Weight systems and weight distribution

[Screwball]

So after playing around with my BCD some more, I'm not sure whether there's room for a weight belt, as the BCD waist strap already takes up that space. Putting weight on the tank straps is an option but by the time I get ~16lbs on them I feel like it's going to make me very susceptible to rolling. Hmmm...

EDIT: nevermind, seems I can just fit a belt below the BCD strap. Think I'll try that for now until I've got more dive experience then see where I go from there.

 

[CT-Rich]

So after playing around with my BCD some more, I'm not sure whether there's room for a weight belt, as the BCD waist strap already takes up that space. Putting weight on the tank straps is an option but by the time I get ~16lbs on them I feel like it's going to make me very susceptible to rolling. Hmmm...

EDIT: nevermind, seems I can just fit a belt below the BCD strap. Think I'll try that for now until I've got more dive experience then see where I go from there.

As long as the weights can fall clear of the rest of your rig you are good to go on the weight belt. Personally I would just go with a vanilla belt and lead to start. Plastic coatings on the weights are a nice feature so you don't scuff up other people's boats. I recommend getting a metal buckle instead of a the vinyl ones, which don't last as long. I have no experience with soft weights other than having heard tales that they can fail when over stuffed, but they are supposed to be more comfortable, too.

 

[AfterDark]

You would need less lead if you used a steel tank instead of the AL80.
Example: 7mm farmer John style and 7mm step-in jacket wet suit, 94cuft steel tank, 6lb back plate and 3lb STA, 4lb of lead. Example: same wet suit / back plate and STA 72cuft steel tank 18lbs of lead.
Example: 4mm crushed neoprene dry suit same back plate and STA 94cuft steel tank 8lbs of lead.

Think complete rig not just weights, spread the weight around. All my weight is ditch able but not all at once. Some on a belt, some in pockets on the harness belt and always 2lbs on the bottom of the tank just above the boot. (That's for my trim only) I can reach back with one hand and ditch those weights. The idea is to end up trimmed the way you feel comfortable and that allows you to control your buoyancy easily at ALL depths, and to move thru the water efficiently; IMO with the least amount of lead.

 

[VsubT]

Check out weight harnesses. DUI makes a nice one, and it allows you to shift weight for trim more than a weight belt. The other nice feature is that you can ditch each side independently. The shoulder straps help a lot if you don't have much for hips too!

The balanced rig concept is pretty cool. One question I always ask when changing my gear configuration is: how would this setup work for taking off my rig at the surface -or- at depth, then re-donning? Ideally, the rig and you should both be weighted not too far from neutral...otherwise it'll be tough to reconnect the puzzle pieces when you try to put it on again.

Lance

 

[CT-Rich]

The reason I suggested a vanilla belt is because he is a Newbie. I think he will be happy with the improvement provided by a $15 weight belt. You can spend $50-60 on new pouches or $100+ on a harness system. A vanilla belt will do the job and if he upgrades later he has a spare belt that would be handy for a friend that forgot his (my number one use for bringing redundant gear) and he will stress out less about all the money he is sinking into this new sport, making him more likely to stick with it.

 

[nolatom]

By "BC side pockets" are you talking about the zip up pockets on a traditional jacket style BCD? If you are, these aren't designed to hold weights. Putting weights in these pockets will wear out the pockets. If they are hard weights they will quickly wear a hole in your BCD.

I take your point, would be no more than one soft two-pounder and my pockets are fairly rugged.

 

[Frosty]

screwball--where in NZ are you?? Im in west Auckland.
If I can take a look at you and your setup theres a good chance I can set you up a bit better.
To give you an idea re weight in NZ we tend to use 1kg and 1.5 kg weights.
Im 85kg 1.76 diving with a 7mm full suit in winter NZ. I use 8kg in a bc like yours.
I sling 4kg on the tank band in two pockets then the other 4 are shot bags at my waist in the weight pockets.
Diving end of summer im in a 3mm steamer and drop to 3kg. One up top and one in each pocket.
That's a guide for you
I would like to bet you a bottle of speights though that YOU will find as you gain experience you WILL need less weight.
Not being all macho or ego its just that you find you empty your lungs better at start of dive and generally are able to make yourself less boyant.
Incidently--hey if its an al80 you've got--just do it but steels are easier to dive

 

[Screwball]

screwball--where in NZ are you?? Im in west Auckland.
If I can take a look at you and your setup theres a good chance I can set you up a bit better.
To give you an idea re weight in NZ we tend to use 1kg and 1.5 kg weights.
Im 85kg 1.76 diving with a 7mm full suit in winter NZ. I use 8kg in a bc like yours.
I sling 4kg on the tank band in two pockets then the other 4 are shot bags at my waist in the weight pockets.
Diving end of summer im in a 3mm steamer and drop to 3kg. One up top and one in each pocket.
That's a guide for you
I would like to bet you a bottle of speights though that YOU will find as you gain experience you WILL need less weight.
Not being all macho or ego its just that you find you empty your lungs better at start of dive and generally are able to make yourself less boyant.
Incidently--hey if its an al80 you've got--just do it but steels are easier to dive

Cheers for the offer Frosty, I'm in east Auckland. I think I'm good for now though but nice to know there's other kiwi divers on here as well. Did a few shallow cray dives with the old man up at Great Barrier over the past week using 4x 1.5kg in the BCD and 4x 1.5 on an ordinary belt. He got down in the weeds while I followed above with the catch bag. Was great because it gave me lots of time to practice buoyancy control and try to minimise air consumption. By the end I could easily skim over the kelp layer at various depths with just a couple puffs in the BC for initial trim and varying my breathing for the rest, so that was cool. Was also able to maintain a rough 4m safety stop, though even with about 50bar left I did need a bit of air in the BC. If I get out next weekend will try dropping a 1.5kg from the belt and see how I get on. Overall weight distribution could still use a bit of work though. What's the advantage of putting weights on the tank base? How do you mount yours? I kinda assumed that having weight 'up high' like that would make it hard to maintain a sideways hover.

 

[Frosty]

screwball-you sure you are carrying 1.5's not 1.0s -either you are a mighty big guy or somethings not right.
I was at the knights new years with 6x 1.0kg shot bags and no issue decending.
I have 2 zip bags on my tank band.they tend to sit pretty close to my c of g so they don't seem to make much difference

 

[Diving Dubai]

Screwball,

as Frosty pointed out, as you get more dives in you will find your weight requirement drops as you get more relaxed underwater and your experience grows. For example;

When I re started 2 years ago, like you I was in a 7mm, with a neutral steel tank and about 20lbs of lead (with a BC). I then switched to a BP/W for personal reasons and with a SS plate just carried 6lbs of lead, over the next few months the lead reduced to zero and in a 3mm summer suit I was slightly over. I then moved to an Ali plate again over some months the weight was back to zero on my steel and I was over weighted, so now I'm using a transpac harness with no plate and just 4lbs (in my winter rig) and by the summer I guess I'll be near if not at Zero again.

the point of this is to show how your weight will come off (and NOT to promote a BP/w). So if I were you I would for now spend money on a cheap weight belt as in the near future it will be redundant. In the future when your weight stablises you will have a better idea how you want to distribute what weight you do then have and the best method to do so