question ; Weight belt vs integrated for drysuit diving

[FinnMom]

I thoughly enjoy not having a weight belt, and it was my trimix instructor that (like many before him) told me to loose the weight belt. It's uncomfortable under the tanks, the lower back is a bad place to carry weight and the risk of losing or forgetting your belt is a nuisance.

I dive dry in very cold water (undersuit like the Michellin man), so I have a lot of weight, but no belt & no harness. My back plate is 5,6 kg, and I have 3 kg between the twin tanks. If I needed it I could still add 2-3 kg along the spine of my backplate.

YOU ? ABOUT THE BUBBLE
Air gets around incredibly well; I'm still amazed they've made a zipper that actually holds it in. I seriously doubt you will notice a difference in how the air in your suit moves w or w/o the belt. This is esp. true with a neophrene suit because they don't seem to shrink wrap you nearly as effectively as a membrane suit.

 

[JohnN]

I was wondering what is most favored the weight belt or integrated weights with the bc when diving dry and why?

10 lbs in pockets on the top cam band (BP/W), another 14 lbs in pockets on the waist band of the harness, 10 of those waist band lbs are in quick-release pockets.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Like most things there's trade-offs. One question you gotta think about ... the weight is there to offset the buoyancy of your exposure equipment. If you put all your weight on your rig, how well will you be able to manage an emergency removal-replacement? Your rig will be negatively buoyant and your body will be positive ... might make for some interesting times if you don't keep your rig on top of you while getting it back on ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

---------- Post added July 23rd, 2013 at 10:11 AM ----------

thanks for the reply, I dive dry with weight integrated , rear inflated bc and have no problems controlling the air bubble in the suit. My question is will a weight belt interfere or restrict moving the bubble in the suit?

... no ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Michael Guerrero]

I second not having all your weight bolted to your rig. You need to be able to swim up in an emergency. If you can't drop some of your weight, especially in cold water dives where you wear a lot more of it, you could find yourself in trouble.

Honestly, I really don't think there's that much of a difference what you carry it in. I think it's more important that your weight is distributed and that you have enough droppable weight to get up in a bind.

 

[stevensamler]

Like most things there's trade-offs. One question you gotta think about ... the weight is there to offset the buoyancy of your exposure equipment. If you put all your weight on your rig, how well will you be able to manage an emergency removal-replacement? Your rig will be negatively buoyant and your body will be positive ... might make for some interesting times if you don't keep your rig on top of you while getting it back on ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

---------- Post added July 23rd, 2013 at 10:11 AM ----------



... no ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Bob you hit the nail right on the head this is why I'm asking the question , I did a removal and replacement in a wetsuit in 4' of water in a pool wow what a struggle but got it done. I would like to add some weight to my person to help negate the pos buoyancy of my wetsuit and drysuit for emergency situations. I did the removal and replacement while in a wetsuit with integrated weights in the bc and found myself extremely buoyant but fought through it and manage to get back into the bc.

 

[DaleC]

Put enough lead on the belt to be neutrally buoyant without the rig (like you were skin diving). The rest can go on the tank. I dive St 72's which are nearly neutral so I can ditch and don fairly easily that way.

 

[rivers]

I do a combination of both. In freshwater, I only us a 2kg weight belt. If I move to salt, I add a 3kg v weight.

 

[Tigerman]

I dive weight integrated, wet and dry. I have never had any issue with ut. Actually, if I dive my wetsuit (shorty) in freshwater I dont use any weight though..

 

[bs63366]

I dive dry with a BP/W and I have a trim weight on one tank strap and then the rest of the weight is distributed to a weight harness. It is so much more comfortable with the large amount of weight that you use and if/when I need to drop weight I can drop one pouch at a time and not have to worry about a giant leap in buoyancy when you drop 30ish lbs of lead at once.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

I had the dilemma before when I started diving dry. I tried a whole bunch of integrated gizmos but found them to be unnecessary. Now I use a belt and I am more than happy. Helps in situations where the boat crew expects you to hand over weight belt and camera before you can pull yourself back on the boat.