Using a weight belt with a BP/W

[MB NZ]

My challenge is that I'm in instructor's training now, so I need to take the belt off for demonstration quite often ;-).

As much as I'm in love with my BP&W and long divorced from a weight belt, if I was going down that route and the students were wearing a jacket BCD and weight belt, then I would do the same.

 

[TravisD]

I tend to switch it up - I'll use my travel BP/W one day, a shop BCD another, and switch to my steel BP/W when we go to open water checkouts. It exposes the students to different types of gear and gives us an opportunity to discuss gear configs. Frequently many of them have not (yet) bought gear at that point so it lets them see options. I do try to have a shop BC similar to what they're using when we do weight pouch related skills, and things like gear R&R.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

My challenge is that I'm in instructor's training now, so I need to take the belt off for demonstration quite often ;-).

When I was teaching, I still used the BPW with the weight belt under the crotch strap. I never found it to be a problem when demoing skills.
The key was to give a good surface brief, explain the difference, and demo the skill. Honestly, how often do you have to demo it in a basic OW class? Once for the remove and replace, once on the surface, and once during the gear exchange.
If you have to do it more than that, someone wasn't paying attention, or the skill explanation was insufficient.
However, if you do it often enough during your own training, you soon see that it's not even a thing to get concerned about, especially if you are doing the remove and replace in a neutral and horizontal position. Same with the surface demo. Stay face down, horizontal, and it's easy.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I use weightbelts.
I have four of them all different weights for different tank/plate combos ready to go. One of them is a rubber freediving type with a wire buckle, my favorite, that’s for the 120. The other ones are standard 2” webbing type, one has a spring loaded buckle that self adjusts to squeeze, the others are just regular. I adore my weightbelts, I don’t like attaching weights to the tank bands or any non ditchable weight. The thought if that gives my heartburn. For a brief time several years ago I had a big huge Seaquest Black Diamond BC that was my first BC. It was weight integrated and had trim pockets in the back plus double row side weight pockets. It was a beast of a contraption and I hated it. I dumped it for a BP/W and that’s when I went (back) to a weightbelt.
Weightbelts are handy for kayak diving. My proceedure after the kayak is after anchoring over the dive spot is I put fins on, then get into the water and roll the weightbelt on, then pull the scuba rig off the back and put it on in the water. Go diving. Then coming back everything is done in reverse order. If I had all my weight on my rig it would be impossible to get it back up on the kayak so this is a good reason for a weightbelt. The other reason is because I’m doing a lot if no BC diving for urchins so having a weightbelt is good if you need to dump your weights to get positive since there is no BC to rely on. I like the idea of having my weights separate from my rig. And plus weightbelts look cool and retro.
….Sorry if I gave anybody heartburn my mentioning no BC diving.

 

[johndiver999]

I use weightbelts.
I have four of them all different weights for different tank/plate combos ready to go. One of them is a rubber freediving type with a wire buckle, my favorite, that’s for the 120. The other ones are standard 2” webbing type, one has a spring loaded buckle that self adjusts to squeeze, the others are just regular. I adore my weightbelts, I don’t like attaching weights to the tank bands or any non ditchable weight. The thought if that gives my heartburn. For a brief time several years ago I had a big huge Seaquest Black Diamond BC that was my first BC. It was weight integrated and had trim pockets in the back plus double row side weight pockets. It was a beast of a contraption and I hated it. I dumped it for a BP/W and that’s when I went (back) to a weightbelt.
Weightbelts are handy for kayak diving. My proceedure after the kayak is after anchoring over the dive spot is I put fins on, then get into the water and roll the weightbelt on, then pull the scuba rig off the back and put it on in the water. Go diving. Then coming back everything is done in reverse order. If I had all my weight on my rig it would be impossible to get it back up on the kayak so this is a good reason for a weightbelt. The other reason is because I’m doing a lot if no BC diving for urchins so having a weightbelt is good if you need to dump your weights to get positive since there is no BC to rely on. I like the idea of having my weights separate from my rig. And plus weightbelts look cool and retro.
….Sorry if I gave anybody heartburn my mentioning no BC diving.

A weightbelt also is advantageous if/when you have to remove the tank underwater (maybe to clear an entanglement) and you are wearing a buoyant suit. It is much easier if you are wearing some lead on your body, versus having it all on the tank.