Uncontrolled ascent!! - Loss of a Weight Insert for Mares Prestige BCD pocket

[pacificgal]

Codman, I did double check my MRS pouch on my Ariel BCD before I entered into the water, made sure it slid into the channel and latched in the front but it still dropped out of my BCD. I was only at 22 fsw at the time so didn't have to worry too much about uncontrolled acscent, but had to scrub my divng that day as a result, and I have to spend another $50 to get 2 new weight pockets when I only need 1.
I'm glad you like yours, I'm getting more and more disappointed in mine.

 

[4sak3n]

Codman, I did double check my MRS pouch on my Ariel BCD before I entered into the water, made sure it slid into the channel and latched in the front but it still dropped out of my BCD. I was only at 22 fsw at the time so didn't have to worry too much about uncontrolled acscent, but had to scrub my divng that day as a result, and I have to spend another $50 to get 2 new weight pockets when I only need 1.
I'm glad you like yours, I'm getting more and more disappointed in mine.

I apologise for the thread hijack but the comment highlighted above scares me. At such a shallow depth you ABSOLUTELY have to worry about an uncontrolled ascent. The pressure gradient get greater the shallower you are.

For instance if you ascend out of control from 33 fsw for 33 fsw the air in your lungs will double. If you ascend out of control the same distance (33 fsw) from 100 fsw then the air in your lungs will only increase by 4/3.

Now granted this assumes that you stop your ascent after 33 fsw from the greater depth (because if you go all the way from 100 fsw to the surface the air will have quadrupled) but what I am trying to emphasize is that the greater pressure gradient in the shallows does NOT mean you are safer if you get into an uncontrolled ascent. People have embolized in pools! Uncontrolled ascents are worthy of a great deal of worry no matter the depth.

 

[hollisman29]

I definitely agree with most of the points posted, Everyone is responsible to check there own gear
as well as there buddies, But as paranoid as I I'm checking my gear and re-checking, I still had two
incidence were losing my weight pockets had occurred.
Some of us have seen this first hand, Some have not, But one incidence could have be one accident.

Just want my confidence back using my Mares Dragon BC !!!!

 

[CODMAN]

Well as I have said before (not sure if it was this post, or another). No matter what the mechanism (even a weight belt), it can misfunction. And at that, even if you toook the time to put it in right. I'm sorry if you got the impression I was insinuating you had done something wrong for this to happen. That was not at all my intent. I have no idea what happened in your case. But i do believe that double/ tripple checking them before entry will go a long way in preventing this. So far it has worked for me, as well as many many other satisfied divers using this system.

Believe me, I am sometimes amased at how few people do a predive check! As well as how many times I've seen divers misinstall their pouches... Including my girlfriend.... I Always double check her Mares pouches... And quite often I find the left stuffed into the right pocket, and vice-versa... She is a very good diver... just not very attentive to her equipment...:doh2:

Cheers!

Codman, I did double check my MRS pouch on my Ariel BCD before I entered into the water, made sure it slid into the channel and latched in the front but it still dropped out of my BCD. I was only at 22 fsw at the time so didn't have to worry too much about uncontrolled acscent, but had to scrub my divng that day as a result, and I have to spend another $50 to get 2 new weight pockets when I only need 1.
I'm glad you like yours, I'm getting more and more disappointed in mine.

 

[Web Monkey]

Well as I have said before (not sure if it was this post, or another). No matter what the mechanism (even a weight belt), it can misfunction.

The DUI Weight and Trim harness will not accidentally release.

And as long as we're talking about weight belts, I'd like to find the genius that decided that "plastic is just as good as stainless steel" when making weight belt buckles.

Terry

 

[pacificgal]

My incident yesterday with my Ariel BCD. New buddy, he was a half hour late, I had plenty of time to ensure the weights were latched properly. Had 6 lbs. of soft weight in each, slid them through the track and into the circle thingie on the inside and made sure the latch was over the post. Did thorough pre-dive buddy check as we were both trying to understand each other's gear. I have ditchable weight (BCD) and non-ditchable weight (weight belt). The weight belt would be hard to get off because of where the cumberbund and bottom strap are. I lost the left weight pocket at 22 fsw and fortunately did a slow runaway ascent to the surface. Never did find the weight pocket as I didn't want to let me buddy go too far from me with me at the surface. Didn't want to turn him into a solo diver on our first outing. He drove 2 hours to get to the dive site, we had to scrub after the first dive, 15 mins. in.
Now I can't get Leisurepro to confirm which size replacement pockets I need (still waiting for their return email), and will cost about $50 to replace.
These incidents are happening a lot!

 

[joolz]

A little late to the discussion, but I've had weight pockets fall out of a Mares Vector BCD twice -- and even once is too many. The problem I found was that over time, the plastic releases can start to jam so they're never fully closed, especially if you're doing a lot of shore diving and your gear is subjected to sand and pebbles. They can also get beaten around a bit, to the point at which a slight bump can release them underwater. Meticulous maintenance is definitely warranted for these things, and I'd never use them with students. As with many weight integrated BCDs, the pockets are angled so that they WILL slip out if you're horizontal and the release fails. I've seen other pockets which are angled upwards, so that the weights don't simply fall out even if the release opens accidentally.

I now use a DUI harness. It doesn't fit perfectly under all BCDs so if anybody goes this route, it's definitely worth trying it out in the shop under your own BCD first. I'll still use the Mares pockets, but only if I'm in warm water with max 5 pounds per pocket. Ideally your weight would be distributed among the integrated pockets and trim pockets so that even if one pocket does slip out at depth, you'll still have enough control to avoid a runaway ascent (and hopefully enough time to start picking up rocks or find something to hold on to for the last 20 feet)

 

[mandy13082]

I'm having a similar issue with my Mares Prestige MRS Plus BC weight pockets. I wear an XS and the pockets that came with the BC are about 3-4 inches shorter in length than my buddy's who wears a Large. His pockets fit into my XS and don't fall out (and he's never had a problem), so now I'm trying to find replacement weight pockets so I can trade out mine that slip out of my pockets very easily. They stay clasped, but the pouches hang totally outside of my BC as soon as I'm facedown underwater. It's definitely a design flaw and these smaller pockets should not be used at all. Another buddy had the smaller pouches, too, and his fell completely out when he entered the water, but he was able to catch them in time. I only put 3lbs in each pocket and use my trim weights instead, but even 3lbs is too much for these little pockets.

 

[c5diver]

I have seen the small pocket issue with a med kaila AT bcd. wife lost 2 on diffrent dives. they were replaced with the longer pockets and have not had a problem since june when she got the long pockets. thats only about 15 dives. but she lost 2 in the first 10 dives with it. they worked fine with hard weight, but with soft weights like you said the pockets would work out of the slots and hang outside the jacket until.. Gone!

 

[ExtremeAntics]

I have had this problem on numerous occasions and have seen multiple occounts of this happening with other people. One thing that has minimized this and I have told others that have these same weight pockets is to secure the weights within the pocket as the best I have been able to ascertain is that a sudden movement of the weight within the pocket will pop the pocket. What I do is apply electrical tape to around the pocket thus stopping the weights from sliding and not inhibiting the insertion and removal of the pocket.

I use the Dragon AT and have seen it on the Prestige and the Vector