Integrated weights versus weight belt

[Thalassamania]

That dog don't hunt.

The dog hunts quite well thank you, and has for many many years. Ever been wrapped up monofilament gill netting? How did you handle it with integrated weights?

 

[NudeDiver]

The dog hunts quite well thank you, and has for many many years. Ever been wrapped up monofilament gill netting? How did you handle it with integrated weights?

I fail to see the difference between taking off a BC, with or without integrated weights.

 

[Thalassamania]

Okay ... once you remove a BC with integrated weights, you are positively buoyant and your tank in negatively buoyant. If you had, say, 20 lbs in the BCD, then the laws of nature are trying to separate you by 40 lbs. Since you will need at least one hand to tray an untangle things you will now be using the other hand to hang on to your air supply for dear life. God forbid you drop it, it does down, you go up, but you're not free from the net, or it arcs over your head due to current ... you will likely die.

Now, if you are wearing a weightbelt or harness, you take off your rig and there's not more than a few lbs separating you ... likely not more than you can handle on your lungs by shifting the mid point of your breathing.

 

[Papa_Bear]

Integrated wights are great in swimming pools without covers!

 

[D_B]

There is a method to ditch a weight integrated BC that does not require a "death grip" on it .... if you have one, this one is good to know

BTW, the trick to doffing and donning a weight integrated BC is NOT the death grip. Simply always position yourself UNDER your BC. Don't ever let it get beneath you like an anchor. My students learn this simple technique and have no issues.

In a prone position (face down) loosen your straps and undo all all of your clips and cummerbund. Slip your left arm out and rotate underneath your BC so that you are now looking up with your BC on top. Adjust/tighten what you need or untangle/cut your self free with your BC on your tummy and between you and the surface. Now just rotate the other direction and put your right arm through as you do. Put your left arm back in and re-clip and adjust your BC. It's really not that hard to do.

 

[ChrisA]

Yet another option that some people do is split it up. Put some of the weights in the BC and some on the weight belt. Everyone who uses a backplate and wing setup in effect splts up their weight like this. The backplate itself acts as a weight reducing the amount on your belt. Same for divers who dive steel tanks. These are maybe 6 to 7 pounds "weightier" than an AL80. If you have the backplate and a steel tank you don't have much left on the belt, Well maybe half in cold water.

With your integrated BC you can add a belt and then deside how much you want to put on the belt ad how much in the main and trim pockets.

When I dve my 7mm wetsuit all my weight is in the BC. When I use my drysuit I need more weight. I keep the same weights in the BC but add a small 7 lbs weight belt.

Part of it is how it works in-water but here in So. California we sometimes have to hike down to the beach, climb over rocks and so on. Some divers simply like to get the weight off their shoulders, so they might move half of it onto their hips

 

[ChrisA]

I fail to see the difference between taking off a BC, with or without integrated weights.

If you have a wetsuit on and you remove your integrated BC you are then very much positive and if you still have hold of the BC you'll be head down feet up. Let go of the BC and you'll be a rocket.

That said, taking off a BC while under water is not something you'd ever have to do.. Cutting lines is always the better option. I've done many drills where you do things like exchange gear with another diver while under water. or another were you put all you gear on the bottom then swim down and put it on n all those drills a weight belt helps a lot unless you can work upside down and one handed.

But again except for drills it is so unlikely to have to remove gear. I think it is right up there with the "plastic buckle of death" myth.

 

[rstofer]

But again except for drills it is so unlikely to have to remove gear. I think it is right up there with the "plastic buckle of death" myth.

So, how do you reattach the tank that slipped from the bands and is now dangling by the hoses? Your buddy? My buddy is NOT my backup plan.

If you are talking about the plastic weight belt "buckle of death", I had a demonstration on my worktable the other day. I was simply tightening the buckle when it broke. I reflected for a moment and came to the conclusion that, for cold water divers, plastic buckles are a mistake. Break a buckle, lose the weights and rocket to the surface. Bummer... I extended the idea to include warm water as well. There's no reason for a special 'cold water rule'.

But that's just my opinion. It is, however, the way I will treat weight belts in the future.

Richard

 

[TSandM]

To the OP: I'm about your size. I have dived a BC with integrated weights, and a soft weight belt, and a hard weight belt. I've actually come to the conclusion that I like the hard weight belt the best. I didn't like the integrated weights because, when they were loaded into the BC, the rig was very heavy and hard to move around. My shoulders and neck didn't like all that weight hanging from them, either (although they tolerate a lot more now). So I went to the weight belt with the pockets that you can put soft weights in, and used that for a couple of years. It was handy when I was changing gear all the time, because it was easy to put different amounts of weight in for different dives.

Now that I have settled on my tanks and exposure protection, I have two setups, and I have two weight belts of hard weights. They are so much smaller than the soft ones that I hardly notice they are there. I wish I had done that a long time ago.

 

[Thalassamania]

Unlikely to have to take your tank off for real? I'll buy that. I've made more than 10,000 dives and had to take my tank off for real a hand full of times. But had I been wearing a BC with all my weights in it, each of those might well have been my last dive.