Suggestions needed for weights when doffing still in the water.

[Tina5269]

I'm searching for weight systems with some kind of carry strap or handle.

I have to don/doff my gear while in the water. At the end of my dive I want to take some weight off my BPW & pass my weights up to the boat. That way my gear will be much lighter for the boat guys to lift or for my dive buddy to carry up the ladder.

I'm trying to find a way to make it easier for the people helping me dive.

Due to a back injury I've had to have 3 back surgeries, and now I have the S1-L3 bones fused with metal rods and junk... So I can't flex at the waist anymore and I'm weaker than I used to be. My surgeon is also a diver and I brought my stuff to the office after my last surgery. He ok'd me to drive but said I must never wear my gear out of the water for any reason or I'll risk breaking a bone. It's just too much to carry.

So I now, my dive buddy (my BF) enters the water 1st, the boat crew throws my gear with with on it into the water. My BF cares it and then I jump in, swim to my stuff, soon the gear and remove the tether line, then I go diving. When done, i catch a tether line, doff the gear, get back on the boat. Then the crew either lifts the gear up or my boyfriend has to climb up himself, did his gear and then jump in and carry mine up.

If I could take 14 lbs off my rig and pass that up to the boat, it would make life easier and safer for everyone...right? So how can I do that without losing the weights?

 

[Tina5269]

I think you might be surpised how well an elastic freedive belt will fit. In general, you should be able to put the weightbelt on before entering the water and then put the BP/W "over" it. You will be trapping the weightbelt with the crotch strap, but that is pretty normal. When you want to take the gear off, remove the BP/W waist strap and crotch strap falls away and then remove the weightbelt. Really not difficult if you try it a few times.

If you are worried the weightbelt is too heavy to wear without the BP/W on, then you could slightly reduce the lead on the belt and move some to the BP harness or something. In other words, if the weightbelt has no more lead than you can snorkel with, it should not be a problem. Obviously depends a lot on the wetsuit worn.

I tried 3 kinds of weight belts on our "figure-it-out" weekend. The 1st was old school nylon 2” webbing with lead laced thru it. The 2nd was a rubber one, with scubapro pouches - I tried blocks and soft bags. The 3rd was a belt that had built-in pockets all around it, I tried blocks and soft too. After that we tried the scubapro pouches directly on the harness belt and it was far, far better than the belt. Last way was on the cam bands... Best of all. But now, after the surgery I am butt heavy. Those rods came be the reason but I think my pelvis and lower spine are tilted different now and I can't flex like before.

I never did freediving so I don't know if that belt is different.

I do know it hurts like hell if anything squeezes over the surgery site... And sadly that's where my waist is smallest, so belts tend to cinch there.

If I could figure out how, is post a video or pics.

 

[-JD-]

DUI weight harness

Noooooooo ...

Tropical diver doing in-water gear don/doff. Weights are last-on/first-off.


ETA: Sorry, @Marie13, I replied not-currently informed. I see that the newer DUI harnesses have rec-style removable inner weight pockets that could maybe be inserted and removed in-water. All of the ones I've seen were the (older) "rip-cord" style.

I'm not sure that there is any benefit over rig-mounted pockets in this application, though. If anything it would move CG down.

 

[SlugLife]

I don't know what your harness looks like, but perhaps there's a way to add a "handle" to the top of your BCD, to make it easier for someone else to lift it out of the water.

I use the boat's tanks when I go diving. Those are usually AL80's, right? I'm super new ..31 dives in 2 years. So near with me if I seem like a dunce ..I kinda am one.

SideMount works just fine with rented tanks, and tanks of any size. You simply uninstall/reinstall the rigging as needed. If it's a hose-clamp, you'll use a screw-driver, and it's fairly quick once you get used to it. There's also a way to use those tank-BCD straps as well instead of hose-clamps.

SideMount can be a little challenging, and require a bit of an investment, but can absolutely be worth it in the long run if you're trying to avoid climbing ladders with a lot of weight. You'll have to pay for a class, and then the equipment for sidemount.

If you normally use rented-tanks and don't want to deal with 2 full-sized tanks, I often dive with an AL80 left, and full AL19 right. Technically, it's imbalanced, but it doesn't bother me and it's not that bad. The AL80 will start negatively-buoyant and end up slightly positive-buoyant. The Full AL19 on the other side ends up being negatively-buoyant, approximately between the min-max of the AL80. I only breathe a few times from the AL19 each dive; at the beginning, and then as practice a couple times mid-dive, which uses hardly any air.

If you had something like a Steel 100 left, and AL19 right, that's a miserable dive, hah. But as long as you're dealing with aluminum tanks, you should have little difficulty. In the long-run, you might end up getting 2x 50cu tanks. I think dive-charters which have fill-stations should normally be happy to fill those.

 

[FishWatcher747]

Is the boat crew or your BF complaining about the present situation? I see lots of older divers taking their gear off in the water and the crew hauling it into the boat.

Your BF is already climbing the ladder with all his gear. Doesn't seem that hard to do it twice unless he has issues with lifting.

Remember men are only good at 2 things, lifting heavy objects and parallel parking.

 

[SlugLife]

Remember men are only good at 2 things, lifting heavy objects and parallel parking.

We're also really good at coming up with more things to brag about.

 

[undrwater]

BDD pouches? Is that a certain brand?

My rig is a mashup of things. It started as a bare bones UTD rig with long hose reg set. Now I have the original steel backplate and donut, but the harness is a diveright adjustable one. I had all 14lbs on my cam bands but the pockets on the bands make it so hard to attach the rig to the tank... Plus I'm leg heavy that way. I'm thinking of doing the dive right 20# pockets at the waist band mounted vertically with trim pockets at the shoulder... I need a little at heart height to tip my fwd just a bit in the water. I'm wondering if changing the steel plate to soft plate would be ok, then add the 6# I lost to my lead.

Hmmm so many ideas.. I'm probably overthinking this.

I think putting some weight on the waist band would serve you well. Then doff and pass up the whole shebang.

 

[boriss]

If I could take 14 lbs off my rig and pass that up to the boat, it would make life easier and safer for everyone...right? So how can I do that without losing the weights?

I see that you're in Florida; are you diving in a drysuit? 14lbs is a LOT of lead!

 

[Shabaday]

I can help you out here. I have the same issue so I don and doff in the water. I have quick release weight pockets on my BP/W I have tried a LOT of them. You can use the OMS weight pockets on your waist strap when you want to remove them just tug hard and they slide out from the bottom. Or you can use the Zeagle pockets with the weights in a yellow mesh bag.

Zeagle 20 lb Zip Touch Weight System with​

Zeagle Contoured Weight Pouch (Each)​

These work the best because when you don your gear it is tossed in with your wing inflated of course. When you your weights solely on the waist band it is MUCH harder to don. The waist band goes all over the place. When the weight pocket is attached to your BP then it is much less of an issue and easier for you to find your waist webbing. Also use a SS BP and not aluminum I can double check but I think HOG BP line up perfectly with the zeagle pockets. I also have xDeep BC's and I have used xDeep weight integrated. The xDeep are a pain to put into the weight holders I have used DIve Rite weight integrated and I have used OMS which will work The downside for you is donning in the water...the zeagle works the best. Just unzip the pockets and pull out the yellow webbing with the weights and put those on the dive platform I hope all this makes sense to you. I have used almost every system

 

[Imla]

These might work?

XDeep Weight Pockets - DirDirect

XDeep Weight Pockets with bolts. Attach to the waistband on either of the harnesses to provide safe releasable weight. Available in 3 sizes.

www.dirdirect.com

 

[rx7diver]

For thin/medium wetsuit diving, I have returned to using an old-school rubber weight belt (with a wire buckle) and hard/cast Pb weights: Enter the water wearing the weight belt. Grab your floating scuba rig, and don it, connecting the waist strap and crotch strap (if you wear one) loosely. Take off your weight belt (DON'T DROP IT!), pull tight your harness waist strap (and crotch strap), and put on your weight belt over your crotch strap. Check to make sure you haven't trapped any hoses. Very simple, and very easy to do.

Do NOT trap your weight belt under your harness when thin/medium wetsuit diving in warm/temperate water!

And you're set up to go snorkeling if you decide to leave your scuba on the surface.

Oh, and try wearing your rubber weight belt a bit lower, on your hips (rather than on your waist).

Good luck.

rx7diver