rubber weight belt thickness

[pescador775]

Pirate, last year one of my old belts broke in two pieces while being donned. I make a practice of inserting a stringer spike into the space between the belt and weight. A groove is filed into the weight to allow this. Somehow, in the past, I managed to pierce the belt and that is where it broke, at the tear made by the spike. Otherwise, I have used rubber belts for decades without problems. I use 70 duro sheet rubber. I bought a big sheet of the stuff on EBay for 25 bucks. This is stretchy stuff but is susceptible to tearing under the right circumstances. Even so, there has been only the one instance. To make a belt, the rubber is laid out on a piece of plywood. A six foot length of angle aluminum is placed onto the rubber and screwed into the wood. A box knife is used to cut the belt.

 

[Luc Dupas]

I have three questions. First, can you use a standard belt buckle with a rubber belt? Second, in the picture you posted where did you find the rubber loop? Also how did you sew the rubber loop onto the belt? 3) Does the weight sag when using a rubber belt?

In order to answer some of your questions I've added a few more photographs to http://www.torpedo.be/belt.html

• yes, I've been using a standard 2-piece quick release buckle for my rubber belt right from the beginning. The major advantage of this buckle is that once adjusted to the proper length there are no loose ends anymore and donning/adjusting the belt is a matter of seconds. Also, in case of an emergency, unbuckling and removing the weight belt is a snap!
• no, the weights don't sag the belt at all! It's a 5cm (about 2") wide strap cut from a sturdy lorry inner tyre (about 2.8mm thick, 0.11" thick), in my case it holds in total 9kg of solid old style lead weights and the strong elastic rubber of this inner tyre nicely holds the weights and the belt in place both at the surface (and no, it's definitely not too snug such that it might feel uncomfortable, not at all) as well as at depth (I've been beyond 50m with my 7mm thick neoprene wetsuit as well as drysuit, so at 50m you might anticipate quite some slack if you'd use a standard nylon belt!) where it still fits tightly and comfortably.
• the rubber loop in my travel belt ? This is a standard small rubber loop which I purchased in a camping gear/outdoor stuff shop, I don't know what exactly the original purpose of it was but they had these loops in different sizes and I selected one where the tension/strength was "right" for this purpose (bungees definitely are too loose/weak for this purpose!). I cut the nylon belt in two and with a sturdy "denim/leather" needle mounted on my sewing machine it was very easy to sew/fix the nylon belt. In order to account for the case the rubber loop would ever break (which it didn't up to now) I've added a "backup" rope loop in parallel with the rubber loop, but for clarity I have removed that rope in the original picture (I've now added a 2nd one on my internet page).

Hope this answers your questions ?

 

[ScottB]

I wear an Omer Rubber Weight Belt, (got it from http://www.spearfishinggear.com/ ) Using a ruler, it is 1/8th inch thick.... Came with a plastic buckle that I have not replaced yet.. but I don't need to carry much weight, so its fine for me for now..

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I have found that most standard buckles will not close properly on a rubber belt. The buckle it made to grab nylon belt which has negligible compressibility. If you can get the buckle closed over a rubber weight belt, the rubber is made thin and can slowly pull through the buckle under tension or the other situation is that the rubber is too thick and the buckle can pop open unexpectedly. I never found a buckle/rubber thickness that worked to my satisfaction.

I do make my own weight belts out of a slice of truck inner tube that connects to a short (8-inch) piece of standard 2-inch nylon belt, The nylon portion goes into the standard buckle and the remainder of the belt is stretchy rubber, that is very comfortable and will not rotate at depth (or become loose). Transitioning from rubber to nylon belt gives a secure closure (with a good metal buckle) and also a lot of elasticity.

 

[Thalassamania]

The Omer buckle works fine, but to my way of thinking defeats some of the advantages of a rubber belt.

 

[renpirate]

Pirate, last year one of my old belts broke in two pieces while being donned. I make a practice of inserting a stringer spike into the space between the belt and weight. A groove is filed into the weight to allow this. Somehow, in the past, I managed to pierce the belt and that is where it broke, at the tear made by the spike. Otherwise, I have used rubber belts for decades without problems. I use 70 duro sheet rubber. I bought a big sheet of the stuff on EBay for 25 bucks. This is stretchy stuff but is susceptible to tearing under the right circumstances. Even so, there has been only the one instance. To make a belt, the rubber is laid out on a piece of plywood. A six foot length of angle aluminum is placed onto the rubber and screwed into the wood. A box knife is used to cut the belt.

I quess I will have to give one a try, thanks!

 

[spoolin01]

Mine got nicked, then eventually split in two. It took many dives for the nick to grow, but the last 70% or so of the split happened quickly. The 1/8" rubber is really really durable - mine got nicked through abuse - I use weight belts to pack around the prop of my outboard so it doesn't shift around in the back of my truck. I heard from Trident who claim their belt is 3/16". Scubastore.com sells a half dozen belts - cam buckle and Marsellaise (pin-in-hole) type - from at least 3 different makers, and claims they are all 5mm, which sounds a bit thick, but could be - that would be about 3/16". I gather rubber belts are more well known to freedivers, but I'll never go back. Imagine never, ever having your weights shift around. Hard to believe, eh? Easier on the hands and shoulders too, for carry. I've got an old US Divers SS cam buckle that worked fine on the belt, in fact it was a tight pinch. I suspect the variety of rubber sources (old inner tubes, etc.) accounts for the diversity of cam buckle reports here. I've seen keepers at one LDS with wider slots to accomodate the thicker belt, but they're not common here either.

 

[500 PSI]

I found a nice 1/8" home made rubber belt (no buckle) on E-bay and use it on every dive. Put 4 Lbs on each of my hips (8 total ) and then 4 lbs in the back of my bc and I'm level and balanced in the water. Anyone seen these belts on E bay or who makes them I wish I had two more.

WORKS FOR ME!!

 

[Peter_C]

One of my buddies keeps telling me that I need to get one of those. I am leaning towards it, but I do have one worry. If it gets cut or cracks, isn't it possible that it will split, possibly in the middle of a dive? Has anyone heard of this happening or am I just being too paranoid?

Eric, was telling me to get one for freediving, because the rubber stays put when heading straight down to the bottom. My DUI harness rides up a little. I keep eyeing them, but they also require hard weights, so maybe next ab season I will go that way. For a backplate though when diving, I will use my DUI harness.

 

[renpirate]

I think I will see if I can borrow Eric's first.