possible reason for weight belt?

[Eric Sedletzky]

One other scenario that (some) divers in California do is routinely take off their scuba rigs to go back into caves on a hookah hose to grab lobsters. I know this sounds crazy but they do it.
They have a 15 to 20 foot hose on their 2nd stage and at the beginning of the dive the hose is rolled up and stuffed under a bungee on the side of their tank. When they get to the cave they want to go in they will take off their scuba unit, set it by the entrance to the cave, undo the hookah hose and go in and get the lobsters. When they come out they reverse the process.
They all wear weight belts so that when they remove their rigs they are about neutral like a freediver. A lot of them just use plain plastic backpacks.

I know you're going to be taught in the most modern up to date gear manufactured by the leading companies, but after you get certified and hang out on this board more you'll begin to see that there's a whole different world and a parallel universe to the standard training and gear of the standard local dive shops. There are a lot of different gear choices and diving techniques and styles from what you got in your open water class and not available through your LDS.

Just by coming to this site you have already broken through to the other side.
For now just do your class and get certified. Once you have completed that come back here and read everything you that interests you. Buckle up because it's going to be a wild and fun ride!

Oh yeah, and about the weights. Break them up between a belt and a little in the weight integrated BC unit. Put enough into the BC to make it neutral (about 5 to 8 lbs.) I'm assuming an aluminum tank which ends up about 3 lbs. positive and another few pounds to sink that modern state of the art poodle jacket. The rest put on your belt. Oh, and unless your going through NAUI, expect that they will over weight you by several pounds. It makes their life easier.

[Remember this] You should be exactly neutral at 15 feet at the end of your dive with 300 to 500 PSI left in your tank and no air in your BC.

(This is now a NAUI official protocol)...about time

 

[moneysavr]

This may be missed but if you get down to lets say 30' or 45' you neoprene suit will have been compressed making it less buoyant,
The removal replace is a great skill to practice in a swim suit as you will have minimal lift, or as said split the weight between a belt and weight integrated BCD.
Lastly if you have no other options keep one arm in the bcd and kick back down and roll it's a ungraceful looking act!
Years ago I struggled and thought about this removal and replacement of my kit in a farmer after my instructor did it gracefully I noticed he had a weight belt on so I got out of the pool and got some lead and did it no problem.

 

[svracing]

[Remember this] You should be exactly neutral at 15 feet at the end of your dive with 300 to 500 PSI left in your tank and no air in your BC.

This is something we have not addressed yet. I will bring this up in the ocean. Hopefully, we can take a few minutes and test this out. Otherwise, it will be a priority on future dives.

Thank you all for your comprehensive feedback. I am new to this board, but it is refreshing seeing discussions and opinions expressed without someone going off the deep end.

My wife is certified, and I can't wait to go diving with her. I am not sure if she has fine-tuned her weights. I am going to go over this thread with her, and work on it.

I am jealous of the divers that aren't wearing weight, I think that means they aren't wearing 1/2 inch thick wetsuits... The water temp in Monterey is a balmy 53 degrees.

 

[Majickyl]

I am jealous of the divers that aren't wearing weight, I think that means they aren't wearing 1/2 inch thick wetsuits... The water temp in Monterey is a balmy 53 degrees.

Awww man... yeah, you'd be right about that! When I first read your post and the amount of weight you were using I thought, either he's way overweighted, he's in a drysuit, or he's in a heck of a lot of neoprene.

Guess it was the latter...
I don't think I could dive that temp wet...

Have a great time in Monterrey!

 

[Peter_C]

I have taken my rig off twice underwater. Both times it was with a back plate and wing (BP/W) and I was wearing a weight belt. Loosing a weight belt is next to impossible since my crotch strap captures it. The only place I would ever want to ditch weight would be at the surface, and can do so in a couple of seconds.

Before you purchase gear, rent for awhile and look at what the other local divers that dive A LOT are using. Typically you will find them in drysuits as our water does get down into the high 40's. Many of them will be found using BP/W's and a we have an ever increasing number of divers using longer hoses (5-7') for their primary reg to donate to an out of air diver, and their second reg bungeed around their neck so they can always find it.

You will also learn that aluminum tanks are not much good for cold water diving (Other than used for stage bottles) and steel is the preference, with at least a 100cf tank. Steel has much better buoyancy characteristics, staying negative at the end of the dive.

 

[flots am]

I strongly believe that integrated weight systems would not be so popular if people were not so fat and also if they had rubber (elastic) belts that won't slide off their fat little asses.

That is both true and not helpful at all.

flots.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Their fat little asses.

How can an ass be fat and little at the same time?


:mooner:

 

[Zieg]

It's one of those enigmas of nature, quite a few fat guys have no ass. Me for example, my weight got higher than I wanted. I went to a rubber weight belt, worked great. I got tired of the weight, lost 60 lbs. The first place on my body to loose the weight was my ass. Started dieting, BOOM, no ass. Couldn't keep my pants up, even worse than before I started loosing weight. I'm now 180 lbs, feel great, thinner than I've ever been and the rubber weight belt is still the best.

 

[Max Speed]

Most SV Racers just stuff old wheel weights in their pockets and duct tape a few more on their fins. That way you can fine tune to the 1/4 oz.

 

[svracing]

You joke, but a friend of mine was planning on using old wheel weights in soft bags. Figured he would have unlimited access to free weight. It gets expensive!