Weights with a BP/W setup

[selo]

I searched for what people use for weights with a bp/w setup but I would like a some help.

I just switched to a Hammerhead bp (both steel and aluminum), Oxycheq deluxe harness and Oxycheq Mach V 30# wing. I dove twice with this setup (the aluminum bp) in Oahu last month. It was super, except I decided to use an STA next time around, which will be the cold waters of Catalina island.

I used a weight belt that first time but would like to switch to something like "weight pockets" or the Halcyon ACB weight ballast system I can thread through the waist belt.

Any views on this? Or any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

 

[AndrewJD]

From the look of the hammer head plate in this picture it looks like it would be compatible with the Halcyon ACBs. The ACBs thread through the waist strap and then bolt to the hole in the plate adjacent to the waist strap slots.

I don't know of any other weight pouches similar to the ACBs that are made by another company. I prefer to use XS scuba weight pouches and mount them on the cam bands. Two on each band, one on either side of the tank, as close to the plate as possible. Even if you don't use all of them, it allows you to move weight around as you need it. This keeps the waist straps clean for a canister light and eliminates the weight belt.

Here's a picture of what I just described.

Hope this helps.

Jonathan

 

[BabyDuck]

i use pouches on the cam bands when i dive singles. i can't remember the brands right off, but they're enough for 5 or so lbs hard or soft each.

 

[digital_steve]

be aware that when diving singles, putting all your weight on your rig might affect your trim (i.e. super heads down)
weighting your rig and using a weightbelt might be the only way you'll trim out properly ... i learned the hard way

 

[Belmont]

I'm using Halcyon's trim weight pockets.

Halcyon: MC Weighting Systems.

I have two cam bands so I can place them on the upper or the lower one to help vary my trim.

 

[realdiver7]

Congrats on your setup, especially the Oxycheq Mach V. I put one XS Scuba Quick Attach pocket on the left side of the upper cam band, and another pocket on the right side of the lower cam band. The weight pockets are snugged up as close to my Mach V Extreme 30 wing as possible. This distributes the weight and gives me the feeling of diving steel tanks when I'm using aluminum. When diving steel tanks, I don't need any lead weight.

Depending on your trim, another option is to put both weight pockets on the top cam band. When you really need to distribute a lot of weight around, you can use the regular slide-on XS Scuba pockets on your harness belt with the pockets snugged up as close to your BP as possible, and the cam band pockets at the same time. I prefer to keep my harness belt free for other gear.

Regardless of what you do, it's important to keep the weight pockets as close to the BP/wing as possible. If you don't, the weights may roll you from side-to-side a little and make you feel and be unbalanced.

 

[Nemrod]

Since I dive your same rig, Hammerhead and STA (or now my Freedom Plate) with the wonderful and unbeatable OxyCheq Mach V 30 pound wing I recommend you stay with a weight belt. I sometimes use an old camband to add additional weight to the tank especially when it is an aluminum tank. In this pic you can barely see the third cam band on the aluminum tank with four pounds of lead. My aluminum Hammerhead was on this dive and I had a weightbelt with six pounds which was not enough (new suit 5/4) so I had to grab another three and quickly tossed it on my harness, later shifted to the belt. I am vertical in this pic not due to trim but I was waiting for the twenty something buddy to catch up and dumped some air from my wing while I swung around out of the terrific current to inspect the neat ladder as if to climb it. The Mighty O, 2007.

Good luck with the incredible OxyCheq Mach V.

Just for general fun interest, I think this is a pic I took from "The Cave" out of Jupiter in 1986.

N

 

[selo]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will try the XS Scuba cordura weight belt after coming up with a way to saw it somehow so I do not lose weights. I will use it next time around, leaving my crotch strap out and see how it works.

Thanks again, and the bp/w setup is really great as you have all reported. Just to explain the rig completely, I switched back from a Zeagle Ranger (great BCD) with Atomics Aquatics SS1 as the secondary (B2 as the primary) to using the inflator that comes with the Mach V and using an octo (in a necklace).

 

[Colliam7]

I used a weight belt that first time but would like to switch to something like "weight pockets" or the Halcyon ACB weight ballast system I can thread through the waist belt. …. I will try the XS Scuba cordura weight belt after coming up with a way to saw it somehow so I do not lose weights. I will use it next time around, leaving my crotch strap out and see how it works.

Perhaps, a question to ask is what is your particular goal – why you want to move from a weight belt to pockets? Is it the cumbersome nature of the usual 2” webbing belt, the challenge of having it (or the weights on it) migrate around your waist, not liking having it under your crotch strap, or not achieving optimal trim with weight on your waist, for example? That goal influences the approach you take. Basically, the variables in the ‘optimal’ equation are total amount, ditchability, and distribution of the weight, and the security and comfort of the weight system. Is one or more of these the focus of your question? For simply adding weight, an additional option to those mentioned, that I have used, is clipping a pair of ankle weights around my tank at the bottom, above the boot. That ends up, for me, being ditchable weight (not easy but still ditchable). It also moves the weight down which may be good or bad depending on your trim. The same weight can be slipped around the tank neck, below the valve, with the obvious opposite effect on distribution, and relative lack of ditchability. For additional security and comfort, another weight belt option (that Thalassamania has mentioned several times) is a rubber weight belt with the wire buckle - belt doesn’t slip, buckle is secure, and weights stay in place on it.

 

[Zeeman]

I just attach a couple of pouches to one of the tank straps, and use these for weights. Admittedly, I barely need 2lbs with my Al BP/W setup in the waters I tend to dive.

Z...