I need more weight than my bc can hold to use my drysuit. Right now my bc is negitivatly buoyant with the all of weight the weight in it. If I get a weight belt that will hold something like 5-10 lbs will it work under my bc? I saw that DUI sells suspenders, will having just a weight belt around my waist prevent air from going from my waist down or are suspenders a must have for drysuits? I have a DUI 50-50 so its already a little tougher to get air in there. I dont want too much weight on my person in case something happens, how much buoyancy does a fully inflated drysuit usually have? Thanks again!
Question Using a weight belt with drysuit
- Thread starter Seville
- Start date
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The DUI weight harnesses have pockets you can ditch if needed. You can get a weight belt but I find the weight harness more comfortable.
Have you actually taken a proper drysuit course? If not, you should because you could end up hurt or worse if you don't know what you're doing with one.
It depends on the size of the suit but look at the size of say a 32 lb wing. Triple that or more for a drysuit. Enough to send you to the surface like a rocket if the inflator sticks regardless of how much lead you have in the BC.
I have my students divide up the lead they need between the BC, weight belt, cylinder, and work on using the suit for exposure and the BC for buoyancy.
As an example, I need 20 lbs in addition to the cylinder with my heaviest undergarments and a steel tank. 6 lbs is the stainless steel backplate, 6 lbs in the pockets on the cam bands. I use a 32lb wing.
The steel tank is 8lbs negative to start.
The other 8lbs of lead I need go on a weightbelt with pockets that I can ditch 4 lbs from fairly easily by undoing a quick release and pulling the velcro. The belt goes on under the crotch strap so accidental loss is pretty much negated. That 4lbs is all I would need to ditch if the suit or the wing failed to still be able to get to the surface under control.
What kind of BC do you have? If it's already loaded beyond it's lift capacity you have a problem and need to get that lead moved into different systems.
Your drysuit instructor should have covered this in detail. If they didn't, they are putting your safety and possibly your life at risk.
Yes, I am drysuit certified. I have a 32lb sea quest bc but with about 27-30 lbs on it, it struggles to stay positively buoyant. Although I dont have a problem on the surface with my drysuit. I can decend but usually I have to kick for the first 5-10 feet and its tough to stay down at 15 ft after the tank gets low. My main questions is it okay to wear the belt under your bc and will it cut off the air getting to your lower half. I really dont want squeeze down there lol! My padi instructor taught us only to use the drysuit for buoyancy and to have our bcd completely empty. But like everything there is only so much you can learn in one pool session and one ocean session and some instructors are more passionate than others. I am still learning and that is why I am grateful for this forum!
It depends on the how tight you wear the belt. I only use MAKO rubber freediving belts because they don't slip and they have some give to them. One pool and one open session? That doesn't even crack the surface of drysuit diving if you are a newer diver. I do a minimum of two pool sessions and 2 days of open water dives.
And the suit for buoyancy/bc empty only works if you have your weighting nailed down and have very good control to start with. Suit is for exposure. BC for buoyancy. That was how I wrote the SDI Drysuit manual and course after consultation with mfgs of them.
Quickie classes however don't have time to show people how that works though. Or give them time to practice and experiment.
And don't forget the BC has more than 27-30 lbs on it. You have the tank and reg. I can't believe the instructor let you dive like that. He/she should have made you distribute the weight between different systems. That's just mind boggling. Not in a good way.
@Seville ,
I only ever use a weight belt and hard cast Pb weights with my drysuit (DUI CF200SP with DUI Thinsulate undies). I don't use weight pockets, nor bolt-on weights, nor P-weights, nor trim weights, nor BC-integrated weights, nor ankle weights, etc.--whether wearing a single HP cylinder or BM HP doubles, or a BP/W (SS Freedom Plate for single cylinder, Al DiveRite plate for doubles) or a Scubapro Stab Jacket. Fresh water diving.
FWIW,
rx7diver
I only ever use a weight belt and hard cast Pb weights with my drysuit (DUI CF200SP with DUI Thinsulate undies). I don't use weight pockets, nor bolt-on weights, nor P-weights, nor trim weights, nor BC-integrated weights, nor ankle weights, etc.--whether wearing a single HP cylinder or BM HP doubles, or a BP/W (SS Freedom Plate for single cylinder, Al DiveRite plate for doubles) or a Scubapro Stab Jacket. Fresh water diving.
FWIW,
rx7diver
RobPNW
Contributor
I don't have nearly as much drysuit time as many people here but I was taught to basically add enough gas to the suit to keep the squeeze off. Even that amount cut my need to use the BC probably in half or more. After that it was breath control. Had about half my weight on the BC and half on a weight belt.
I wear a weight belt under my crotch strap on a backplate/wing setup. No issues with air not getting where it needs to.
Even a tightly worn weight belt won’t cause air movement problems. Like lapinta stated, the suit for bouyancy requires your weighting to be correct otherwise you end up with a hard to control bubble that easily gets into your feet.
OTF
Coney Island Whitefish Biologist
Rubber freediving style weight belt with the marseilles style buckle. Easy to use and won't slide around.
When carrying a lot of weight I think it's good to divide it between a belt and harness pockets.
When carrying a lot of weight I think it's good to divide it between a belt and harness pockets.
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