Weightbelt as waist strap

Way back in the 1960's or 1970's when the old-type twin-hose aqualungs with a plain strap harness and no stab-jacket were common, at one dive centre the staff routinely removed the aqualung harness's waist strap and replaced it by threading the weight belt through the slots. He preferred one belt round his waist rather than two.

Fascinating. My earliest 'scuba diving self taught' books from way back in the late 50s made it crystal clear that weight belts were absolutely the last item put on in order to prevent anything from delaying or preventing them from dropping clear if a quick ascent was needed. There have been several fatalities in recent years reportedly because integrated weight BCDs did not function properly.

To thread weights on the tank's harness is close to suicidal, especially back in an era when the rapid buoyancy adjustments that BCDs may make possible were not available.

We had a fatality here in NJ a few years ago when a new diver doing his first open water dive had trouble with his buoyancy. The DM clipped a big extra weight on his weightbelt while he was still in the water. He clipped it right over the buckle. This was in a shallow inlet. The new diver got swept out of sight under a RR bridge and drowned.

Brings us back to the argument about ditchable weight. I guess if your dive plan doesn't allow for dumping weight, then it doesn't really matter whether you have lead blocks threaded onto your harness or have it all concentrated in a heavy steel backplate. I don't think anyone would do this and expect the emergency buoyant ascent to still be an option.

agilis:

Fascinating. My earliest 'scuba diving self taught' books from way back in the late 50s made it crystal clear that weight belts were absolutely the last item put on in order to prevent anything from delaying or preventing them from dropping clear if a quick ascent was needed. There have been several fatalities in recent years reportedly because integrated weight BCDs did not function properly.

To thread weights on the tank's harness is close to suicidal, especially back in an era when the rapid buoyancy adjustments that BCDs may make possible were not available.

We had a fatality here in NJ a few years ago when a new diver doing his first open water dive had trouble with his buoyancy. The DM clipped a big extra weight on his weightbelt while he was still in the water. He clipped it right over the buckle. This was in a shallow inlet. The new diver got swept out of sight under a RR bridge and drowned.

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Not necessarily. I dive that way fairly often - attached weights and no bladder. I don't attach the weights to the waist strap but they are atttached to the BP. Properly weighted and with little to no wetsuit, it's not an issue. In warm salt water I dive with 4 lbs which puts me dead neutral at 1500 psi, -2 at the start of the dive and +2 at the end. At any given time I am at worst -2 lbs. Swimming up and maintaining 2 lbs at the surface is not a problem and if bad comes to worse I ditch the entire kit at the surface which will make me several pounds positive. The bigger issue is grossly overweighted divers who are taught to rely on their BC as an "overweighting compensator" rather than as a bouycancy compensator.

The early harness used by Cousteau had no waist strap only shoulder straps and crotch strap. The weight belt had a quick release buckle that incorporated a hook for the harness crotch strap so if the weight belt was jettisoned it released from the tank harness.

Anthony Appleyard:

Way back in the 1960's or 1970's when the old-type twin-hose aqualungs with a plain strap harness and no stab-jacket were common, at one dive centre the staff routinely removed the aqualung harness's waist strap and replaced it by threading the weight belt through the slots. He preferred one belt round his waist rather than two.

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They may have done that but that is not correct and is down right dangerous for the pre-BC, no BC diver. That is a very poor practice. The weight belt (or weight) should always be ditchable for the no BC diver. People may do it but I am not one of them. More than once, in the day, I know of divers (hmmmmm) who had to ditch weight to establish buoyancy and especially in order to assist another diver. Some shore dives require long swims and even boat diving (as in drift) may require lengthy intervals on the surface. I would much rather dump weight than my rig.

And yes, I have had to assist another diver, pre-BC era, neither had "safety" vests. We both ditched weight belts so that our nearly empty 72s added buoyancy. I towed him to shore, against current. Had I not been able to ditch his and my weight, well, one of us might not be here today, and since I swim like a fish, it would not have been me. Now, would I have left my friend, unknown answer. I did not have to find out, we ditched weight and the impossible became possible.

N