Wanted It's a long shot

[billfish]

I am in search on one integrated weight pouch for an Oceanic OP5K BCD. It's no longer manufactured so my only hope is that someone has one(or a pair) they would be willing to part with. Or maybe you picked up the one that fell out of my BCD near Palancar Reef, Cozumel? It's a long shot. Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[BRT]

I am in search on one integrated weight pouch for an Oceanic OP5K BCD. It's no longer manufactured so my only hope is that someone has one(or a pair) they would be willing to part with. Or maybe you picked up the one that fell out of my BCD near Palancar Reef, Cozumel? It's a long shot. Any help would be greatly appreciated

I'm not quite ready to get rid of my spares yet but I'll bet you could work a deal with this person and save some shipping by not sending the BCD. Oceanic OP5K Kevlar Bioflex BC Vest,SMALL Integrated Weight, And Bcd Hanger | eBay He has 2 of the BCD's for sale.

 

[JackD342]

I am in search on one integrated weight pouch for an Oceanic OP5K BCD. It's no longer manufactured so my only hope is that someone has one(or a pair) they would be willing to part with. Or maybe you picked up the one that fell out of my BCD near Palancar Reef, Cozumel? It's a long shot. Any help would be greatly appreciated

You need to measure that one to be sure you get the right size. The same design was used for multiple sizes, depending on size and style of the BCD.

Now.... if yours measures ~ 8.5" x 5.5" excluding handle, then you are in luck. I have a pair of used but not abused in that size, for an Oceanic BCD that is long since gone. As a matter of fact, the last time I used the BCD these came with was in Cozumel, where one of these pockets spent two days on the bottom. (this pocket design id so old, they say "Made in the USA")

Here's that story, for your amusement: The pocket dropped out on a dive on Tuesday, unbeknownst to me!! Took me a while to figure out why I was listing to one side. Worse yet, the group leader from the shop I was traveling with said she saw it on the bottom, looked around and didn't see anyone in distress, so just left it there. grrrr……
So that was Tuesday. I visited every shop I could find on the island to see if they had one to sell me - no luck. But after bugging everyone multiple times and being a general pest about it, my lost pocket found its way back to me on Thursday when the DM leading another group out of the same resort found it on the bottom. So I got it back, but the very next day I discovered, after the last dive of the trip, that the BCD fabric had separated outside the lower right dump valve, explaining why I had been adding air so frequently on that last couple of dives. Not repairable.

So there is a good reason why that weight pocket design was replaced quite a while ago. When threading that little "lawn string trimmer" bit through the lock, you have to be very careful that it stays entirely on one side of the stiff plate. If it threads into the "V" opening for the locking tab, that is when you think you are locked but you really aren't.

PM me, we'll talk price for the pair if these are the right size, and figure out payment. (I haven't used PayPal in ages...)

 

[MaxBottomtime]

WEIGHT RELEASE POCKETS, PAIR, 10#

 

[BRT]

WEIGHT RELEASE POCKETS, PAIR, 10#

I think if you track that down they are not available. They were not when I wanted some.

 

[JackD342]

I think if you track that down they are not available. They were not when I wanted some.

Photo looks like the wrong size, too.

 

[BRT]

Photo looks like the wrong size, too.

I don't believe there is more than one size. I owned a number of these BCD's and bought new pouches from Oceanic and used ones on Ebay and they were all the same. They all have the 10lb weight rating and I don't see how they could be different sizes with the same weight rating.

We found them to be utterly reliable so long as the nylon line went through the hole and stayed on the same side of the pouch. If you didn't make sure of that they would fall out. I chased one of mine to 60' once, reinstalled it and had it fall out again because I couldn't see what I was doing. The next time I turned on my back and it slid in ever so nicely and I could feel that it was right. After that we were careful and never had a problem.

 

[JackD342]

Friend of mine has an old Oceanic BCD using this system, and I offered him my old pockets. He measured his, and they were different dimensions than the ones I have. Smaller, if I remember right. They definitely made more than one size, I just don't know how many, or which BCD/size goes with which without trial and error. Or, by measuring the remaining pocket, since we all seem to lose them one at a time rather than both at once!

The photo on the OC website shows them far more elongated than the photo from @billfish and the ones I have sitting next to me. Click the link and compare images. I did.
Aside from obvious difference in length, that online photo shows the Velcro flap only covers half the pocket, mine covers all but an inch of the whole pocket. I can fit two 5 lb weights in mine, with long sides abutting. That online photo is either for something other than 10, or it requires the weights to be inserted the long way, with the short side of the weights abutting. I know Oceanic has done this with newer system pockets too. Those might be the systems where there is Velcro inside that allows you to keep a single weight from sliding around, essentially closing down half of the pocket.

 

[Jayfarmlaw]

One of the diveshops has a collection of pockets they have recovered, I think it is Tres Pelicanos, but not sure. They may move them to the scuba repair place at some point. I'd start checking there.

You might post in the Cozumel forum, I'm sure someone will chime in with the right information.

Merry Christmas,
Jay

 

[Dogbowl]

@billfish, try ScubaTony. He has a stash of free weight pockets:

Lost Weight Pockets