Lost weight belt at 100 feet

[TSandM]

The only weight belt failure I've had was with a plastic buckle. They're just downright unsafe, in my opinion, for that purpose. I haven't gone to what Thal is showing, although I keep being tempted (but lazy). But I use a good stainless buckle, and keep the weight belt inside the harness. The one time I did lose it, it caught on the crotch strap and prevented a ballistic ascent. I take my own belt anywhere where I'm going to use a weight belt, for this reason.

I'm with you, also, about the SMB. The pickup boat wasn't expecting someone to abort early, so you alerted them. I think knowing how to shoot a bag from depth is a simply NECESSARY skill for anyone who is boat diving.

Good story, good lessons. Thanks for posting this.

 

[Pullmyfinger]

I wear a Rob Allen Marseille style spear fishing weight belt. Mako is another company that makes them.

I wear it under the crotch strap.


If i weren't going to use this type, I'd probably go with one of the wire bail buckle belts. The rubber belts fit nice and snug.

 

[donhealy]

Many years ago I lost my weight belt at 53 feet on the first dive after my certification. Good thing I had good dive buddy and paid attention to my emergency ascent procedures. The (plastic) buckle got caught on some kelp and snapped open. Got a metal expanding buckle and never came off again.

All I can say is I never forgot it and as soon as good ditch able weight systems were available I switched. I have never looked back.

 

[Thalassamania]

Metal buckles are better than plastic ones but they have the same inherent design flaws. I've seen even well made metal buckles spread and thus release the closing lever ... also they are, at best, just friction fits, I want a positive closing device that can be cleanly released with a single motion of one hand.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Loss of a weightbelt loaded with 16 lbs. at depth will definitely affect one's buoyancy.
I don't have hips, and I do a fair amount of shore diving. A 16 lb. weightbelt made of stiff webbing would end up around my ankles in the surfzone. I suppose a rubber belt would prevent it from slipping down.

The DUI Weight and Trim works great with a BP/W rig. I'd go with that or one of the belts Thal showed in his post.
One nice feature of the DUI product is that it distributes the weight very nicely over one's shoulders. The ditch pull-handles are easy to operate, but the weight pockets are a pain-in-the-butt to re-thread on a rocking boat.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

The only weight belt failure I've had was with a plastic buckle. They're just downright unsafe, in my opinion, for that purpose. .

I came to that same conclusion over 20 years ago, yet plastic buckles are still very common. the difference in cost of a plastic versus a metal buckle is maybe $5, yet the scuba industry continues to promote an inferior (unsafe?) product that wears out relatively quickly in order to save nothing. It is just one more thing that makes freedivers look at scuba divers and just

Maybe in a few more years you will try one of those rubber belts and then conclude that nylon belts with no inhertent ability to compensate for suit compression are also less safe.

If I got stuck wearing a plastic buckle belt in a resort or somehing (where the belts was more than 8-9 pounds), I think I would demand a long belt, and then add a second buckle so that both buckles would have to open/fail to loose the belt.

 

[Ayisha]

I think knowing how to shoot a bag from depth is a simply NECESSARY skill for anyone who is boat diving.

TSandM, is there something we can read or watch to learn to shoot a bag from depth?

I have an SMB and a finger spool, but have never put them together. I have heard of people getting tangled up while learning how to shoot a bag, so I've never tried. Any tips? Thanks...

 

[Ayisha]

...another person in my group (student) convinced me to move the sliders to keep the weights closer together, turns out that idea led to the buckle being unable to close fully. I was only at ten or so, but once it came off I went up pretty quickly.

You can use weight keepers to keep your weights exactly where you want to keep them on your belt. I have my weight keepers in a position so that the weights can't slide forward too much, particularly onto my hip bones which used to leave welts, and also so that nothing interferes with the closure of the weight belt buckle, including the keepers. I have the first set of keepers closer to my sides and the second set of keepers slightly to the back, preventing the weights from sitting under the tank as well. Hope that makes sense.

 

[adelman]

The only weight belt failure I've had was with a plastic buckle.

I've had a failure of a stainless buckle; it was one of the type with stamped tabs from the lever that fit into holes in the sides, the the tolerances were poor enough that it just stretched out. I didn't loose my belt because in Monterey a lot of us dive with TWO metal buckles on our belts, one at the end and one a few inches back mid-belt. There are a number of advantages for BP/W divers with heavy gloves, for example, if doffing your gear at the surface you can release any one buckle and know that you're not going to drop your belt. If I could staple the belt to myself, I would.

My favorite readily available buckles are the ones that DeepSeaSupply sells for their BP/Ws. They're very heavy duty, although they are made with two tabs in the holes. Even better would be one where the lever was attached via a riveted through-pin, but I'm not aware of any that are current manufactured like this.

I was also recently on a dive with a buddy that was using a borrowed belt. It was the type with the velcro pouches, and the velcro was old. These are nominally very comfortable, even with hard weights in the pouches, because the weight isn't trapped between the belt and your hips and doesn't "dig in" to you. In her case, due to the failing velcro, she started shedding weight (which, combined with a deco obligation and some other problems, made a dive we are still talking about). ... I how have a belt with two DSS buckles and hard weights that the belt strap threads *through*.

 

[Splitlip]

Thal: Can you tell me more about these two systems. I recall seeing them in another thread if I'm not mistaken.

FWIW, I have a SS depth compensating buckle and I wear my belt under or half under my crotch strap. I am interested in a buckle I can trust to wear outside the crotch strap.

Never use those plastic buckles, for that matter, never use buckles of the thread-thru friction closure type, period.

I only use one of these two buckles:

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