The case against ditchable weight

[CT-Rich]

I think people should be weighted so they can breathe normally and comfortably and still maintain neutral buoyancy at any depth.

Damn... guess I'll have to reconsider that lead choke collar I was bidding for on e-bay....

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Damn... guess I'll have to reconsider that lead choke collar I was bidding for on e-bay....

Many freedivers use neck weights..

 

[AfterDark]

The system I use consists of a web belt with lead weights held by keepers (about half of the total I need) and a self-adjusting buckle. The remaining weights are in pockets on my harness and on the tank(s). I can drop as little as 2lbs from the pockets or as much as 10-20 lb depending if I’m diving wet or dry by dropping my belt. Never did like the idea of integrated BCs, IMO those should be separated. I also believe not having any ditch able weight is not the ideal except in very limited scenarios. When diving shallow I always tighten my weight belt when I reach the bottom. When diving deep I tighten my belt a couple of times on the way down and when I get to the bottom. This prevents the belt from slipping off.


I’ve never lost a weight belt accidentally; also in my own personal experience I’ve found that the need to drop weight is very rare.
I’ve dropped my weight belt once in 45 years and over 2050 dives.

While putting my fins on I slipped off the rock I was sitting on into 15-20 feet of water and sank like a stone without fins and no idea where my 2^nd stage was; a quick search for it came up empty. Plan B was executed and I released my weight belt that back in those days, 1980something had all my weight on it. A quick ascent resulted and then the embarrassing the question to my buddy, “would you please go down and recover my lead and fin”?

Funny, the only thing that went thru my mind besides how best to recover was how I didn’t want to be found dead in 15’ of water with 2 full 72’s on my back! This incident was the catalyst for rethinking how and where I wear my weights, also the decision to use a neck strap on my second stage. Live and learn.

 

[halocline]

I used to pick up rocks on the bottom to use as ballast, pre-BC, but I would drop those at ascent. I could never find a good place to keep them. Does that count?
N

I've done that too! It's surprising how light some rocks are..meaning it takes a lot to offset much buoyancy. I've had to stuff some in my waist belt, even stuff a few in my wetsuit. You have to watch out for hitchhikers, though. Mantis shrimp can be pretty nasty!

 

[doctormike]

I've done that too! It's surprising how light some rocks are..meaning it takes a lot to offset much buoyancy. I've had to stuff some in my waist belt, even stuff a few in my wetsuit. You have to watch out for hitchhikers, though. Mantis shrimp can be pretty nasty!

A friend of mine was light at the Blue Heron Bridge recently. No time to go back with the tide coming in, so we made do with what we could find..

 

[cool_hardware52]

I've done that too! It's surprising how light some rocks are..meaning it takes a lot to offset much buoyancy. I've had to stuff some in my waist belt, even stuff a few in my wetsuit. You have to watch out for hitchhikers, though. Mantis shrimp can be pretty nasty!

Water ~ 63 lbs / cu ft

Steel / Stainless Steel ~495 lbs / cu ft

Lead ~ 709 / cu ft

Most minerals ~120-170 lbs / cu ft.

Rocks make crummy ballast, many are less dense than aluminum (~165 lbs / cu ft)

Tobin

 

[Hawkwood]

Many freedivers use neck weights..

I've dived with a buddy who wears a neck weight.

 

[archer1960]

Water ~ 63 lbs / cu ft

Steel / Stainless Steel ~495 lbs / cu ft

Lead ~ 709 / cu ft

Most minerals ~120-170 lbs / cu ft.

Rocks make crummy ballast, many are less dense than aluminum (~165 lbs / cu ft)

Tobin

That surprised me when I read this, but when I checked, you're correct. Even basalt, which is about the densest common mineral, is ~186 lb/ft3.

 

[tursiops]

That surprised me when I read this, but when I checked, you're correct. Even basalt, which is about the densest common mineral, is ~186 lb/ft3.

And chunks of dead hard coral (often called rocks...) are only 10-40% heavier than water.

 

[cool_hardware52]

That surprised me when I read this, but when I checked, you're correct. Even basalt, which is about the densest common mineral, is ~186 lb/ft3.

One of my favorite "trick questions" is "Which is heavier, concrete or aluminum"

Now I know the question itself is flawed, it should be which is more dense, but I use it to start the discussion of density.

Nobody yet has answered correctly, that aluminum at ~165 lbs / cu ft is "heavier" than concrete at about 140 lbs / cu ft.

Tobin