Ca't access my shears...????

I have a problem that I am not sure how to solve...

I dive a BP and harness, with weightbelt as well. I have a set of shears that I had on my harness waistbelt, but I can't GET to them with my weightbelt ON!

It slips over the 2" waistbelt perfectly - but I'd never be able to get it in a pinch. Any suggestions on WHERE I could put it?

Put your weight belt on under your BP harness keep your shears over your weight belt and practice getting them out and putting them away. Practice removing your weight belt too...
Friggincold

Thanks,
I have been told that - but what about an Emergency Ascent?

I'd never get that weightbelt off in a hurry.

??

I'm not sure who taught you to do an emergency swimming ascent but I was never taught to drop the weight belt. If your weighted correctly you should be able to swim to the surface fairly easily. It's amazing what you can do if you practice.
Friggincold

You should never need to do one!

If you have a drysuit on, use the drysuit's buoyancy if your wing fails. If you use a wetsuit you should be able to swim your rig up to the surface. If you can't, buy a drysuit!

If you have a catastrophic failure which renders you without gas, your buddy should be able to lift you and then make you buoyant at the surface.

Weights should only be dumped at the surface. The whole dumping weights at depth was introduced before people wore buoyancy compensators and had to swim back to the surface. Even then it was an absolute last resort...

Chris

I keep my shears in my left thigh pocket. I agree with the others though, the belt goes under the harness. If you need to ditch the belt to swim up you're probably overweighted.

Tom

Ok, thanks!

Tibbs once bubbled...
Weights should only be dumped at the surface. The whole dumping weights at depth was introduced before people wore buoyancy compensators and had to swim back to the surface. Even then it was an absolute last resort...

Click to expand...

That and back when diving was mostly a warm water sport. During dive briefings I give instructions on how to go about getting my weight belt off [double buckle as well as a thigh pocket threaded through]. The introduction to that lecture is always "If you feel you need to sentence me to death"....

I have no doubts that dropping a 20# belt at depth will result in my death.

Once I finish with my BP/Wings setup, I hope to distribute enough to have a 6-8 lb belt, which could be ditched if truely necessary...

I remember the incident that led me to take off my little 'emergency' bottle that I had attached to my AP Valves 'Buddy' jacket.

There is a very well known inland dive site in the UK called Stoney Cove which is a flooded quarry. In the deepest part at 34m is an old building, that we called the Hydrobox. You can get inside it from the top, and it's a good place to do skills, as it's away from the silt outside. One lady diver had her back against the wall of the box and turned to her buddy, accidently opening her emergency bottle by rubbing it on the wall of the box. This fully inflated her jacket and plastered her to the roof of the box, very close to the entrance. If she hadn't been stopped by the roof, the results could have been very ugly indeed.

I tested my bottle and the force of coming up from 3m took me out of the water past my waist! Needless to say it was confined to the bin VERY quickly after that...

I actually heard of one guy opening his at a depth of 54m, presumably coming to the surface with his lungs hanging out of his nostrils...

And with that pleasant mental picture I will leave you!

Chris

Geez,
Sold! Enough said - weightbelt will go UNDER the harness from now on!