Lucy's Diver:With easy to ditch weights, the failure sends you up. There's air up there, even in a chamber.
Bent cant always be fixed and also isn't always survivable.
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Lucy's Diver:With easy to ditch weights, the failure sends you up. There's air up there, even in a chamber.
dumpsterDiver:This is almost unbeleivable from a dive instructor. What if you are negative on the bottom, alone and you suddenly lose all your air supply (which could happen via 25 different methods.) Some people might not want to swim the whole way.
What if the diver is overweighted and jumps in with the air off and sinks deep before he realizes what's going on?
What if a diver runs out of air and sinks to the bottom and goes unconcious? A rescue diver might possibly like to drop the victim's lead, especially if the other divers tank is empty and the rescue diver has his BC nearly full at depth just to compensate for his own wetsuit compression
What if a diver jumps in over weighted, starts sinking deep and fast and then realizes his ears are not clearing and then hits the inflator and it is unconnected? I would drop the belt before my eardrums imploded.
My friend almost drowned last year because he was somewhat overweighted, had no ditchable lead and entered the water solo with the tank off. He got one breath from the regulator and there was no more, although he obviously didn't know that until he had exhaled. He continue to sink as he deployed the pony reg, which was also turn off. Now he was pretty deep and pretty heavy and had no way to inflate anything. He powered his way up with large freedive fins, but said that he was seeing stars and almost didn't make it.
Also. even if a weight belt is lost at depth, it is not difficult to learn to control a bouyant ascent by flaring out, laying on the back and spreading eagle. Even when I'm 20 lbs bouyant I can control my ascent rate to a reasonable level.
String:Bent cant always be fixed and also isn't always survivable.
SkullDeformity:I'm waiting for the torrent of situations in which I cannot maintain positive buoyancy at the surface. So far, there have been.....two.....rare circumstances.
Lucy's Diver:Everyone else straps on an 80, maybe with a small pony, and dives recreational profiles. These people certainly should have ditchable weights.
Like everyone else on a no D dive, the minor risk of getting bent or getting an AGE is outweighed by the more serious risk of drowning if I have a serious gear failure or, for whatever reason, I need to be rescued by someone else.
ZoCrowes255:The emergency is not over until you can maintain positive buoyancy at the surface. Are you telling me a panicked diver is going to have the prescence of mind to remove their BC, ditch their weights and then put it back on? Have you ever dealt with a truly panicked diver before?
Are you teaching your students to dive with all (or mostly) non-ditchable weight? If you are that is a gross violation of standards and I hope I never have to rescue one of your students if they freak at the surface.
String:Alone on the bottom. OK so im solo diving. Nothing wrong with that. However as im solo diving i'll be carrying independent air sources. Quite how i can suddenly lose all my air from a twinset or independent cylinders i have no idea. Why not enlighten me?
Secondly, why would i want to be negative on the bottom? Would my wing have failed, my BC failed, my SMB sprung a leak AND all my air gone from both cylinders? Suspect you'd need to be machine gunned to get all those failiures at once.
Absolute worst case i'd undo the waist strip on wing, undo weight belt clip and off it goes.
Proper weighting, proper buddy checks and proper entry technique cure that problem. Ditchable weight isnt solving that core problem there.
If a rescue diver has his BC nearly full at depth then the rescuer himself is massively overweighted or carrying about 5 cylinders. If desperate to rocket someone to the surface then out comes the shears or knife and cut the straps. It works and its fast.
So sort out weighting, revist basic training on *controlled* descents. Remember, divers are meant to descend in a controlled fashion that they can arrest the descent immediately for any reason if needed.. His inflator wasnt connected....Buddy check again. Even then where is his buddy who can and should recognise this.
That really doesnt say a lot for his dive skills really. Again, not an argument for ditchable weight. Its an argument for proper buddy checks or self checks if solo and learning how to use the equipment you carry properly (ie the pony).
Again here recommending a ditchable weight isnt solving a problem - its papering over cracks for situations that need no happen in the first place.
Nice in theory but like CESA just about useless in practice. Suddenly becoming 20-30lbs buoyant at depth you're going up, you're going up FAST no matter what you do. You are likely to get bent, or embolise or suffer other forms of trauma related to it. If you have even a small deco obligation rocketing to the surface from that depth is likely to turn that into a severe bend. You can flare all you want but if 20-30lbs positive physics take over and things are going to happen quickly and continue to accelerate no matter what you do.
Nudgeroni:I'm just a noob, but the arguments against of ditchable weight sound like the arguments against wearing a seatbelt in a car. "What if the car bursts into flame and you are stuck in your belt?" "The belt interferes with my skills" etc.
taliesin58:For the pro-ditchable people-
Is my rig ok, even though my weights aren't the typical quick release? (You have to open up the pockets and grab the weight)