Weight belt 'ditching' incident

[sprange]

I have read several other threads discussing the 'what ifs' regarding the accidental loss of a weight belt, and now have first hand experience. My buddy (who is also my nephew) and I were enjoying a 2x4 'wreck' at 60 feet in Tobermory last weekend, pacing ourselves for a leisurely dive. We had circled the wreck once and were in the process of doing another loop when I had noticed a slight cloud of silt appear at the edge of my peripheral vision. I quickly realized that it was my buddy's weight belt (colorful weights) and instinctively reached for him (we stay within 3' of each other usually) and managed to snag his fin. Securing a better hold on his ankle (I think) I swam down as fast as I could, but I ended up doing a few 360s thanks to his buoyancy. Considering that the belt had 24 pounds of lead, it was no surprise that we were ascending at an alarming rate. While he had dumped most of his air initially he did not continuously do so, adding to our ascent. I usually take ascents slow as my ears and sinuses sometimes give me a few problems but strangely they managed to equalize even during our more rapid phase. When we broke the surface (could have been in as little as 10-15 seconds, could have been more) I think we both took a few seconds to run internal systems checks (lungs...present, sensation in all limbs...check) before simultaneously asking each other if we're okay. We both indicated that we were and managed a few chuckles over what could have been a serious event. We spent a great deal of time discussing the dive, noting that we (I) did a poor job examining his equipment before the dive (he has virtually no hips so the weight belt was held up by tension alone and hence it becoming loose when the 14mm of neoprene compressed at depth), and also that he should have assumed a horizontal position during the ascent. Not -completely- emptying the BC was also a big problem, probably a fatal one if I wasn't able to grab him. This was a learning experience for us neophyte divers!

 

[Curt Bowen]

I have read several other threads discussing the 'what ifs' regarding the accidental loss of a weight belt, and now have first hand experience. My buddy (who is also my nephew) and I were enjoying a 2x4 'wreck' at 60 feet in Tobermory last weekend, pacing ourselves for a leisurely dive. We had circled the wreck once and were in the process of doing another loop when I had noticed a slight cloud of silt appear at the edge of my peripheral vision. I quickly realized that it was my buddy's weight belt (colorful weights) and instinctively reached for him (we stay within 3' of each other usually) and managed to snag his fin. Securing a better hold on his ankle (I think) I swam down as fast as I could, but I ended up doing a few 360s thanks to his buoyancy. Considering that the belt had 24 pounds of lead, it was no surprise that we were ascending at an alarming rate. While he had dumped most of his air initially he did not continuously do so, adding to our ascent. I usually take ascents slow as my ears and sinuses sometimes give me a few problems but strangely they managed to equalize even during our more rapid phase. When we broke the surface (could have been in as little as 10-15 seconds, could have been more) I think we both took a few seconds to run internal systems checks (lungs...present, sensation in all limbs...check) before simultaneously asking each other if we're okay. We both indicated that we were and managed a few chuckles over what could have been a serious event. We spent a great deal of time discussing the dive, noting that we (I) did a poor job examining his equipment before the dive (he has virtually no hips so the weight belt was held up by tension alone and hence it becoming loose when the 14mm of neoprene compressed at depth), and also that he should have assumed a horizontal position during the ascent. Not -completely- emptying the BC was also a big problem, probably a fatal one if I wasn't able to grab him. This was a learning experience for us neophyte divers!

Again I will not comment on the fact I do not believe in removable weight belts or ditchable weight here on the Scuba Board for fear that I will be pounded by those who were taught you must be able to ditch your weight in the case of an emergency.

 

[DandyDon]

Again I will not comment on the fact I do not believe in removable weight belts or ditchable weight here on the Scuba Board for fear that I will be pounded by those who were taught you must be able to ditch your weight in the case of an emergency.

Good reactions; glad y'all are okay. Seen that too many times, from belts and runaway BCs. Indeed, the BC rapid ascent happened to me once when I was brand new. (Kinda' new now?)

I prefer a belt to integrated BC, but I always have to tighten it once in the water. There's also a ditchable weight harness available.

 

[jhelmuth]

Q: DId you think to also "loose" the air in your BC as well (once you "grabbed" your buddy)?

 

[Xman]

Glad you are both ok. I have no hips myself, and when wearing ditchanle weights find the comfort and security of my DUI weight harness a huge bonus. Perhaps your buddy would find one made his diving more comfortable and safer.

As a divemaster I had to slow peoples ascents numerous times, but never had to contend with weightbelt loss (normally just paniced divers in low vis/thick wetsuit/ different conditions). Glad you made the difference and you are both ok, but hope you have thought long and hard about having put yourself at risk. It is always your choice, but it could have turned out that you both got DCS and no one to help. IMO it is sometimes better to look after yourself as the rescuer and leave yourself able to help.
Please understnad, I am not suggesting that you should have left your buddy to shoot to the surface, rather I am saying that when attempting to slow someones ascent, it is important that you stay aware of your own ascent rate and safety and decide for yourself when you have done all you can do.

 

[ScubaFreak]

I agree with Xman,

Glad you are both ok, but I feel it may have been more appropriate if you hadn't ascended with your buddy. It would have been a lot less complicated if something had happened and only one of you were injured.

Glad your both ok though,

Safe Diving

SF

 

[sprange]

I certainly agree that by putting myself at risk it decreased the chances of a favorable outcome. I just made a quick conclusion that the buoyancy should be acceptable when distributed between the two of us but didn't factor in the issue of the BC. Now that I think about it, our ascent must have been in the 30+ range as I spent a great deal of energy finning. Anyway, if my nephew was injured I'd be better off with DCS than suffer the wrath of my sister!

jhelmuth: I did indeed grab my rear dump on my wing (when I was facing down) and kept it open -most- of the time (lost it once or twice), and ended up with a BC 1/5 filled with water.

Strange thing is that just the day before we were talking about a few 'worst case scenarios' and weight-belt loss was mentioned. Obviously we didn't work out any strategies at that time.

 

[DandyDon]

A similar problem seems to happen more commonly from Integrated BCs, as pouches seems to be lost more often than belts, but then - only half of the weight is lost at once.

The ditchable weight harness might be a good idea.

 

[scubasean]

Glad you are both ok, but I feel it may have been more appropriate if you hadn't ascended with your buddy. It would have been a lot less complicated if something had happened and only one of you were injured.

Agreed...Once you found you were not 24lbs overweighted to be able to hold your buddy, you might have been well-served to let go of the fin. Assuming you are properly weighted, the best you could possibly do, assuming you continuously dumped your B/C, is to slow him down. The most negative you'd be is the weight of air in your tanks which is typically just six to eight pounds or so...

Also, flattening yourself out horizontally and spreading your fins is a way to slow yourself down a bit, but it would be really hard to counteract the positive buoyancy resulting from losing 24 pounds of lead...

From reading your note, it appears that the weight belt came off by sliding down off of his feet (as opposed to becoming unbuckled)...Seems to me that in that circumstance there "should" have been enough time for him to realize what was happening and hold the weight on by spreading his legs...and thus allowing you to fix the problem...

 

[Ontario Diver]

This is a not-too-uncommon problem in the cold waters up here. New (and some older) divers wearing all of thier weight on a belt and jumping in.

I know of several divers with 36 + lbs of weight on thier belt and am concerned about them "following the rules" and ditching thier belts.