Weight belt or pockets for BP&W?

[laikabear]

Hi there,

I just bought a DSS BP&W setup (SS plate) and put it together today. Yay! But, I need to decide what to do about weights. I own a variety of sizes of soft weights and would prefer to use those rather than buy hard weights.

I'm debating between a weight belt that has pouches for soft weights versus pockets for the weights that can be put on the harness directly. I do have 2 zippered trim pouches that will hold a couple lbs. each to put on the cam band that I removed from my old BCD.

I dive in SoCal in a thick wetsuit and hood, gloves, etc. Generally I've been needing about 24 lbs. of lead with my BCD and an AL80. So, with the new SS plate, I will need less, just not sure how much less yet.

I was considering these Dive Rite pockets http://www.diverite.com/products/catalog/pockets/ac3216
Or maybe this belt by XS Scuba that has velcro, or this one that is zippered.

Thanks,

 

[undrwater]

If you've got hips, and you don't put too much weight on the belt, then the belt is a good way to go.

Use those pockets, put the weight belt on before the BCD, then if you need to dump, dump from the pockets.

 

[diverrex]

Get a steel HP 100 tank and take another 6 pounds off. The SS plate is likely 6 pounds so you are down to 12. 4 pounds in the trim pockets and you need another 8. Personally I'd carry 4 pounds in a front pocket each side. Others would use a belt. It's personal preference.

 

[enduser]

DSS also makes bolt on weight plates for their SS backplate that depending on the size of your plate add between 6-9 lbs additional.

https://www.deepseasupply.com/index.php?category=backplate_acc

 

[Ouvea]

The DSS Stainless Steel Plates (Medium), I believe are just barely -5lbs. They're definitely smaller than my Scubapro AL or SS plates. That gives you 19lbs to shift.

We're assuming that you purchased the LCD 30 or Torus 26. With either wing, I would probably put 4-6lbs on one of the tank cam bands, 4-6lbs on the waist strap of the rig and then shift the remainder to a weight belt. You don't want to exceed the wing's lift capacity. If you switch to a steel tank, you can knock 4lbs off your weight belt as you won't have to offset the Aluminum 80's whopping +4.0lb buoyancy, when near empty.

Careful of the Dive Rite pockets. Unless you have a wide waist, mounting those pockets horizontally will prevent you from snugging down the waist strap of your rig. The pockets, when fully loaded, are very stiff and do not contour the shape of the human waist very well.

O.

 

[Zog]

You can experiment with different configurations to give you the best balance when diving. I have a DSS LCD 30, and a steel HP 100. With a 7mil wetsuit and a hooded vest, I use 6 pounds on my weight belt. By the way, I can wear the weight belt because I don’t use the crotch strap, so no entanglement issue with it. The BP/W is still very stable on me even without the crotch strap, but that’s something that may or may not be right for you. If you’re planning on doing beach dives, having all your weight attached to your plate will make it especially hard to get back up if a surf nocks you down in the shallows. That’s a lot of weight towards the top of your body, and if you're new to beach diving, you will get nocked down... a lot. :-D

 

[Gareth J]

As others have said, a mix, some on a weight belt, some on the cylinder (not on the harness).

What you really want to do is look at trim, you should be able to lie flat in the water, when neutrally buoyant, without tipping back (feet down, back flip), or tipping forward (head down, forward summersault). Use the weight distribution to achieve this.
The kit you use can effect this, light fins will bring a bit head up heavy fins feet down.

Being able to put the weight on the cylinder makes adjusting trim easier normally.
If using twins (doubles), you can use a V Weight wedged (or fixed) between the backplate and the cylinders.
Fixing the weight on the cylinder close to the body rather than on the back of the cylinder is also preferred if possible.

(Also, weight distribution so that you don't roll left or right.)

Two (three)other advantage of distributing the weight between the cylinder and belt are:
1. Carrying it
2. Adjustments for Salt / fresh water are easier.
3. Future adjustment with changes in kit (winter to summer, new kit, better skills generally).

Gareth

 

[laikabear]

Thanks for all the replies so far! I had spoken briefly to Tobin about how to add weights and he mentioned the bolt on ones, but wanted me to be sure how much I needed before we discuss that. I am not sure if I'll go that way eventually or not. I like the idea of the rig being lighter to pick up. And Zog made a valid point because I do shore dives. Although, I already found that once I got knocked down I couldn't get back up... crawl-out of shame FTW!

I am considering getting a steel tank when I buy my own tank, but for now I am renting tanks and so usually I'm getting AL80s. Diverrex, let's let my credit card stop smoldering before I try to put a steel tank on it, mmmkay?

I am 5'10" and I have a medium SS plate and the Torus 26. Ouvea, thank you for mentioning that about the pockets - that is exactly the info I was looking for. I have a relatively narrow waist with wider hips. So a weight belt should stay on fine, but I am not sure how I will layer a belt and the waist strap yet. I am planning to use the crotch strap at this time. I know some of you put the weight belt under and some over.

Does anyone have experience with this specific XS Scuba belt with the velcro? Or any cautions against choosing that one?

 

[tbone1004]

the biggest thing is you need to do a proper weight check before you start adding weights. Depending on what BC you came from, the BP will change your lead requirements from a minimum of 6lbs up to 10lbs depending on how "floaty" it was so keep that in mind. After you figure that out, then we can make a better recommendation on where to put it, so stick with a regular weight belt for now until you have all the puzzle pieces laid out.

https://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/spo/5414307969.html
check those out, if they are not lined, those are good for a 5lb reduction in lead and a 10lb overall weight reduction vs an AL80 and you only lose about 4cf of gas.
https://orangecounty.craigslist.org/spo/5420710158.html
those gain you 20cf of gas, have a net rig weight adjustment of 0lbs, but you can take 6lbs off of the weight belt...

 

[Neilwood]

Thanks for all the replies so far! I had spoken briefly to Tobin about how to add weights and he mentioned the bolt on ones, but wanted me to be sure how much I needed before we discuss that. I am not sure if I'll go that way eventually or not. I like the idea of the rig being lighter to pick up. And Zog made a valid point because I do shore dives. Although, I already found that once I got knocked down I couldn't get back up... crawl-out of shame FTW!

I am considering getting a steel tank when I buy my own tank, but for now I am renting tanks and so usually I'm getting AL80s. Diverrex, let's let my credit card stop smoldering before I try to put a steel tank on it, mmmkay?

I am 5'10" and I have a medium SS plate and the Torus 26. Ouvea, thank you for mentioning that about the pockets - that is exactly the info I was looking for. I have a relatively narrow waist with wider hips. So a weight belt should stay on fine, but I am not sure how I will layer a belt and the waist strap yet. I am planning to use the crotch strap at this time. I know some of you put the weight belt under and some over.

Does anyone have experience with this specific XS Scuba belt with the velcro? Or any cautions against choosing that one?

The difference between the above and below the crotch strap tends to be down to recreational/technical. The technical divers don't like the possibility of losing the weight belt (buoyancy issues while doing mandatory deco wouldn't be much fun) whereas recreational divers diving within NDL are taught that there is always the surface to escape to so dropping the belt is always an option.

I am also looking at the same issues as you having just bought all my gear and needing to sort my weighting out. Only issue was my OW (and subsequent dives were with rental gear (of varying ages) so doing a comparison is not an option. Will need to do a full weight check on my first dive this year as I now have a full set of gear of my own (only the snorkel and mask remain from earlier dives).