Pros/cons of weight integrated BC vs weight belts

[Scubachick76]

I'm fairly new to scuba as well.. and I've used both types of weights. Personally I like the weight integrated bc. It's what i purchased. The less things i have to wrap around myself the better. One of the people that dove with me on a charter boat in the carribean was a heavier set man. And his weight belt looked so uncomfortable. He obviously had to put on a lot of weight. Although both are fairly simple to dump in case of emergency.. I'd try both before investing.

 

[trigfunctions]

Good idea to rent before buying. I think weight-integrated BCDs are much more comfortable and easier to handle on the boat.

 

[Damselfish]

I think any statements saying they're absolutely good or bad are suspect, like with most things. It depends on how much weight you need, where you're diving, and other stuff.

For diving in warm water where you are not carrying much weight anyway they can be great. Comfortable, convienient, and if you're pretty much neutral yourself and only accounting for empty tank bouyancy, having the weight attached to the same unit as the tank actually makes sense.

If you are diving cold water and need more weight you might still like it for at least part of your weight, or not. There are a lot more things to consider in that case.

 

[DaytonaDave]

I'm not the most experienced, but I've used both.... here's some things I've noticed.

Weight integration makes the rig very heavy while setting up (duh)... So you need to be very cautious once the BC is on the tank or it will tip and take the tank with it. I've started removing the weight pockets and not replacing them until just before the dive. This may defeat some of the benefits of having W.I.

W.I. BC is much more comfortable to me than a weight belt.

Less to worry about... can set up and just don the BC when ready.

W.I. is slightly harder to release (depending on model). Most that I've seen require each pouch to be dropped individually... whereas a weight belt can be dropped with one buckle.

Just my observations.

P.S. : I own a ScubaPro W.I. BC

 

[jbd]

I prefer a weight belt since it allows me to put my weights pretty much anywhere I want them to suit the situation. Even UW I can move the belt either towards my head which will put me in a more head down feet up orientation. I can move the belt down to my hips which results in a head up feet down orientation. I can move the belt to the area around my navel which for me result in a horizontal orientation. I can rotate the belt around my body to put the weights to my left or right side which means I will be horizontal but on my weighted side. I do this frequently when I want to watch a student for an extended period of time or if I really want to look closly at a vertical surface for a long time while I'm moving forward. Basically I like the flexibility.

As noted by the OP it seems to me that doffing and donning gear UW and midwater is a bit more difficult for those wearing a weight intergrated system.

 

[WarrenZ]

I use both when I dive in colder water or a condition where I will need extra weight. It takes some of the load out of my BCD so I dont have to lift it all at once. But in warm water without much (or no) wetsuit I will use just the intergrated BCD and that serves me fine. One thing I have found is that some people will need trim pockets on their BCD and others dont need them me I have put them on my tank band.

 

[Cacia]

experienced divers usually prefer weight belts in my experience.

JB has the Zeagle and loves it. His trim could get better IMV if he used a belt. Easier to feel your center, I think.

I went to rinse his gear while he cleaned the boat and I could not lift the cams off the tank. Ugh...so I go to take the weights out and finally just said forget it...they frustrate me. They fall out of tank holders on the boat at least as much as weight belts drop on toes....maybe more.

AND the other day I was helping dive a young girl and she had about 5 dives. It was deep dive (120, Sea Tiger) and she lost her stupid integrated on the line. It took a couple of us to hold her down as she corked. She needed the stop. Her dad wanted her to do that dive and she otherwise did fine...very borderline but DM's get put in that situation sometimes.

Sure, some integrated are fine but some of them really suck and you have no control over which bc a person wears. The integrated weights fall out all the time.

Get a weight belt and if you decide to use the integrated pockets later, you can. I bet you won't.

People that do not have hips...well that is another story I guess.

At least check out the backplates. Weights of any sort are less problematic when you have a good portion of it on your back.

 

[spectrum]

People that do not have hips...well that is another story I guess.
.

DUI Weight & Trim II

No hips required. Also great with my drysuit that makes my hips ambiguous. I actually hang it below my hips and that trims me out.

Pete

 

[laurelgsc]

I hated the weight belt I had to wear during training. I lost weights (wondered why I was corking at the end of the dive), it slipped around and I couldn't find the buckle. You have to tighten up when your wet suit compresses. Anyway, I bought a weight integrated BC and never looked back. I have a Seaquest Libra and have never had a prob with my weight pockets releasing. I got into a situation where I had to take my BC off and hand it up to a tender and it was no big deal. I just handed up the weight pockets and took off my BCD. When I was on Blackbeards my rig stayed set up the whole week and did not have any problems with tanks falling. I only carry about 12 lbs in salt water so it works great for me.

 

[S. starfish]

I'm surprised that there's only been one mention of a harness here. weight haresses are where it's at, they're comfortable, easy to adjust for trim and to take on and off, they don't suck like weightbelts do (I really hate those things), and if you're really worried about having to take your BC off underwater it's not an issue.