Recently Certified weight problem

[mk7669]

Hi, first post and I was recently open water certified. Certification took place in a quarry and i was wearing a 6.5mm wetsuit, 22 pounds of soft weight on a nylon mesh belt with zippers, and oceanic BCD as this was supplied to the class. Extreme good time, altho what could have made it better would have been a better weight belt. The belt itself was horrible and kept wanting to slide off even in the pool!!! No matter what i tried the belt would eventually slip and almost come off. Tried it wet, and even had 2 people pull on the belt to tighten it and still did not work, buckle did not slip and i believe the cause is the slippery nylon on the inside. I do know for $19.95 a web harness can be used with a standard interwoven weight belt. Most of the diving if not all will be warm water from here on out, and i have thought about the dui system for weight.
Before purchasing the dui, or any other weight system i am researching the BP/W instead of a common BCD and i am wondering if there is alot of difference between the two, as i am not familar with the BP/W but it sure looks more comfortable, and might eliminate a weight belt?

 

[imwright1985]

Not for 22lbs of weight a back plate will drop nothing to about 6lbs roughly. Alot of newer bcd's are weight integrated so you dont need a belt if you like the weight integration, but i would do a weight check because 22lbs seems high. I would also try steel tanks instead of the AL's you probably used in certification which will drop a few LBS

 

[JanK]

Instead of getting a harness, try putting some weight in your BCD pockets. I dive the same configuration (other brands) with 15l 200bar (105 cubic feet) steel tank and I keep 6 kg in my pockets and only 4kg on my belt (I could probably drop a kg or two). Otherwise I am feet heavy as there's a lot of buoyancy from the double layer of thick neoprene on the torso. Moving the weights into pockets lifts the centre of gravity up by body so that I don't have to work to stay horizontal. I also keep the tank as high as possible.

You'll also have less weigh on your belt making it less likely to slip off and still have two thirds of your weight on you if it does. So below some depth it's not a problem to stay at that depth, on your way up your buddy can help you or, if diving near the bottom, you can just pick them up. And I like the idea of spreading around the ditchable weight anyway.

 

[halocline]

Most of the diving if not all will be warm water from here on out, and i have thought about the dui system for weight.
Before purchasing the dui, or any other weight system i am researching the BP/W instead of a common BCD and i am wondering if there is alot of difference between the two, as i am not familar with the BP/W but it sure looks more comfortable, and might eliminate a weight belt?

In warm water it is possible that a steel plate could eliminate your weight belt. You had 22lbs with a 7mil suit, I bet you were overweighted a little (most OW students are) and just taking a wild guess you might drop to 10-12 lbs in a standard BC in a 3 mil suit for warm water. The steel plate will supply about 6 lbs of ballast, plus you won't have any inherent buoyancy of a jacket style BC to sink, so you could be close. A regular webbing weight belt with 6 lbs on it is much easier to deal with than what you had, and you could put a couple of camband pockets right on the waist belt of the BC to eliminate the weight belt, and you could put more camband pockets on the cambands, and if you bought a DSS plate you could get extra weight plates that bolt right on to the backplate. There are lots of options.

There are lots of other good reasons to buy one even if you're still wearing a belt.

 

[mk7669]

Thanks to all for the replies. In the pool portion i had 8 lbs. of weights and could not decend for anything, went to 12lbs. and in the pool it was perfect. Not sure if i was over weighted in OW, I am 6'1... 215 and to be honest, once or twice even with 22 lbs i had to work (altho not much) to descend. I think i will put the whole BP/W on the back burner for now as i really do not understand the concept and it seems expensive and maybe to complicated for a newb. Instead of the jacket bc i used in OW cert. i may try a back inflate zeagle ranger or Hollis HD100 , but definately something weight integrated. Thank you all again for the help

 

[RonFrank]

I dive with Hammerhead Steel Plates, and their STA. I like the system, and the total weight is approx 12lbs of steel for the BP/STA.

For some divers this maybe too much weight, in fact for me with a 3mm suit. However I dive this setup dry, and I still have to use an additional 10 lbs. of lead fresh, and 15 or so Salt diving dry depending on my Underwear, and if I wear a hood, etc.

It has been a while since I purchased the Hammerhead, but basically for the $$, I got the entire setup for about $100 for plate and STA. I notice their prices have NOT gone up! One thing about Hammerhead, it's very well made, but not well polished. Plan on a bit of deburring upon arrival. If you are not capable of using sandpaper, then you can pay for them to do it for you!

 

[herbdb]

Thanks to all for the replies. In the pool portion i had 8 lbs. of weights and could not decend for anything, went to 12lbs. and in the pool it was perfect. Not sure if i was over weighted in OW, I am 6'1... 215 and to be honest, once or twice even with 22 lbs i had to work (altho not much) to descend. I think i will put the whole BP/W on the back burner for now as i really do not understand the concept and it seems expensive and maybe to complicated for a newb. Instead of the jacket bc i used in OW cert. i may try a back inflate zeagle ranger or Hollis HD100 , but definately something weight integrated. Thank you all again for the help

My LDS recommends 10 percent of body wt plus 4-5 pounds for their 7 mil farmer john suits when diving with aluminum tanks. This worked out pretty close for myself and my two sons during our first fresh water quarry dive. You are in this ballpark so the wt is probably close.

A good check on proper weighting is to see if you can hover or do a fin pivot with zero air in the BC at the end of your dive. Then adjust your weight for the next dive.

I am a new diver and I practice this every time I dive. Buoyancy control is in my opinion one of the hardest skills for us new guys.

 

[Bonairetrip]

<SNIP>I think i will put the whole BP/W on the back burner for now as i really do not understand the concept and it seems expensive and maybe to complicated for a newb. Instead of the jacket bc i used in OW cert. i may try a back inflate zeagle ranger or Hollis HD100 , but definately something weight integrated. Thank you all again for the help

I like the BP/W setup but can understand how it would be intimidating to newer divers. It isn't complicated but it is often a bit of a DIY sort of affair. More than that, there are an almost limitless set of configurations available.

Put simply, you pick:
a) A backplate. Different brands, materials and sizes. Decide on material (Stainless, Kydex, Al) and size.
b) Harness. There is the simple Hog harness that works very well or a variety of comfort harnesses.
c) Wing -- the part that holds the air. You want a wing with sufficient lift but not too much lift.
d) Add ons. This can be a pocket (although I think the x-shorts are a better choice), pads, weight pockets, etc.
e) If you dive singles, a single tank adapter (not needed with DSS)

The one place I need to disagree with is price. You are looking at the Zeagle Ranger ($630 at Scuba Toys) and the Hollis ($565). A DSS setup (wing, stainless plate, hog harness, knife, crotch strap) is about $470. You can add the DUI weight harness for $118 (Scuba Toys) and you are only a bit more than the Hollis and less than the Zeagle. You could probably do an Oxycheq Mach V for a bit more...

 

[spectrum]

mk7669,

I read 2 issues here;
1. I can't keep weights on
2. What should I buy for a BC.

Let me say that I do not believe in full weight integration. IMO your BC should only carry any weight needed to establish trim. That is weight that needs to be higher on your body in order to have you swim prone.

Let's start with the belt. Material was probably not the prime issue. Where were you wearing it? It needs to be perched up on your hips. If you have no hips then you need some sort of harness system and the DUI is a fine choice.

As for the BC get whatever you like. A well fit jacket will dive as nice as anything. A BP&W is no more advanced than anything else. The challenge can be buying it since many are built alacarte. A good dealer or can assemble a compatible system in the price range of a real nice jacket BC. Also Deep Sea Supply has taken all mystery out of it by selling complete systems all assembled and matched.

Pete

 

[dkktsunami]

I could handle 22 lbs. (don't need that much) with no weight belt, using plate and wing, and XS Scuba pockets that fit on the cam bands. My salt water weighting is 19 lbs. with a 7 mil and hood. This system however leaves the diver with no ditchable weight and requires that the diver have an emergency plan for a double failure at the surface which is highly unlikely, certainly less likely than an ill-fitting weight belt dropping off at depth.