Weight integrated BCs

[Noviz]

Depends, I guess... I dive cold northeast water in a very floaty wetsuit, XXXL. I like keeping enough weight on my waist to counter the buoyancy of the wetsuit. (If I have to separate from it for a moment, I dont want to float away or have it plunge). I can hang a reasonable amount on the belt, some in the BC pocket-things, and some in trim pockets in the back of the BC. Putting it all in the BC makes it too heavy, but putting it all around the hips is nuts, too.

 

[sasscuba]

Way more comfortable!

 

[spectrum]

Why are they better? What's wrong with a weight belt?

As long as you have the hips to retain a weight belt consistently there's nothing wrong with a belt. If you lack the right body then a DUI W&T harness is a great solution.

For my taste trim weights are all I like to have in my BC. Why?

1. For cold water diving a fully integrated BC is a heavy monster.
2. If you ever need to get out of your rig underwater in a significant wetsuit or a drysuit you will be a lot better off if the weight is on your person.

Pete

 

[aushealer]

One is not better than the other, it's what your most comfortable with.

Personaly I don't like WI BC's. I dive colder waters, and that means heavy wet suits or padded dry suits. Both solutions mean more weight. Recently I've changed to a BP&W setup with Pressed Steel tanks, this has moved some of the weight off the belt. Last year I also started using a weight harness {http://www.dui-online.com/bc_wt.htm} that distruibutes the weight between the shoulders and hips. I'm enjoying this setup, and the weight harness is comfortable enough that I find myself walking around with it still on.

 

[meesier42]

Personnally the reason I like WI is not for the convience, cause I never saw a wieght belt as an issue. After working with a Ranger for about 3 months I found the perfect balance point and really enjoyed the fact that I could put wieght in all the right places to make me completely neutral in the water. So when I bought a BCD I bought the Aeris Atmos XT. again the mulitple wieght placements have allowed me to find the perfect balance and be level in the water (or upside down, heads down, etc..)

 

[mase]

Weight belts are just uncomfortable, at least for me. Plus the weight distribution is better. You can set it up any way you want to obtain that "perfect" horitontal position in the water.

 

[mred]

I hate weight belts ... they tend to wander on me ... I absolutely love my integrated BCD and it is far more comfortable. From a safety perspective, there is little difference if you ever were to have to drop weights ... just make sure your dive buddy knows where the "handles" are.