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Buoyancy Compensators (BC's) and Weight SystemsPoint your weighty "BC" questions and input here. Tell others what you use and what you do and don't like about it etc...
I am considering transitioning from a conventional BDC with seperate weight belt to the Diverite Transpac. However, I am curious how a seperate weight belt will work with the Transpac. Will the weight belt interfere with the Transpac hip belt? How about conflicts with other BP/W set ups? Whle I know that the Transpac can be fitted wth weight pouches, I prefer a seperate weight belt. I like the looks of the DUI harness weigt system but have the same concerns with utilizing it with a Transpac. Any thoughts or experiences using a seperate weight belt with the Transpac or similar BP/W setups?
Thanks
I am trying to make an informed once only buy decision. Any advise would be much appreciated.
Go straight to a "regular" BP/W.
The Transpac is a "neither-fish-nor-fowl" sort of thing, missing many of the advantages of a BP/W, while retaining most of the drawbacks of a traditional BCD.
I use the DUI Weight & Trim Classic harness with a DSS BP/W. It works out fine.
The DUI instructions recommend that the top of the weight pockets be even with the top of the hip bone. In other words, this thing is will below the level of a weight belt if the belt is being worn above the hip bone (and it probably is).
I don't really have hips so a weight belt is out of the question. Besides, I don't like the belt getting loose when my wetsuit compresses. The harness is just a lot better solution.
Richard
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"No matter how cynical you get, it is impossible to keep up."
-- Lily Tomlin
My wife/buddy uses a transpac as she felt she wanted more padding than a BP/W offers. She has no problem with also using a weight belt. But a transpac is unnecessarily bulky and buoyant. It has to release a good amount of trapped air before she can descend and then drips trapped water at the end of the dive making the rig excessively heavy as she emerges. Look hard at a conventional BP/W before you make a decision you may regret.
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Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.
....I'm kinda wondering why you want to stick with a separate weight belt anyway ? I USED to use a separate weight belt as a brand new diver.....a long time ago......but soon switched to a weight-integrated system for lots of reasons:
--weight belts rotate out of position, especially as wetsuits compress....and you have to keep adjusting them with depth changes.
--all ditchable weight HAS to be released simultaneously with a belt.....I managed to incorporate 4 small (5 lbs) weightpockets in my system so I can ditch weights incrementally if I want, versus an 'all-or-nothing' approach...as a runaway ascent sucks!
--I've never trusted all my weights to the 'security' of a single belt-buckle on a weight belt.....I just never felt it was failsafe enough.
--some of us don't have substantial hips for a weight belt to rest upon.
--I felt there was too much competition for space around my waist area....didn't want 'layers' over my waist area.....with a weight belt 'stacked up' over the BC waist belt.
(and there have been diver fatalities where a drowned diver was recovered with their weight belt released, but caught up on the BC, as the diver didn't quite gear up properly and managed to forget to guarantee the weight belt could actually really drop freely if needed, )
.....based on your profile (# of dives) you seem fairly experienced and probably have all your own reasons you want to go with a weight belt.....so good luck with you decision though.
A weightbelt works fine with any properly-fitted BP/W-type system. The waistbelt on the BP/W rides at about belly button level, the weightbelt rides a couple inches below that.
Some folks do have problems wearing weightbelts due to their anatomy. Others have problems because they were not taught how to correctly use the belt. Some just don't like them.
I've never had a problem with weightbelts in the pre-BC days, with a conventional BC, with a BP/W, or freediving.
You can move some of your ballast weighting onto your rig (camband pouches, etc.) to take some of the weight off of the belt.... this prevents you from losing ALL of your weight in the event of a lost belt (which is rare with a properly-tightened belt and good stainless steel buckle).
In the end, you get to choose what you prefer. As mentioned, some folks can't or just don't like to use weightbelts, but there is nothing wrong (and a lot of things right) about using a weightbelt with a BP/W-type rig.
Best wishes.
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