Surprise Surprise . . Newbie has a mishap . . .

[BlueKnight]

Hi Betty. Well done on keeping your head. From one newbie to another I can relate as I have lost a weight belt as well, being some what round in the middle. Luckly I was on the surface when mine came off in my hand as I was trying to tighten it. My very first boat dive as well and I had to abandon it. Then got seasick so didnt dive lol. I must say I much prefer the intergrated weights on my BCD but as I have just got my first dry suit I think I am gonna get a weight harness. I will take your experiance with me and hope I do the same when I get my first underwater incident. Great job in sharing these experiances.

 

[Green_Manelishi]

I know I am late to this thread but my responses in bold.

Good morning all,

In the scheme of things this is minor. But it may help another newbie.

My analysis so far:

1. New buckle on belt. It was plastic, I stopped at the shop on the way home and bought a metal one. It was on the belt 10 minutes after I walked in the door.

Plastic breaks, but metal can bend. Buckles, plastic or otherwise, occasionally open especially if there is too much loose strap. It is not paranoid to regularly check equipment during a dive; a (potential) problem caught early is a problem probably prevented.

2. Trimmed the strap with a U or V shape so it slides through buckle easier. For whatever reason, it would not 'feed' into the plastic buckle.

Exactly

2. Have good fins. I'm going to KL next month and have decided to invest in a better pair. Any suggestions?

I have a pair of Medium Jet fins for sale.

3. Buy ben gay. My calves are killing me today! LOL

4. Don't panic. Think. Nothing happens underwater that can't be fixed underwater. (Well, almost nothing).

Righto

5. Always follow the reserve air rules. We had turned to head back at 1000 psi. My incident happened at about 500 psi. I surfaced with just under 300. My buddy had 200 psi.

Make certain your SPG is accurate as well

6. Thank veteran divers for helping newbies. I am so glad M, R, S, & C were with me. It was a team effort. And I know I am going to be grateful for your comments too.

Thank God you are OK. I made my first ESA on my initial OW dive. My father was rather nervous, I was not.

 

[TerryC]

Well done BettyRubble, Barney should be proud of you. No seriously, this was a difficult and scary situation and you and your buddy handled it extremely well.
The problem with weight belts (as you discovered" is that "all your eggs are in one basket" so a failure is 100% of your weight gone.
I have never felt comfortable with a weight belt, to the extreme that when I travel with only basic gear (Mask, fins, suit, computer) I have a lightweight harness for my weights, just in case.
Integrated systems, as others have suggested have some issues, mainly due to poor design.
My own BCD has trim pockets at each side of the cylinder, I split my weight 1/3rd trim pockets and 1/3rd in each integrated pocket. That way the most I can lose id 1/3rd of my weights, just an idea for you and others to consider.
T

 

[CoralSeaMan]

In reading these posts I think no one mentioned one other obvious issue. Weight belts, just like tank straps, stretch when they get wet. This means they get looser. When the neoprene wetsuit compresses, they are even looser and prone to fall off. I’ve never had a buckle come open, but I have had weight belts fall off.

 

[Thalassamania]

It's not obvious to me ... I use a rubber weight belt with a wire bail buckle.