"Balanced Rig"

[xiSkiGuy]

So it's channel weights/weight plates or nothing? Or are they ok with ACB but not a weight belt? (and if so, wtf?)

True in some cases, but many of us have managed to achieve good trim even with some weight at our waist. We should reconfigure a working system for caves? After all, just because you can ditch doesn't mean you will.

And how is a weight belt at your waist different from an ACB setup, in terms of trim and ditchability?

Most cave instructors don't want to see either a weight belt or an ACB system.

 

[TSandM]

I don't want to ditch it; I just want to put the weight where it helps balance me. I wore 6 lbs on a belt with double Al80s in Mexico, and my trim was good enough to get compliments from the instructor. I think I can do the same thing with a 6 lb asymmetric V-weight on the bottom of the plate, if somebody has such a weight. My cave instructor for Intro didn't, and he didn't mind me using a weight belt, although he clearly believed that I probably didn't need it. I had weight checked at home in fresh water, and knew I needed it to be neutral at 500 psi with an empty wing.

 

[limeyx]

I don't want to ditch it; I just want to put the weight where it helps balance me. I wore 6 lbs on a belt with double Al80s in Mexico, and my trim was good enough to get compliments from the instructor. I think I can do the same thing with a 6 lb asymmetric V-weight on the bottom of the plate, if somebody has such a weight. My cave instructor for Intro didn't, and he didn't mind me using a weight belt, although he clearly believed that I probably didn't need it. I had weight checked at home in fresh water, and knew I needed it to be neutral at 500 psi with an empty wing.

The DIR-MX guys have a bunch of 2KG weights.
Some you put in the gap between tanks (like mini V-weights)
some have a webbing attached with an eyehole that you can attach to the lower bolt of the tanks (like a tail weight)

or you could use soft-weight and get one of tobins pouches

 

[rjack321]

The ones with the attached webbing tab + grommet are highly desired, try and hold onto it for the week. Otherwise some tourist like me might snag it The ones placed up between the tanks can slide up to your head and back. Not enough to mess with my trim that much but the clunking sound is rather annoying.

 

[DIR-Atlanta]

I like using a weight belt, too, but it is apparently frowned upon in Cave.

Weightbelts are frowned upon in cave diving because if they fall off, they can cause serious problems. In a silty cave, that can stir up the bottom and cause a loss of visibility. Also, the loss of ballast can also create a dangerous situation with the diver's buoyancy.

There was a fatality at Vortex Springs some years ago, where an openwater diver in a thick wetsuit ventured into the overhead and accidentally lost his weightbelt (which if I recall correctly, had something like 30 lbs of weight on it). He became so buoyant that he got pinned to the ceiling, and could not swim down against the excess positive buoyancy to retrieve the belt.

Most cave divers consider the potential negative consequences of losing a weightbelt to be too significant a risk, and therefore don't use them.