Fascinating. My earliest 'scuba diving self taught' books from way back in the late 50s made it crystal clear that weight belts were absolutely the last item put on in order to prevent anything from delaying or preventing them from dropping clear if a quick ascent was needed. There have been several fatalities in recent years reportedly because integrated weight BCDs did not function properly.
To thread weights on the tank's harness is close to suicidal, especially back in an era when the rapid buoyancy adjustments that BCDs may make possible were not available.
We had a fatality here in NJ a few years ago when a new diver doing his first open water dive had trouble with his buoyancy. The DM clipped a big extra weight on his weightbelt while he was still in the water. He clipped it right over the buckle. This was in a shallow inlet. The new diver got swept out of sight under a RR bridge and drowned.