Weight belt options

[daivdm203]

I am a very new diver only 3 or so dives past my open water cert. My goal is to do very shallow dives from an inflatable 10' boat to work on my sailboat, check the prop, clean bottom, find mooring etc.

I tried a test today and found that I could not re-enter the inflatable from the side. From the back it was doable.

I had a cheap weight belt with 30lbs of hard lead. I lost it as I was not able to take it off and get it on the boat and certainly not able to climb in with it on.

So based on this semi-successful test I have several questions.

Would another type of weight that I could take off in pieces maybe be easier to work with?

Is re-boarding from the stern the best or only way.

I inflated the bcd and tied the painter to it then took it off. I was able to retrieve my gear once in the boat. Is that the way it is done?

I did not have motor on the stern but may in the future. Is a stern re-entry still the best way with a motor in the way.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

30 lbs is a lot on a weight belt. you might try to add 10 lbs to the BC in some manner and then you have a 20 lb weight belt which is more manageable. If you are not strong enough to remove the weight belt and lift, drop, throw the belt into the inflatable- then I would put a D-ring on the belt and hang a clip off the boat.

Upon surfacing, clip the wt belt off. i would have another clip hanging, for the BC.. Inflate it before taking it off. get in the boat and haul the stuff inside.

 

[Peter_C]

I agree 30lbs you are most likely heavily overweighted. That is more than I wear with a drysuit and thick undies.

I dive off a 14' inflatable all the time. Routine is to cut waist strap loose, and remove crotch strap. Before ditching BC toss weight belt into boat. For my petite gal, I put a d-ring onto her weight belt and secured it with a secondary keeper. She does the same thing, except clips it off and drops her weight belt. Then we clip off our BC to a tag line, and ditch our gear. Then board the boat by powering up over the side with our fins on. Land on our bellies and flop into the boat half way. Take our fins off and once onboard, pull the BC's onboard. Pull anchor and head to where ever...

For bottom cleaning I have found a suction cup to be indispensable.

 

[TSandM]

You can add a d-ring to the weight belt, so that you can take it off and clip it to a gear line.

On our boat, we have gear lines tied so that the gear stays out of the way of the prop. We take the gear off and clip it to the lines, reboard the boat, and pull the gear in. I usually either hand my weight belt off to someone who is already on board, or wear it on the ladder, but if I were diving alone, I'd set up something to clip the belt off.

 

[fisheater]

I use a rubber welt belt with a wire bail buckle. I can clip off either end when I'm diving from a small boat where we clip off our gear and then climb aboard and retrieve our gear (including on Peter_C's boat).

 

[diversteve]

I suggest you buy a weight- integrated BCD. Certainly not the cheapest solution but most likely the easiest. Tie off a short line to the front of the boat and get some sort of substantial clip for it, inflate, clip off and pull it in after you re-board. No worries about taking the belt off, dropping the belt, throwing the belt into the inflatable etc.

Something like a Zeagle Express Tech would work and it also doubles as a travel BC. Keeps your chest/front totally open for working also. Express Tech Deluxe Add their Ripcord weight system, the weights virtually can't fall out unless you un-Velcro and pull the ripcord handle. If you need a pocket for tools etc. they have a large add-on pocket that slides onto the lower front strap.

Another option is a Scubapro Lighthawk at $239. Scubapro Litehawk BC, Black at LeisurePro In this ad what they call accessory pockets are actually the weight pockets so you'd have to add another one for stuff. Check with them because other dealers sell it for $289 with the pockets so that's a good deal if they're included. You can also add pockets to it from a 3rd party source. Most just slip over the straps or clip on. Some of these should work: https://www.divegearexpress.com/bcs/pockets.shtml#1736

Either BC is 1000 denier nylon so pretty durable when working around rougher surfaces.

They also sell dive ladders for inflatables. Marine Inflatable Boat Ladders on Sale

---------- Post added August 24th, 2014 at 09:16 PM ----------

P.S. I just read your wetsuit thread so maybe buy the Express Tech with the bigger 34 lb. bladder if you're going to be hauiing up small anchors. The Lighthawk has a lot of lift - almost too much - 54#.

 

[Roman_66]

I never wear weight belt after certification, so can't contribute to your issue solution.
I will agree with some people above. With 30lb on belt you are very overweight and it might be dangerouse , especially that you dive with wet suit (not dry ) and if something may happen with wing.
I come to 30lb ONLY in one case : AL80 doubles (pretty positive than 500 psi) + dry suit + salt Red see water.

 

[jboneng]

I agree with what others have said, 30lbs sounds like to much weight, in a 5mm hd-neoprene dry-suit, 3 layers of thick wool, 7mm gloves and shoes and my lightest tank I need about 19lbs, but everyone is different when it comes to weighting so the best thing to do is to do a proper surface weighting test/check. I also uses integrated QR weight pockets, they are easy to pop off while on the surface and just toss them onto the boat. An another idea is to invest in a detachable dive ladder for your boat. I personally just use my fins to gather enough momentum to just jump into the boat from the surface on the port or starboard side (after i have detached the BCD of course). When entering on board from the stern on a boat with a propeller, you need to be careful and not positioning your self behind the boat before you are sure the engine have stopped.

I inflated the bcd and tied the painter to it then took it off. I was able to retrieve my gear once in the boat. Is that the way it is done?

If there is no ladder and I have to enter the boat from port or starboard I take the BCD off in the water and attach it to the boat with a carbine hook and retrieve it when I am back on board.

 

[g1138]

What no one has answered yet is for entries, back roll off the side.
One hand on the belt so it doesn't pop on entry, one on the mask front.
Use your arms to pin all loose hoses and danglies from snagging on the boat as your roll off.

Reg in your mouth, BC inflated. The more inflated, the less you'll flip upside down, but the harder the impact when you hit (you might also slam your head on the first stage; keep your chin tucked for this reason).
Don't do a somersault otherwise you might hit your head on the boat bottom.

This entry should not be done when your boat side is higher than 5ft. I imagine a 10ft boat is low enough in the water for this.

Keep your chin tucked, knees locked to your belly, and lean your entire body. Don't throw your back into the water, otherwise it will be painful (remember me mentioning slamming your head on the first stage?) and yeah, you'll also look silly. You should always see your feet as you're falling backwards.

After you right yourself, check the back of your mask strap to make sure it didn't flop off.
All good advice above for the rest of your questions.

[video=youtube;tDwT23h8OOY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDwT23h8OOY[/video]

 

[blanik]

i also dive from my sailboat, i usually enter water with a great stride but for climbing back i use the boat's swim ladder, to do that i inflate my bcd and remove it in the water (i loosely tie it to a rear docking line that i leave hanging in the water), i then remove my fins and throw them aboard, after that i can climb on board easily, after that i use my mainsheet line (it's attached to the traveler via a quick release and it's got a 4:1 purchase), i use the boom as crane and snap the mainsheet to the bcd, once attached i can lift the bcd with tank and 26 pounds of lead (i dive with a drysuit with a thick undergarment in 41F/5C) the whole thing weights nothing with the block fiddle and i just need to bring back the boom and lower the bcd in the cockpit... once you've done it, it becomes easy ;-)