Is there anything fundamentally flawed with this idea for weighting

I have a transpac. I don't like the weight pockets for several reasons including the way they shift around on the belt (despite weight keepers and so on), reliance on velcro closure (the dangers of these have been previously discussed), and the fact that they interfere with where I need to move the adjusting plates for the shoulder straps. I really dislike weight belts as I already have the TPII waist strap down there and don't want to be fiddling around trying to find which of two buckles I need to undo in an emergency, plus I just don't like the clutter.

As it turns out, with my current gear, I need to keep my weights kind of low - probably even a bit lower than my waist - as I otherwise tend to assume a face-down fin-up position. I am wondering if there would be a problem getting an extra tank band, threading some weights (possibly hip weights threaded onto the strap), and strapping it onto the tank below the lower cam band that attaches the tank to the BC. Assuiming the buckle were on the midline, I believe that I would be able to access and release if fairly easily using either my left or right hand, I wouldn't have to worry about my wetsuit compressing and having the strap come off inadvertently, it would remove some clutter from around my waist, and I don't believe the weights would have any oppotunity to shift at all.

Although I've seen trim weights on tank straps, I haven't seen a ditchable strap with all the weight mounted in this way, so maybe there is a problem that has not occured to me.

dlwalke once bubbled...
I have a transpac. I don't like the weight pockets for several reasons including the way they shift around on the belt (despite weight keepers and so on), reliance on velcro closure (the dangers of these have been previously discussed), and the fact that they interfere with where I need to move the adjusting plates for the shoulder straps. I really dislike weight belts as I already have the TPII waist strap down there and don't want to be fiddling around trying to find which of two buckles I need to undo in an emergency, plus I just don't like the clutter.

As it turns out, with my current gear, I need to keep my weights kind of low - probably even a bit lower than my waist - as I otherwise tend to assume a face-down fin-up position. I am wondering if there would be a problem getting an extra tank band, threading some weights (possibly hip weights threaded onto the strap), and strapping it onto the tank below the lower cam band that attaches the tank to the BC. Assuiming the buckle were on the midline, I believe that I would be able to access and release if fairly easily using either my left or right hand, I wouldn't have to worry about my wetsuit compressing and having the strap come off inadvertently, it would remove some clutter from around my waist, and I don't believe the weights would have any oppotunity to shift at all.

Although I've seen trim weights on tank straps, I haven't seen a ditchable strap with all the weight mounted in this way, so maybe there is a problem that has not occured to me.

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Sounds like the strap could easily slip off the tank.

No it won't. You use a BC cam band and it stays on nice and tight. I used to do this, although not so low on the tank. I was using it for trim in the opposite direction. But if it's on tight enough it shouldn't slip anymore than the tank strap on single-tank BC. If you're using tank boots, there's even less risk.

Although... hmm... I just re-read it and didn't realize before that you're talking about using ALL of your ditchable weight on the tank? I thought we were just talking about trim weights here...

That sounds like a kludge to me. I would think that if you're worried you might get the wrong buckle when it's on the front, then you may have even more trouble if the buckle's on the back of your tank. Plus what if somebody is trying to rescue you and now can't figure out what kind of weighting system you're using?

Why not just string the weightbelt so that the buckle isn't resting right in front of you? On a traditional harness system, the buckle is often more to the right, so having the weightbelt buckle in the middle isn't a big problem.

How much weight are you talking about?

Doof once bubbled...
But if it's on tight enough it shouldn't slip anymore than the tank strap on single-tank BC.

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Have you never seen this happen? I see it all the time, and that's with basically no weight on the tank. Toss 10 pounds pulling down on that strap underwater and I think I can promise it'll come off.

I agree that people sometimes don't tighten their cam bands tight enough, but if it's on properly, it shouldn't slip. These bands will hold an lp104 onto a BC, I don't think a few pounds of weight is a problem.

But like I said above, I didn't realize he was talking about his entire weightbelt. That's a different story.

Doof once bubbled...
How much weight are you talking about?

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12 lbs seems to be a good weight for me although I think I can get by with a bit less. I plan to get some LP steel tanks at the begining of the next diving season and will hold off on any major weighting/trim decisions until then. But I suppose at that point, I would be diving with 6 lbs or so ditchable.

I too cannot see how a well tightened tank cam band would get pulled off the tank by a few lbs. Also, except while on the surface, the weights would not be trying to pull the weight off as the tank would be horizontal or inclined slightly in the opposite direction. Having not dove this system before, I cannot comment from experience, but reaching around and feeling for the lowest cam buckle on the tank doesn't sound too difficult to me. It would be difficult for me to crook my arm up high enough to get a BC/tank band by mistake, and there's nothing else back there to grab on to accidentally. But I'll withold judgement until I actually try it.

Dave

Dave,

I remember seeing something one time about a tank boot that had a compartment in the bottom to add some additional weight and there was a release on the boot so you could ditch it if you had to. I did a quick search on the net but couldn't find anything. Maybe someone else has seen or heard of something like this and can give you an idea of where to look for it.

I think this would be a better idea, as well as a tested method of ditching weight, then an aditional tank band and hip weights. It would also move the weight further down your body as you were looking to do to even out your trim. Personally I like to dive in a slightly head down position because it keeps my feet off the reef and away from the silt coverd floor of the wreck I'm in. But's that's just me.

Hope this helps.

Scott

You might try threading some of the weights through the waist strap webbing of the transpac, and using those weights to keep the soft pockets in place.

That way, you wont have all of your wieghts pulling on the pockets, but you will still have some in them that are ditchable in the event you need to.

Two other options you might consider.

1) Switching from TPII to backplate. That will save you about 6lbs.

2) Using one of the harness weight systems.