Life saving weight belt

[MSilvia]

with a 2 piece 7mm, you might lose some substantial lift, in which case I suppose you could have some need to ditch a few pounds to offset the delta caused by suit compression if you decide to rip the hose out of your BC.

Of course, after you overcome said delta, you now have a grossly underweighted diver gaining substantial buoyancy as he ascends. Better bent than dead I suppose, but imitating a Polaris missile isn't something I'd consider a good bailout plan if other options (like redundant buoyancy) are available.

Heck, I'd try purging gas into my wetsuit for additional lift before I'd drop my belt at depth... I might be able to vent the wetsuit, but I can't pick the weights back up once they're gone.

 

[Quarrior]

Here is an anecdote that may help to shed some light on the weight belt vs. integrated and/or non-ditchable weights discussion. I was snorkeling to a dive site with a 14 year old diver who was wearing gear that he had rented from a reputable dive operator. Suddenly he began to sink uncontrollably. I looked down and saw air billowing out of a broken BC hose. I quickly surface dove and just barely missed grabbing him before he headed to the bottom. As I struggled to hold onto him, I opened his weight belt and ditched his lead. If I had had to fumble around for Velcro pockets, quick release tabs, or anything else that could not be ditched in one quick move, we might have both drowned.

So many holes in this story and so little time.

Author was "snorkeling to a dive site" does that mean they were or were not wearing SCUBA gear themselves? I'd venture they intended to dive at the dive site.

14 year old was wearing gear. Was the 14 year old breathing from snorkel or reg on the surface?

BC hose was broken. Which one?

Author surface dove down. Was this with snorkel or SCUBA?

Did the 14 year old put their reg in their mouth once they went under? If so, what's the major panic?

"If I had had to fumble around for Velcro pockets, quick release tabs, or anything else that could not be ditched in one quick move" It's called "buddy check" before entering the water. Go read your OW books. If you don't know your way around your buddies rig, get to know it before entering the water.

Ok, that's my .02 worth

 

[Blackwood]

Correctly weighted, there is never a reason to ditch weight underwater.

Muscle failure?

If you can't kick, you can't swim up, regardless of whether or not you are correctly weighted.

 

[alo100]

Only if you are horrendously overweighted. Correctly weighted, there is never a reason to ditch weight underwater.

Including emergency ascend?
I am curious because somebody told me that his bp/w is a just fit, he doesn't need any weight on belt.

 

[spacemanspiff1974]

Lets see...

Assuming that he has the body of a "normal" 14 year old, he is not going to have much weight. I used 4 lbs back then.

Assuming that the 14 year old had any training, his regulator was already turned on when he got in the water.

Based on the same assumption, he probably knew how to find his regulator and put it in his mouth.

Based on the same assumption, he had fins which would help him tread water if he started to sink.