weight belts or integrated?

[CT Sean]

With the weight belt and BC you have the BC pulling you up and the weight belt pulling you down.

Not sure that's accurate. And it's definitely not for me, and I'll bet most other BP/W users. Even in my old "normal" BC, with AL80 and a 7mm suit I'd have 6 lbs (total) in the BC trim pockets and 18 in the WI pockets. If I moved that 18 to a weight belt, my body would become pretty close to neutral were I to ditch my BC. Obviously if my body is neutral my BC has to be as well. Through a steel tank in the mix and that's even less weight on a belt (i realize some tweaking of the trim pocket weight would probably be in order to maintain good trim)

Another benefit of weight on a belt: Given the same scenario - 7mm AL80 etc... If I ditch with all my weight on the BC, the BC immediately becomes a rock and I become a cork (learned that one instantly on my "ditch and don" OW checkout skill)

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

For warm water, I see a slight edge to integrated, one less thing.
Since I don't have a dedicated warm water rig, I use a pocket belt for warm water with a travel plate.
For the 8-12lbs of lead, its not all that much of an issue either way.

For cold water (and 30+ lbs of lead), I really dislike integrated. Even good designs like the Zeagle ripcord are really heavy loaded up. The poorly designed ones are an accident weighting (pun) to happen.

In this case, a weight harness provides the comfort, adjustability and a balanced rig that I desire.

 

[CT-Rich]

I am going to revise my vote... I was out Sunday and a friend was with an insta-buddy and he accidently forgot to check his weight pocket was clicked in place. I spent my second dive helping to look for the lost weight. this was the second time I have seen BCD integrated lost. this one was a clip in the other was a velcro. I am yet to see anyone accidently dump a weight belt. In fairness, neither of these instances happened in a way that posed a hazard to safety, but they can be inconvient resulting in scrubbed dives. Anyone else ever seen belts or integrated weights lost? Might interesting to get a straw poll going.

 

[fisheater]

Saw and recovered a weight pocket during my OW3 checkout dive.


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[Oldbear]

I am going to revise my vote... I was out Sunday and a friend was with an insta-buddy and he accidently forgot to check his weight pocket was clicked in place... Anyone else ever seen belts or integrated weights lost? Might interesting to get a straw poll going.

I have heard about Dive Rite weight pockets loosing weights. When I was looking into purchasing a Dive Rite BP/W in one or two reviews it was mentioned if the user placed the Dive Rite weight pockets parallel to the waist belt you could lose the weights (that puts the weights upside down when in a horizontal dive profile). But this sounded more like improper use of the equipment to me. I placed my weight pockets perpendicular to the waist belt and have never had any issues.

All of what I have seen is diver error; either not checking their equipment before diving or dropping the weights in water exit procedures or training scenarios.

~Me~

 

[TSandM]

I lost a weight belt once (luckily, it was under my harness, so the crotch strap caught it). No lost weight belts since I got rid of plastic buckles on ALL weight belts in our household.

I lost a 5 lb weight out of an XS Scuba pocketed weight belt once. Doing my stops hanging onto a kelp stipe was not the most fun I've had diving, but thank goodness for kelp!

Peter and I have both seen integrated weight pockets fall out, and I think Peter has lost one. He has never lost weights out of DUI Weight & Trim he now dives.

 

[Peter Guy]

Confession -- I'm not sure I could PULL the weights out of my Weight harness now. I've had it for about 6 years, hundreds of dives and I've pulled it once -- on land, and took a LOT of effort. The reality is that I'm all in favor of redundant buoyancy devices so having to dump weights quickly isn't as much of an issue.

 

[DMDavid]

I didn't bother reading any of the other posts, so that I could give you my unbiased reasons for using a weight belt.

1. Individual pieces weigh less when being carried.:blinking:
2. No need to transport weights during air-travel.ilot:
3. Ditching my weight belt equals a lot less money than ditching QR-weights.
4. Better positioning of weights around belt.
5. Less bulk around mid-section of already large mid-section.:shocked2:

 

[CT-Rich]

I use a metal buckle myself. I think ditching any weight is a move of last resort. The only time I would seriously consider it would be on the verge of losing conscousness (as if you were going to get any warning) or when struggling on the surface, with either victim or somthing else I value more than the belt. I have always been under the assumption that a uncontrolled ascent is a total crap shoot for survivability while using SCUBA. Free diving is another matter, still doesn't look very smooth though...

---------- Post Merged at 02:45 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 02:45 PM ----------

I use a metal buckle myself. I think ditching any weight is a move of last resort. The only time I would seriously consider it would be on the verge of losing conscousness (as if you were going to get any warning) or when struggling on the surface, with either victim or somthing else I value more than the belt. I have always been under the assumption that a uncontrolled ascent is a total crap shoot for survivability while using SCUBA. Free diving is another matter, still doesn't look very smooth though...

 

[KoiWatcher]

I use a Seasoft Seawolf weight harness myself.