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There's another thread already which asks a question about whether anyone is guilty of ditching their weights. What I'd like to know is WHY or in what dangerous situation would one ditch their weights?
Well, my answer was in the other thread, mostly but here it is again. Notes right from my dive log:
Quote:
Originally Posted by me
Bad dive!! Seemed to drop and drop until I finally stablized at almost 26m in a cloud of dust. I was completely disoriented and could not see a thing - lost my buddies. I tried to stay calm and used my compass and gauge to combat vertigo and get back to the surface. I waited for some 25 minutes before I finally saw my two buddies at the surface.
My issue was that I was over weighted, significantly so. When I let the air out of my BC, I dropped like a rock. It was fun for a while, but at some point, I realized that adding air to my BC was not helping. Keep in mind that this was also very cold water, so while I was dumping air like mad into my BC, I was also in danger of freezing up my first stage. Just before I was about to ditch some weight, I started to slow down - and eventually stopped, at 26m (which was not the bottom) - and 0 viz. Way too deep for me, esp. since I was all alone. Not a real pleasant feeling. I could have easily bought the farm right there.
So, reasons why people might ditch would be in a case like this (diver error, over weighted). Also, maybe in case of BC malfunction - unable to hold air at all, drop like a rock until you hit bottom or ditch some weight. In my case, I was in a drysuit - I could have added air to that in case the BC failed - better than nothing, but not quite the same thing.
This little 9 minute near-disaster dive was actually one of my best dives, because I learned a LOT and proved to myself I could handle a pretty rough situation on little notice. It was worth doing - but I would prefer to avoid repeating this experience.
An uncontrolled ascent could cause an embolism, DCS, or other potentially deadly conditions. Drowning will kill you. If that's the choice, drop the weight belt.
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The fact that you're paranoid does not mean that they're not out to get you.
An uncontrolled ascent could cause an embolism, DCS, or other potentially deadly conditions. Drowning will kill you. If that's the choice, drop the weight belt.
A pessimistic way of looking at it - An uncontrolled ascent could cause brain damage, physical disability and a lifetime of hardship for you and your family - possibly causing you and them to wish you were simply dead. Drowning will ensure you are.
Ditch your weights or not? It's all a matter of perspective.
My answer was in the other thread also, but I might add a bit as well.
Primarily I would ditch on the surface stranded in a high sea.
Also, if I exhausted my gas supply dealing with an entanglement or lost in a wreck and needed to get up now. It is better to deal with DCS/embolism on the surface than water in your lungs at depth.
I would drop my weights at the surface, if I had a malfunction (hole in wing, for example) that was impairing my ability to remain buoyant there. I'd drop them at the surface if I thought I was going to have a LONG (hours) wait before getting out of the water.
I can think of no conceivable reason or scenario where I would drop my weights at depth.
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Anybody who says their goal is to become a skilled diver is somebody I want to go diving with!
I would drop my weights at the surface, if I had a malfunction (hole in wing, for example) that was impairing my ability to remain buoyant there. I'd drop them at the surface if I thought I was going to have a LONG (hours) wait before getting out of the water.
I can think of no conceivable reason or scenario where I would drop my weights at depth.
I'm with you ...only dropped by weights one time and that was to swim to shore...around 5 miles away...but the hole in wing would be another great reason.
I would drop my weights at the surface, if I had a malfunction (hole in wing, for example) that was impairing my ability to remain buoyant there. I'd drop them at the surface if I thought I was going to have a LONG (hours) wait before getting out of the water.
I can think of no conceivable reason or scenario where I would drop my weights at depth.
So, if you had a hole in at the surface, you'd drop weights, but if you had a big gaping hole at depth that prevented the BC from holding any air, and you'd keep your weights? Am I understanding this correctly?
If the "balanced rig" is the answer here - then why isn't it an answer at the surface?
There is a safe amount of weight you can ditch towards the beginning of your dive, the weight of air in your tanks + maybe 1-2 pounds, that would not cause you to cork to the surface.
So if the amount of weight on your belt exceeds that number, keeping a separate set of ditchable weights is necessary if your rig is too heavy to swim up and you don't have redundant buoyancy.
Ditching weight II
Drowning will kill you. 
If that's the choice, drop the weight belt.
Linear Mode
