Weight Belt Suspenders

[Bonairetrip]

As background, I have never taken the rescue class -- perhaps I will some day. But, I have been diving for a few years, with a few dives under my belt. Cold water and warm water, wetsuit and drysuit, good viz and bad, shallow and deep, day and night. I have also made and/or assisted with a few actual rescues and, in my younger years, had a lifeguard certification.

And I still have a harness exactly like you use in my garage. I used it for many dives and it served me well. But, IMHO, there are much better alternatives. And, in the scheme of what one spends on diving, just not that much more money (maybe another $100?). I find the DUI to be a much better product and worth the extra $100.

At the surface, I like being able to just pull a yellow handle if the crap really hits the fan -- no worry about crotch straps, harnesses, etc (when I was certified, everyone wore crotch straps so I am practiced at using a regular belt and stap). Have I ever done that other than during a drill? No. But there may come a day...

The incidents I have been involved in, the person absolutely just froze up on the surface. No thrashing but also no helping. I really really like the yellow loop handles then. Plus, if they are responsive, you can direct them to use the handles. Yes, you can get out the shears but this is better in most circumstances (I would use shears near an exit point or boat with a non-responsive diver and just cut off all of their gear).

Now, lets talk about Darwin type scenarios. While these seem absurd, they happen more than one might think. A frequent poster (not me) used his pony bottle three times during a week of diving in Cozumel -- so Murphy happens more than most would think. Perhaps more with some people than others but none of us are totally immune!

Here is the scenario: You are really excited as a whale shark just went by (or you are seasick and want off the boat now). Because of currents and big surface swells, everyone is directed to do a negative entry and meet on the bottom. You turned on your air, but the DM, as you were going in the water turned it off (this has happened -- or you just forget to turn it on). Turns out you are also weighted a bit too heavy. You take that first breath and find nothing. Switch to your octo. Nothing. Your lungs are starting to scream for air and the surface now looks far away. Easier to start fishing in your weight belt pockets one by one? Get out the shears? Do a negative ascent by swiming hard? Or pull a big yellow loop? Do you worry about DCS at that point or drowning?

 

[fnfalman]

Both Hypertech and Bonairetrip have good points.

For self-rescue, you rig your gears up the way it works for you and you BETTER know how to ditch your weight or ditch the entire rig if an emergency comes.

For rescuing others, there are way too many systems to try to decipher when the person is thrashing about, screaming bloody murder. And if you were to wait until that person passes out, you'd still have to try to decipher which weight system the vicim has on and try to undo the darn thing. Take a shear and start cutting.

 

[oldflounder]

For my 2 cents worth ---- I am not an experienced diver with a lot of weight belt experience behind me so just take what I say with a grain of salt. My first few months of diving I needed to use a belt w/ suspenders because I have a pear shaped belly due to my beer belly I acquired in my youth and can not seem to get rid of. A standard belt kept falling off. I was using a standard bc. This did the trick but is impossible to easily ditch the belt in an emergency. I have since gone w/ bc w/ integrated weights. I am having second thoughts and am reconsidering. All my weight is now on my bc. If for some strange reason I seperated from my bc I would not be neutrally buoyant any longer. I'd probably pop to the surface like a cork. I am tempted to go back to the belt/suspenders under the weight integrated bc and only put enough weight on it to put me nearer to neutral buoyancy [let's say at 20'] when just wearing my wetsuit. I'm still trying to figure out how this works and if there is any benefit to it. Soon I will be doing some experimenting with neutral buoyancy under different scenarios. I don't think you should have all the weight on your body buried under your bc nor do I think you should have it all on a bc. I know this subject has probably been beaten to death under other threads/forums and I may be full of misconceptions and bullcrap but that's my 2 cents.

 

[carrielsal]

I used to use the DUI weight harnass and really liked it. I have to be cautious with my back, and taking the weight off my hips really helped.

My LDS also carries the SeaSoft version which looks even more comfortable: Seasoft Seawolf Weight Harness

That's one expensive weight belt!

 

[fnfalman]

I am having second thoughts and am reconsidering. All my weight is now on my bc. If for some strange reason I seperated from my bc I would not be neutrally buoyant any longer. I'd probably pop to the surface like a cork.

Depends on how deep you are. If you're deep enough where your wetsuit is well compressed by the water pressure then you're not going to pop up like a cork.

Also, if you're that worried about it then get a SeaSoft weight belt with about maybe 4-lbs or 6-lbs on it so that it won't fall off your hip due to lack of waist line (brother, I know too well about that problem).

 

[carrielsal]

I cannot think of ANY circumstance where I would be removing a BC underwater, and I've thought about this long and hard. If I every truly got stuck in an overhead environment, I might cut one side of my harness to free an arm but I am NOT separating myself from my life support equipment.
Has anyone ever heard of anyone that was saved by removing their bc or bp/w? I have heard a couple of stories about divers dying because they took it off.

 

[JohnB47]

I have been using suspenders recently. I decided to give them a try because I have put on a lot of weight around the belly, and no longer have a "waist." The suspenders were an improvement over having to hold my weightbelt up to keep it from sliding down to my knees, and also made the walk to the water less of a strain on my poor old back. I can see that it would be a bit of a challenge to ditch the weightbelt in a hurry, so I had been considering getting one of the DUI or SeaSoft weight harnesses. They look like good products. However, I have now acquired a Sea Quest Balance weight-integrated, back-inflating BCD. Hopefully that will solve several problems at once.

 

[oldflounder]

Carrie - I'm sure you're probably right, though I once read of a guy working on mooring lines that got his gear somehow snagged on the mooring chain and couldn't get it free. That's why I only give my comment a value of 2 cents. It's not worth much. Have you ever had a situation on the surface where you needed to take off the bc and swim to shore on it as a self-rescue exercise. Would being a little closer to neutral buoyancy help you to get the suit under the surface a little??? When I just have the suit on I have to fight to upright myself. I think a few pounds on me might help.

Oh -- and John -- I have a back inflate weight integrated but I worry about loosing consciousness on the surface. I can keep myself upright but I have to work at it a little. Unconscious I'm not too sure if my face would be out of the water or not. Maybe some more weight around the hips or ankles might help out in this situation.

 

[ptyx]

After doing the rescue class, I don't care what system you are using - the chance of me being able to figure out how to work it while you are thrashing around is zero.

It is worth taking 5 seconds looking at your buddy's weight system before the dive so you can release it efficiently should you need to. Random diver rescues are another matter.

 

[hypertech]

. And, in the scheme of what one spends on diving, just not that much more money (maybe another $100?). I find the DUI to be a much better product and worth the extra $100.

Under those rules, I wouldn't get to dive, because there is always some part of my kit that another $100 will make better. My next extra $100 is going towards a pony. Maybe someday I'll get to upgrading my weight belt.

It is worth taking 5 seconds looking at your buddy's weight system before the dive so you can release it efficiently should you need to. Random diver rescues are another matter.

Absolutely. My buddy knows how my weight system and gear works and I know how theirs works. I don't think this changes with any weight system. You can learn to work any of them and none are inherently safer than the others. With a ripcord, you may be able to drop a lot of weight and that might be better in some cases. With mine, you can open one pocket and remove a soft weight and keep me from corking. Each has pros/cons and as long as your dive team knows what they are, all the systems work fine.

I'm really not that worried about my buddy. The chance of her jumping in 10 pounds overweight with her air turned off is an itty bitty fraction of the chance we'll come along some stranger or instabuddy who needs help. I'm more worried about that someone else with a gear configuration that is a mystery to me. In that case, my choice in gear isn't all that important so long as I know how to use it.