General opinions on ACB

What's the general concensus on ACB vs. weight belts?

Personally, I've liked integrated weights better on standard BC's than weight belts, so I think I'm going to be inclined to like Halcyon's ACB system better than a belt on a bp/wing.

Opinions? Specifically I'm looking for opinions on Halcyon's ACB+ system, apparently the smaller of the two and only capable of holding 10 pounds per side...

UP, what's your take on these things?

My buddy has the smaller ACB, he loves it, lookes pretty slick too. It seems alot nice than my Dive Rite weight pockets, one of which ripped on the first dive!

I've got the ACB+

I use it with 5 lb of soft weights in each pocket with a single tank rig. The thing I like about it is how out of the way it is, and how the weight distributes over the harness - even out of the water it is comfy IMO. Underwater, it rides on the back of your hips snug up against the backplate. The only drawback is that when handling your rig out of the water, it now has weight pockets attached and is a bit more cumbersome - but I'm not a fan of weightbelts to start with, so the inconvenience is minor (again, IMO), compared to putting on weightbelts.

One "problem" they have is, that the rating is for single hard weights - they will take a single 10lb hard weight, but not 2 x 5lb weights, and can only handle about 7lb of soft weights.

I also wish the ACB+ had the canister light attachment point - with the newer smaller NiMH lights, you can still use the ACB+ and a canister on the same side, but it is fiddly to attach and detach the canister - currently I'm using zip ties in place of the bolt to attach the ACB+ pocket to the backplate, and I thread the canister light onto the webbing tab of the pocket - not an option with non-Helios style lights due to the size of the canister.

I'm moving into doubles diving, which means I will have to re-evaluate my weighting and light placement, so I may revert to using a weightbelt for that, just to reduce the weight of the rig out of the water, which will be getting close to 100lb without weights attached. But for single tank diving, they're the bees knees for me.

Ben

Now that's great information. Thanks, seriously, for taking the time.

That's something that I did not know... Naturally, I figured it was 2 x 5lb weights...

Have you seen the standard ACB pockets? How do they compare with the ACB+?

SeaJay wrote...
That's something that I did not know... Naturally, I figured it was 2 x 5lb weights...

Click to expand...

Yeah, that's a fact which somehow doesn't seem to have made it onto Halcyon's ACB webpage.



That's another reason for sites like scubaboard. A quick check of the archives will reveal threads bringing this and other oversights to light.

SeaJay once bubbled...
UP, what's your take on these things?

Click to expand...

I have friend who still has his.

Both Shane & I sold ours on ebay... didn't like em.
IMO they stick out and make a slick rig a semi-kludge...
Just too bulky for my tastes... especially with a canister light.

So then how do you do ditchable weight? Do you just dive with a weight belt, then? Do you dive in situations where ditchable weight really isn't an issue (e.g. springs and lakes, where you can't generally get separated from the boat)?

The concept of diving with no ditchable weight in open water, particularly if I have a bladder failure of any sort, seems a little scary... Maybe if I dove with an additional device, like a lift bag or shuttle or whatever (I DO have a surface marker), which I probably should be doing anyway, this wouldn't be a worry. My biggest fear isn't getting to the surface; I can usually swim up my rig pretty easily. My biggest fear is being simultaneously separated from the boat and having a bladder failure. Then I'd have to dump my rig to stay afloat indefinitely.

I see from the archives that you do a lot of weight pouring. I believe that since I do both freshwater and saltwater diving, and have two or three different sets of gear, that I'd need to have pretty good control over my weighting in order to always be properly weighted and trimmed. How are you managing to do that without ditchable weight?

SeaJay once weighed in...
My biggest fear is being simultaneously separated from the boat and having a bladder failure.

Click to expand...

You and Bob Wiley have a lot in common.

Besides that... you made an assumption an then continued to monolog about it to your concluding question which assumed your assumption was indeed the case.

Search the archives some more:

: two# pouches :

or

: new and comfortable and weight :

with: Uncle Pug :in the user name field
and select: Show results as posts

Im using the Zeagle Ranger with integrated and i belive that this type of system is a very good solution, its comfortable, slik, and the weight is devided better on the body and not in one place as when you use weightbelt.

mark

In a two piece 1/4 inch wet suit I only have 4 lbs on my waist so I am using a belt. The other 4 lbs is on the tank. If I were to need much more weight on my waist I might consider the ACB. My size doesn't leave alot of room for two belts. At 5'7 with a 29 inch waist the belt area can get busy fast.