Weight belt position

[SeanW]

Hi all,

A question for the BP/W divers who still use a weight belt... Where do you find the belt most comfortable? Do you put the belt really low on your hips and then have the bp/w waist strap higher around the navel or the opposite (waist strap low and weight belt high on the hips)? In either case, the weight belt would go on before donning the backplate (I dive dry).

 

[tbone1004]

rubber freediving belt, worn around where my jeans belt is worn so just above hip bones. BP/W waist strap is just above it.

 

[SeanW]

rubber freediving belt, worn around where my jeans belt is worn so just above hip bones. BP/W waist strap is just above it.

Do you typically position the weight to be on your sides, towards the plate, or towards the front of your legs? For me, I’m finding that having the belt below the waist strap of the backplate makes tucking my long hose a little frustrating. I don’t use a canister so I normally tuck into the waist strap and it always gets hung up on the weights.

 

[tbone1004]

Do you typically position the weight to be on your sides, towards the plate, or towards the front of your legs? For me, I’m finding that having the belt below the waist strap of the backplate makes tucking my long hose a little frustrating. I don’t use a canister so I normally tuck into the waist strap and it always gets hung up on the weights.

Don't usually have that much lead, but it's usually forward. It would make tucking a long hose a bit weird but in a drysuit I usually use a canister simulator to hook it.

 

[rx7diver]

A question for the BP/W divers who still use a weight belt... Where do you find the belt most comfortable? Do you put the belt really low on your hips and then have the bp/w waist strap higher around the navel or the opposite (waist strap low and weight belt high on the hips)? In either case, the weight belt would go on before donning the backplate (I dive dry).

Even when wearing a drysuit in open water, I put my weightbelt on last, worn lower than my waist. With my (crushed neoprene) drysuit, I wear a nylon webbing weightbelt, but with two SS weightbelt buckles. With a wetsuit (rec diving), I wear an old-school rubber weightbelt (with wire buckle).

ETA: I wear my weights more toward my appendix, normally, evenly distributed. But, depending, I can have some on my side, too. Never between my back and the cylinder, though. (Never in the small of my back.)

rx7diver

 

[inquis]

the weight belt would go on before donning the backplate

That's how I do it. The crotch strap will hopefully catch an accidental weight belt release. Given the redundant buoyancy, the need to ditch weight is extremely unlikely (although obviously still possible).

 

[SubseaSports]

I use a rubber freedive belt.
I wear it low like a freediver where it hangs on my hip. Lead varies depending tanks, but they are placed just forward of my hip. When more is required, lead is spread to the rear. Harness waist belt is worn just under navel. There is a bit of a gap between the the two belts.

 

[MidOH]

Mine's at my hips. My bpw waist strap is about 3" higher up. Crotch strap goes over weight belt. None of them interfere with each other at all. Even with a DSS long plate, that puts the waist strap really close to the weight belt.

I pack a rubber belt, and a webbing belt. Haven't decided which is better. Rubber is grippy and flex. Webbing is tighter and easier to adjust in the water.

Just add a knife to your waist belt, to hold your longhose in.

 

[johndiver999]

Mine's at my hips. My bpw waist strap is about 3" higher up. Crotch strap goes over weight belt. None of them interfere with each other at all. Even with a DSS long plate, that puts the waist strap really close to the weight belt.

I pack a rubber belt, and a webbing belt. Haven't decided which is better. Rubber is grippy and flex. Webbing is tighter and easier to adjust in the water.

Just add a knife to your waist belt, to hold your longhose in.

You should NOT have to adjust a weightbelt underwater if you are using an elastic freedive belt; that is one of the distinct advantages of it and makes it worth paying extra for it.

Maybe it will take you a few more times to dial in the optimal tightness of a rubber belt, but the goal is not to have "a tighter" belt around your abdomen.