of air. He had no time to hyperventilate, and the blood is starting to pound in his ears.
He knows he is running out of options fast.
Should he leave you and head for the surface, that’s what panic is shouting in his ear.

Fortunately for you his training and experience kick in. He goes for your tank valve, follows a hose and comes up with a pressure gauge.
Another hose, this time a regulator, in his mouth and a breath of air
Next an inflator hose, and the noise of air filling up your wing
You’re both on your way back to the surface.

Oh come on.....how about this one?

You leave your house, looking up at the sky. It seems clear, so you proceed down the street. Suddenly clouds fill the sky. You try to run back, but trip over the shoelaces you forgot to tie. The sound of thunder fills your ears. A bolt of lightning races your way. You almost panic, but just in time you remember that you ALWAYS CARRY A QUICK RELEASE LIGHTNING ROD.

Sorry, I hope you'll take my story in the good humor it was intended.

If there were statistics for events in which ditchable weights have actually saved lives vs events in which ditchable weights have caused uncontrolled ascents (by releasing accidentally) which do you think would be more common?

 

[victor]

Have a read through accidents and incidents forum over the last 12 months.
Divers in a near conscious state frequently make it to the surface only to be unable to sustain it and are later found drowned.
Others pass out at depth or become disabled such that they are unable to think too clearly.
If they had dropped their lead they might still be alive today.

If you spend some time thinking about it I bet you can think of a number of situations where your best bet is to drop another divers weight belt and send them to the surface.

Oh come on.....how about this one?

You leave your house, looking up at the sky. It seems clear, so you proceed down the street. Suddenly clouds fill the sky. You try to run back, but trip over the shoelaces you forgot to tie. The sound of thunder fills your ears. A bolt of lightning races your way. You almost panic, but just in time you remember that you ALWAYS CARRY A QUICK RELEASE LIGHTNING ROD.

Sorry, I hope you'll take my story in the good humor it was intended.

If there were statistics for events in which ditchable weights have actually saved lives vs events in which ditchable weights have caused uncontrolled ascents (by releasing accidentally) which do you think would be more common?

 

[rockjock3]

Have a read through accidents and incidents forum over the last 12 months.
Divers in a near conscious state frequently make it to the surface only to be unable to sustain it and are later found drowned.
Others pass out at depth or become disabled such that they are unable to think too clearly.
If they had dropped their lead they might still be alive today.

If you spend some time thinking about it I bet you can think of a number of situations where your best bet is to drop another divers weight belt and send them to the surface.

Here is the point that some, including myself, are trying to make.

If you are properly weighted then you are only about 4 -5lbs negative at the beginning of a dive (on singles. With doubles you will be about 9-10lbs negative at the beginning).

Try swimming up 10lbs sometime and see how easy it really is. You will almost not know you have any weight.

In your unrealistic scenario, if the instructor can't get me up with my 4 lbs of lead, then he is a P*#& Poor instructor/divemaster and horribly out of shape. He wouldn't have been able to get me up without the weight either. But, as soon as he filled my wing (like you said), he would have not had a problem, seeing as I am 4 -5 lbs negative and my wing (since I am properly weighted and configured) is a 30lb lift wing. He still has 25lbs of lift to mess with.

Just my thoughts.

 

[muddiver]

Even commercial divers wear weight on belts that have a quick opening system. Abet when released the weights will still be hanging from the shoulder straps, but you can get them off.

The reason being is that we were not ment to be underwater, so the safest course in an emergency is to become as light as possible to get to the surface.

The second reason for the desire to remove weight quickly is once on the surface in an emergency you want to stay there. If you remove your weight belt your thermal protection will usually make you float (i.e. wet suit or inflated dry suit). When perfoming a rescue and having to tow an unconcious diver over any distance and/or try to lift them into a boat, it makes a big difference to remove the extra weight they are wearing.

Now I am speaking from a cold water perspective, where we wear 18 to 30 lbs of weight. If you are in Hawaii or the Caribeian then it would be different.

 

[TeddyDiver]

Just my thoughts.

You think well my friend, but, unfortunately things don't allways work the way we think. That's why Victor states it right about the incidents. I don't remember the link to the British dive accident's page (read it throw years ago) where was some studies about the reasons of the investigated cases and conclusions etc. However it reasoned quite well the benefits of the ditchabel weights. If someone has the link please put it here.