Opinions Please

[Elevatorguy2]

As an OW hopefully to become an AWO diver I feel the need to purchase a BC.
I have no desire to become a “Tech Diver”
With my size and wet suit I require in excess of 34lbs of weight on my belt, which I have difficulty at depth when the suit compresses and it begins to slip.
My question is which route should I take?
Weight integrated B/C or a weight harness to replace the weight belt.
I’ve been to 2 shops and as you have guessed one vote for each set up.

 

[FFMDiver]

That seems like an incredible amount of weight to me...

Go with the Weight integrated...
Dont know if you can fit that much in though....:banging:

 

[ZenSquirrel]

Try getting a weight integrated BC and a weight harness. You will probably have to adjust the weight harness so that it rides a little lower to fit your BC on.

The advantage is that you can have some on the harness and it stays put and some in the BC that can be easily ditched.

You don't have to ditch all your weight, just enough to make you boyant. In fact, ditching 34 pounds of lead at depth would probably be more dangerous than any situation that you are trying to get out of.

Therefore, my official vote is BOTH!

 

[torbaydiver]

I have a weight integrated BC and I used to have 13 kg (28.6 lb)
of weight, but whilst diving on a rib other divers complained of the weight being too heavy to shift around on the boat, so I bought a weight belt, I now carry 4 kg in the BC and 8 kg in the belt, it makes sense to spread it around a bit !

 

[IndigoBlue]

Elevatorguy2 once bubbled...
As an OW hopefully to become an AWO diver I feel the need to purchase a BC.
I have no desire to become a “Tech Diver”
With my size and wet suit I require in excess of 34lbs of weight on my belt, which I have difficulty at depth when the suit compresses and it begins to slip.
My question is which route should I take?
Weight integrated B/C or a weight harness to replace the weight belt.
I’ve been to 2 shops and as you have guessed one vote for each set up.

The Zeagle Ranger would be a good choice for you. It has a lift wing of 45 lbs rated capacity.

It is also an integrated B/C.

I would recommend that you wear half your weighting on your belt, and put the other half into the weight pouches on the B/C. That would make your weight belt more comfortable, as well as allow you to ditch in stages, first your belt, and then your weight pouches.

I think the primary market for Zeagle Ranger B/Cs are PADI instructors. These B/Cs gives you a nice high capacity wing so that you can haul over-weighted students around with no problem. In your case, with all the lead weight, the 45 lb capacity wing will be perfect.

I do not get royalties from Zeagle to say nice things about them. I just happen to believe that they are the best B/Cs made, for nontechnical applications.

 

[mrmcfealy]

First off one thing you might want to do is figure out your proper weighting. Without knowing your exact build I can't say for sure what that should be, but 34 pounds sounds like an awful lot. This is a very common mistake amoung OW people. Saying that your just now are looking into getting your own BC makes me think that you don't have to many dives under your belt and prolly don't really know how little weight you need to become neutral. If this is the case then don't feel bad. I was guilty of that when I started off as an OW diver and I bet about 90% of all divers had the same problem at one time or another. Its much easier to strap on more weight then you need and pump a little extra air into your BC than to truly trim down to find your propper weigting. But believe me when you get your weight right diving will be much more pleasureable. If you are having problems finding out your weighting stop by your local shop and im sure they will be more than happy to help you out.

 

[mrmcfealy]

oops, don't know what happened there but i posted before I wanted to.

Anyhow as for your question, I really like the idea of the weight integrated bc. The big advantage that I have found is when you have a good deal of air in your BC, without a weight integrated BC, the BC is going to want to go up and your weight are going to want to go down. This can be a big pain in the A$$ (no pun intended). With a weight integrated BC the air in the BC and the weights will kind of cancel each other out so that your not getting pulled in two directions by your gear. And if you buy a weight integrated bc and you don't like it, you can just use it without the weight pockets and add a weight belt. If you buy a BC that is not weight integrated and you don't like it, your pretty much out of luck.

As for make and model of the BC, go to your local dive shop and see what they carry and what they recommend. Ask them what they dive on. They are most likely to dive on the gear that they think is the best. So you might want to by that. When I dive for my shop I use a sherwood Avid. Its a great little BC and I have never had a problem with it. I really like sherwood's CQR weight system. I personally don't like the zeagle ripcord system. It realeases the weight very quickly and efficiently, but they are a pain to get back into to your BC after they have been released especially if your in the water. I suggest trying out different makes of weight systems and seeing what you like the most. Most BC will cary at least 20 pounds of ditchable weight and that more than you need. If you need more non ditchable weight you can add trim pockets. Some BCs actually have them while others you can attach to your cam staps.

I hoped this helped
Dive Safe
Doug
SSI DiveCon

 

[Toolbox-13]

I took my OW cert with a weight belt and had trouble staying horrizonal with the belt pulling my ass down and the BC pulling up my torso after that I bought a Genesis Recon BC and I love it I've used it in the keys and staying horrizonal while neutral was effortless. Now I won't leave home without it.

 

[5615mike]

Weight Integrated by all means.

Just make sure that the BC you buy has ditchable and non-ditchable weight pockets. I can get 10 lbs. easy in my non-ditch pockets on my shoulders and can get 30 lbs. in my ditchable pockets if I need. You are really going to want to spread some of that weight around so your attitude is right. You put all that on your waist and your trim is going to be terrible. Move it around. Even try some clip off weights. You don't need that much weight at depth....only to get there. Dragging all that weight around is tough on you and your SAC rate.