The case against ditchable weight

[drbill]

In over 50 years of diving I've never had to ditch weights. However, as a videographer, I wear a lot of weight on my belt to remain more stable when filming. Therefore, I am planning to alter my weighting system in the future to include less weight on my belt and more in ditchable weight pockets. I see this as a good idea, although perhaps a less experienced diver in panic mode wouldn't make the right decision.

 

[2airishuman]

Far too many divers drown having already reached the surface and, failing to quickly achieve positive buoyancy, sinking back down. For that reason, the diver must be able to ditch weight. The weight belt or quick-release pockets etc, is the most straight-forward method of doing that. Technical divers, in balanced rig, have other stuff to dump... deco cylinders, canister lights etc etc... and they (should) have the training, stress control and presence of mind to achieve that if needed. Such assumptions cannot be made about recreational divers as a whole...

Sounds remarkably like an equipment solution to a skills problem.

I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, but I like to understand the real reason we do things that way we do them. It helps my mindset.

The PADI OWD course materials make it clear that all ballast should be ditchable except for trim weights that are a small fraction of the total, and place much greater emphasis on making sure that the weight can be released than on making sure it's secure against accidental release. If that's a deliberate response to a specific accident sequence where beginning divers reach the surface and then don't have the presence of mind to inflate their BCD and keep their regulator or snorkel in their mouth, it makes sense.

In the early chapters Frank Herbert's novel, "Dune," Herbert captures with particular eloquence the difficulty of deliberately enduring the unpleasant to avoid the fatal, in the test of the "gom jabber." Herbert's message to us is that not everyone can pass even when the tradeoffs are as clear as they only can be in fiction. For some people, no amount of training is enough for them to keep their cool.

 

[Akimbo]

In over 50 years of diving I've never had to ditch weights...

For context, I have never accidently dropped a weightbelt in over 50 years of diving either. I have managed to avoid a lot of bad things thus far, but that doesn’t mean I don’t anticipate their possibility on every dive.

 

[cool_hardware52]

This is the basic scuba discussions forum. Many of the contributions, or part of most of the contributions, belong elsewhere.

Padi has succeeded in teaching new divers that they always need ditchable ballast. I encounter this nearly daily in my conversations with new(ish) divers looking for assistance selecting a BP&W. Not trying to slam Padi, but they do dominate entry level instruction.

This may not actually be the lesson they are trying to convey, but it is what sticks in the minds of many BOW students.

The message should be "If you need a lot of ballast at least some of it should be configured so you can drop it" combined with very much improved emphasis on proper and minimal weighting.

Tobin

 

[halocline]

For context, I have never accidently dropped a weightbelt in over 50 years of diving either. I have managed to avoid a lot of bad things thus far, but that doesn’t mean I don’t anticipate their possibility on every dive.

I think if you compared the frequency of having to ditch weights for safety vs accidental loss of weights due to quick due to pocket/belt failure, the latter would be more common. I also think that quick release pockets are a factor; there's no real standard design and accidental release is not uncommon.

Then there's the question of which scenario is more dangerous, not being able to ditch weights for safety, or losing weights accidentally, and the answer to this question is harder to quantify, because it's dependent on the given situation. But in general, I think it would hard to disagree with the idea that not being able to maintain positive buoyancy at the surface is pretty dangerous. Not being overweighted goes a long way to helping with that.

Unfortunately, many typical OW students are overweighted for whatever reasons; excessively buoyant BCs, bad swimming/diving technique, who knows. PADI certainly knows this, and overweighted divers are much more dependent on ditchable weights at the surface than properly weighted divers.

 

[Akimbo]

… The message should be "If you need a lot of ballast at least some of it should be configured so you can drop it" combined with very much improved emphasis on proper and minimal weighting…

Exactly. I did some experiments decades ago and found that I was comfortable controlling my emergency ascent rate when dropping up to 10 Kg/22 Lbs of weight. Beyond that, I make the additional weight fixed.

 

[tursiops]

Padi has succeeded in teaching new divers that they always need ditchable ballast. I encounter this nearly daily in my conversations with new(ish) divers looking for assistance selecting a BP&W. Not trying to slam Padi, but they do dominate entry level instruction.

This may not actually be the lesson they are trying to convey, but it is what sticks in the minds of many BOW students.

The message should be "If you need a lot of ballast at least some of it should be configured so you can drop it" combined with very much improved emphasis on proper and minimal weighting.

Tobin

At the surface, is where that is taught and emphasized. Surely you don't disagree.

 

[Akimbo]

I think if you compared the frequency of having to ditch weights for safety vs accidental loss of weights due to quick due to pocket/belt failure, the latter would be more common...

That is an effective condemnation of badly designed weight release systems, not the concept of releasable weights. That is a separate problem.

 

[cool_hardware52]

At the surface, is where that is taught and emphasized. Surely you don't disagree.

I'm simply reporting the net effect of the current instruction. It routinely produces new divers that believe they need ditchable ballast for every configuration.

What I suspect is they trained at home in colder waters where they needed substantial ballast, but plan to travel to dive.

The message concerning ditchable ballast was so effectively ingrained that I have had many ask, after I have explained that with little to no exposure suit that their regulator and bare bones BP&W is likely all the ballast they will need, if they should add a weight belt so they will have something to drop.

Start with a naked, fit diver and hand them a reg, full al 80 and a kydex plate and harness. They are now about -6lbs. Should they add a belt so they have something to drop?

We both know that's silly, but I have this conversation at least once a week.


Tobin

 

[tursiops]

I'm simply reporting the net effect of the current instruction. It routinely produces new divers that believe they need ditchable ballast for every configuration.

What I suspect is they trained at home in colder waters where they needed substantial ballast, but plan to travel to dive.

The message concerning ditchable ballast was so effectively ingrained that I have had many ask, after I have explained that with little to no exposure suit that their regulator and bare bones BP&W is likely all the ballast they will need, if they should add a weight belt so they will have something to drop.

Start with a naked, fit diver and hand them a reg, full al 80 and a kydex plate and harness. They are now about -6lbs. Should they add a belt so they have something to drop?

We both know that's silly, but I have this conversation at least once a week.


Tobin

LOL! I know very few fit divers and none that dive naked.