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.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

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.

Very true.
There is a Society of Lunatics (SOL) that uses weightbelts because they like to remove their rigs underwater and go into caves on hookah where they otherwise wouldn’t fit to capture spiny lobsters.
They remove their backpacks and set them by the entrance and then go in.

 

[happy-diver]

Weight belts, for mens men and divers divers man and womens men too

 

[Litefoot]

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.

Maybe I’m not understanding or I don’t have the experience, but it seems dangerous to me to don a weight belt floating in deep water before you don some type of BC. Educate me, please.

 

[inquis]

Maybe I’m not understanding or I don’t have the experience, but it seems dangerous to me to don a weight belt floating in deep water before you don some type of BC. Educate me, please.

[Edit: my comment below is relevant to the "no BC diving" case that was mentioned. I now realize you were asking about the order of lead vs. BCD when diving from a kayak or gearing up in-water. Sorry I missed the mark on that.]

The amount of lead is carefully chosen to make the user approximately neutral at the target depth with lungs compensating for the gas weight expected to be used during the dive. One is typically wearing a wetsuit, so any shallower than that would still be positive. One can also do it without a wetsuit, relying solely on lungs to be positive at the surface at the beginning of the dive. For someone with a vital capacity of about 4L, they could compensate for nearly 9 lb with lungs alone. (The non-reserve gas weight in an AL80 is about 5 lbs.)

Yes, like many things in the diving world, it could be quite dangerous if done wrong. Another potential issue is CO2 retention. However, that was how everyone did it before BCs were invented.

 

[johndiver999]

Maybe I’m not understanding or I don’t have the experience, but it seems dangerous to me to don a weight belt floating in deep water before you don some type of BC. Educate me, please.

The man is wearing a very thick wetsuit. It is going to have maximum buoyancy at the surface.

It is quite possible to have a weightbelt that will be insufficient to "sink" the diver at the surface because the tank/BC/plate/unditchable weights provide the remainder of the necessary ballast.