Integrated weights, hard weights on BC or weight belt?

[PantherDiver]

Trying to find a solution for weights. I wear a Dive Rite plate which I believe is 5.5lbs. I am adding a Hollis Semi-Dry suit which will require a lot more weight. I wear a medium harness and there is limited room on my waist strap.

I requested a weight belt and the shop owner said we could weave hard weights onto my BC belt but my concern is now the only way to dump weights is to dump my full BC.

A lot of people here use BC integrated weights at our shop. Can someone tell me if it's normal to wear a weight belt with a transplate? Pro's and con's? Thanks!

 

[Storker]

Some think that if you're correctly weighted, you don't need ditchable weights. Others prefer to have at least some ditchable weight. I'm in the last camp.

Depending on the type of tank I'm using, I'm carrying from 14 to 18kg. That's distributed between my weight pockets, my belt and my BP. That has a few advantages, like better options for ditching weight if necessary, a rig that's not that heavy to hoist into the boat and rig and a weight belt that aren't uncomfortably heavy.

Around here it's quite common, even for those in the non-ditchable-weights camp, to use a weight belt with a BP. It gives you the option to easily adjust your weighting when changing exposure protection or DS undergarments from summer to winter and back, or if you use different types of tanks. Those who don't want it to be easily ditchable wear it under their crotch strap.

--
Sent from my Android phone
Typos are a feature, not a bug

 

[OtherHalf]

Pretty common to not have any ditchable weight. For a lot of folks diving steel doubles they don't need any additional weight to be negative. I bring a weight belt with me when i travel, but i also bring weight pockets for my cam bands so i can position the weight where I want it. Gives me options.

How much weight are you looking to put on your belt? You're probably best to position most of it non ditchable, that way if you lose your belt you dont rocket up. It'll also let you dial in your trim a lot easier.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Trying to find a solution for weights. I wear a Dive Rite plate which I believe is 5.5lbs. I am adding a Hollis Semi-Dry suit which will require a lot more weight. I wear a medium harness and there is limited room on my waist strap.

I requested a weight belt and the shop owner said we could weave hard weights onto my BC belt but my concern is now the only way to dump weights is to dump my full BC.

A lot of people here use BC integrated weights at our shop. Can someone tell me if it's normal to wear a weight belt with a transplate? Pro's and con's? Thanks!

You should look for a rubber freediver weightbelt. They are much more comfortable and stable and functional than a typical scuba weight belt. Very few scuba shops even know about these types of belts, but they are superior. I think a large majority of scuba divers who try them, continue to use them. Pretty much ALL freedivers use rubber belts..

They automatically compensate for suit compression at depth and can be worn low without falling off and are easy to ditch.

You may want to wear some weight on the harness and then some on a weight belt.

 

[tbone1004]

make sure you do a proper weight check and don't go willy nilly with the lead. Put the suit in a mesh bag in a pool and put weight on it until it starts to sink, that's the easiest way to do the weight check. I really wish wetsuit manufacturers would publish a buoyancy number with each of their suits, but that's wishful thinking. Make sure you have enough wing to handle the rig, you'll need 30lb minimum.

You may want to also add a P-valve to protect your suit and neighbors in the long run since semi-dry's don't flow hardly at all. They're pretty cheap, can be installed yourself with a soldering iron, and make the whole experience infinitely better.

http://www.amazon.com/Scuba-Choice-...ng-water-sports&ie=UTF8&qid=1414844103&sr=1-5
That is the belt they are talking about, worth it if you have to have a belt.

 

[danvolker]

DD is spot on with this. The rubber weight belts typically considered as freedive belts, are great for scuba divers and much better for scuba than the high bulk scuba weight belts--and they don't slide off many divers like the scuba belts do....Find a freedive shop like Florida Freedivers...see Weights + Belts : Florida Freedivers ....There are a "few" scuba shops that care enough about function over our profit, to stock these, but not many.....Force E is one chain we have on Palm Beach that actually stocks them, but they are not your normal dive shop

 

[Rich Keller]

I have all my weight on a belt so in an emergency it can all be dropped by releasing one buckle. I use a pouch belt so I still have the option to drop just some of the weight if needed. Permanently attaching all of your weights is in my opinion stupid, bordering on suicidal.

 

[tbone1004]

wouldn't go suicidal, if you have a balanced rig you should never be kicking more than 15lbs up except in technical diving which is a bit different of a beast. You have to do proper weight checks but ditchable weight should never be much more than the weight of air in the tank or that which can be lost in a catastrophic drysuit failure, otherwise that is suicidal by bobbing to the surface like a cork. In recreational diving there is a fine balance in what goes in as non ditchable and what doesn't.

 

[Storker]

wouldn't go suicidal, if you have a balanced rig you should never be kicking more than 15lbs up except in technical diving

I always think it's dangerous to generalize based only on one's own experience. In the "Wing lift" thread in the New Divers forum, the OP - and other posters - argue that they can't see anyone needing more than a 30lb wing for single tank diving. Several of the posters to that thread show quite convincingly how a 40lb wing is the right choice for them.

"Kicking up" is one thing. But if you check those who have chosen to ditch their weights, where did they ditch? Submerged or on the surface? At least around here, it's a lot more probable that if you ditch, it's on the surface you'll have to ditch. I dive dry and have redundant buoyancy (besides, I'm weighted so that I hardly fill my wing at all; the suit air needed to provide insulation, avoid squeeze and avoid the DS restricting my movement provides most of the buoyancy I need), so for me, it's more important to be able to ditch enough weight to become comfortably buoyant on the surface if fit hits the shan.

ditchable weight should never be much more than the weight of air in the tank or that which can be lost in a catastrophic drysuit failure

Which might well be more than 15lbs/6.5kg. As I said in the thread I mentioned, if I have a catastrophic DS failure, I will need to ditch weight to be positive, even on the surface. If fit hits the shan and there's some chop, I prefer to be thoroughly positive so I won't have to try to stay out of the chop with my head bobbing just in the surface. That's why I have distributed my weights so that I can ditch up to 13-15kg/30-33lb in a pinch (granted, only some 7.5kg/16lb are in my weight pockets and easily ditchable, the remaining weight is on my belt which I wear under my crotch strap, so it'll be a bit of a hassle to ditch that part unless I whip out my BFK and start cutting).

 

[Colliam7]

Trying to find a solution for weights. . . . I wear a medium harness and there is limited room on my waist strap. . . . I requested a weight belt and the shop owner said we could weave hard weights onto my BC belt but my concern is now the only way to dump weights is to dump my full BC. . . . Can someone tell me if it's normal to wear a weight belt with a transplate?

I wear a weight belt with a backplate, under the harness. it works just fine, is ditchable, etc. But, I usually only have 4-6 lbs on it. I think i am 'normal' (although, opinions may vary), so I would say the answer to your question is 'Yes'.

You've gotten good feedback, to which I will add a few thoughts:

1. Rubber weight belts are great, I have several different styles, and prefer a SS Marseillas buckle to a (plastic or SS) compression buckle. DD is right - rubber belts are uncommonly found in dive shops right now, but the number of commercial offerings is growing rapidly and I suspect rubber belts will become much more visible in shops as time goes by. I prefer uncoated weights when I use a rubber belt - much easier, at least for me - to thread. I really like the T weights that Mako sells (MAKO 2 Pound "I" Weight), but they only come in 2 lb sizes, and are best used to fine tuning.

2. Although you mention you have limited space on the waist strap, putting integrated weight pockets on the strap is an option. Dive Rite offers two IW waist pocket options - a 16 and a 32 lb capacity version (SCUBA Diving Equipment for Technical, Sidemount, Rebreather, Wreck and Cave Diving: Dive Rite, Inc - Product Catalog - Pockets). So, you can have ditchable weight without a belt.

3. You want to keep in mind not only the goal of meeting the total weight need, but the distribution of that weight along your torso. Putting a lot of weight on your waist may pull your waist / legs / feet down and make maintaining good horizontal trim a bit more challenging. One option is to add a couple of trim pockets to the upper cylinder cam strap on your rig, to move a portion of the weight closer to your head. Obviously, your individual buoyancy characteristics influence whether / how much you put in higher pockets, but keep that in mind.

4. Tbone makes a good point - be conservative in adding weight. Too often, I see divers move to a very buoyant exposure suit that requires additional weight, and they get frustrated by the tedious process of adding small amounts of weight in increments, and simply strap on an excess of weight to ensure that they can start a descent. Don't fall prey to that inclination. Do a real / proper / whatever weight check, and learn what is necessary for YOU, in YOUR new exposure suit.

5. If you are using AL cylinders, consider a move to steel.