Question Preferences for weight setup

[Biz2000]

Hello everyone, I looked around a bit to see if this was already being discussed, and while I found a few topics with good ideas I wanted to ask it more directly...

I will be getting a drysuit in maybe a month or so, and would like some ideas on good weight solutions for a BPW setup. I would like to avoid a weight belt as they can be uncomfortable, but I also don't wish to tack all of my weight on my rig, maybe more of a 50/50 mix or more leaning towards keeping it on my person. I was made aware of weight harnesses (assuming they go under my rig harness?), but I could see issues with clutter there too.

Opinions and suggestions are welcome, thanks!

 

[rx7diver]

... I will be getting a drysuit in maybe a month or so, and would like some ideas on good weight solutions for a BPW setup. I would like to avoid a weight belt as they can be uncomfortable, but I also don't wish to tack all of my weight on my rig, maybe more of a 50/50 mix or more leaning towards keeping it on my person. I was made aware of weight harnesses (assuming they go under my rig harness?), but I could see issues with clutter there too.

Opinions and suggestions are welcome, thanks!

With my DUI crushed neoprene (CF200SP) custom suit and DUI Thinsulate underwear, manifolded PST HP100/120's (3,500 psig), and DR alum back plate with simple harness and DR original doubles wings, I wore a nylon weight belt with solid Pb weights and *two* SS buckles. For Great Lakes shipwreck diving. I can't recall the total weight of the solid Pb, but it wasn't onerous (wasn't uncomfortable). Something like 16 lbs (four 4-lb weights), IIRC. Maybe six 3-lb weights. Long time ago. I'll try to find my old logbooks and add in the actual weight.

rx7diver

 

[Endler's]

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[happy-diver]

I make plates from lead, to put next to the plates not from lead
and then I can cut the weightbelt lead and other the lead down

 

[VsubT]

Weight harness is a pretty good solution. For dry suit diving, I keep my DUI harness adjusted long for the shoulder straps, so the weights sit just below the waist strap of the BPW rig.

Lance

 

[rongoodman]

Having the weight that low doesn't mess up your trim?

 

[VsubT]

Having the weight that low doesn't mess up your trim?

Nope, but it took some iteration to get there. For drysuit single tank, I’m usually diving steel backplate plus steel tank, with some weight on the upper cam band. This is when I generally find the weight harness to be most useful, especially with heavy undergarments.

For drysuit doubles, I’m usually in double steel tanks with a steel back plate and need very little on the waist or harness.

I also use relatively light fins, either Dive Rite XT or Deep6. If I am feeling leg heavy in that configuration, it’s pretty easy to manage a tiny bit of extra air in the legs by shifting the bubble inside the suit.

Everyone is built a little differently, weight harness is just another tool in the toolbox.

Lance

 

[Biz2000]

Well suppose I just run a weight belt and maybe do some funny business with ~14 on the belt and a 2# on a trim band, would that sound good on paper?
Also how does everyone like to wear their weight belt? I’ve been wearing it under my harness and behind my crotch strap, which seems obviously like the only way but I learn new things everyday so I’ll ask.

 

[rx7diver]

Well suppose I just run a weight belt and maybe do some funny business with ~14 on the belt and a 2# on a trim band, would that sound good on paper?
Also how does everyone like to wear their weight belt? I’ve been wearing it under my harness and behind my crotch strap, which seems obviously like the only way but I learn new things everyday so I’ll ask.

I wear my weight belt *over* the crotch strap--so that I (or my rescuer) can ditch my weight belt immediately, if necessary. Having two SS buckles mitigates the risk of accidental loss of the weight belt. I make sure everyone knows that there is a second SS buckle.

Oh, and I wear the weights so that there is the same amount of weight on each side (left side vs. right side)--so that the weight belt won't rotate around and move the SS buckles away from being front and center. (This "rotating" is not an issue with a rubber weight belt, but it absolutely is with a nylon weight belt, in my experience.)

rx7diver

 

[jadairiii]

What tank(s) are you typically using?