Near disaster; dropped weights - what to do?

[Hobbs]

Originally posted by Louie
Hello fellow dive enthusiasts,

I had a close shave on a recent wreck dive. One of my integrated weight pockets had come loose while negotiating my way through narrow passages and enclosed spaces and as I was out of the wreck, it fell out. FORTUNATELY, my guide (my hero) had eyes on the back of his head, grabbed me by the arm to stop my ascent and take me to a bit of coral where I hung on. He went down to the bottom (luckily, there was a bottom at about 50m) and retrieved my weight pocket.
This could have been disasterous as this was a decompression dive and I was at about 41m when this occured.
So my question is, if this should occur and there is nobody to stop your ascent, what is the best procedure to save yourself or minimise damage?

Cheerio

First let me state that this is my own opinion and yada yada yada you know the drill.

I am not going to bash you over tables and stuff, its your dive you dive the way you want to! but remember that down there you are pretty narked and there by pretty f*c*ed up in terms of clear thinking.

lets state the obvious velcro pockets fall loose ! they cannot take the wear and tear of time.

if you are doing technical diving wich for me is whenever you are going outside recreational diving scene.
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Decompression dives are not according to me recreational diving.

In an overhead environment (logical or physical) you should not use ditchable weights ever.
The reason for this is you might loose your life if you are using it.
if you are deco diving heading for the surface is not the answer.
you will have to fix whatever is going wrong down there!

if you drop your weights inside a wreak, then you might not be able to retrieve them AND/OR get out of the wreak due to your boyancy problem, cutting the BCD and banging head or tanks against stuff. Not a nice scenario
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if you are recreational diving
you should have ditchable weights due to the fact that going up to the surface could be one answer to the problem you are experiencing. and you have nothing between you and the surface to stop you from reaching it.

That is truly the problem as i see it!
you are using the wrong type of equipment for the wrong type of dive. with the wrong education
DO NOT

as I see it from the info you have given i draw the following conclusions:

1 you dont hav the "know how to do a wreak dive with lines and all the other security equipment needed

2 you dont have the right equipment for this type of dive (ie dubble tanks and so on)

3 you are diving deeper than you are educated to

The conclusions of this is your own to draw.
I am not here to judge or antyhing, as I stated before its your dive you dive the way you see fit.

happy diving and dive safe

 

[Louie]

Wow, so much useful information - and a fair deal of chastisement.

I think I will switch to a different system of weights or use both belt and integrated weights.

And Liquid, yes I did penetrate the wreck over numerous dives and it was marvelous (in spite of the problems on the one dive).

 

[Hobbs]

Originally posted by Louie
Wow, so much useful information - and a fair deal of chastisement.

Sorry didnt mean to be any chastisement (new word for me )it was not the point to be "over you" or something, not realy sure on how to say this, but I am just a fellow diver, and well if you dont know how dangerous your dive is, then you will continue doing it, if you know then atleast you know of the risks and are somewhat educated about it. please get more info on how to do wrek diving, ask around, get the education...

the velcro pockets strike me as a larger problem than i have thought, since i never take mine off i would goess the wear and tear is somewhat less on the velcro.
This is just something that I am thinking of but it could work then again it could not, any thoughts ? ideas

basically the problem with velcro is after a time it wears out.
it means it works in the beggining but soon enough it will need replacement.
what you could do is put sprints into the velcro vests so if the weights fall out they still hang from the sprint ? when you pull the handle you pull the sprint also but there is no way it can fall out just because of the velcro failing.

or better yet make a good solution,

a tip i have heard of is where ppl if they are going wrek diving puts their weightbelt on the body inside of the drysuit or wetsuit, so they cannot loose it.
it might be something, then again it might not

dive within your limits and be relatively safe
dive outside and dont be safe
but use your brain, thats the best weapon against the grim reaper :reaper: you have !

stay cool stay alive

 

[Liquid]

Louie-Just remeber that it takes only one accident to end your life.

 

[Bob3]

... weightbelt on the body inside of the drysuit or wetsuit...

Hey, I have 'nuff trouble getting my fat butt into my wetsuit w/o having a weightbelt on. ut:

Much better:
1. weightbelt suspenders
2. distribute lead between pockets & belt
3. non-ditchable, like a backplate

Using an assortment of the above works nice.

It's always a good idea to be able to swim yourself up from the bottom w/o any air in your BC. If you can't, be sure you have ditchable weight that'll at least allow you to swim up.

 

[grouchyturtle]

what about sewing a few snaps onto the velcro?

Maybe 4 one on each corner. There would be little chance of puncturing the BC since you'd just be sewing on the velcro straps? Small snaps should reinforce the velcro, but still be easy to pull lose if you had to ditch the weight?

Or even just sewing clips like on the non velcro systems onto the velcro. If it came loose it would hang, but the clips would keep it from falling. Once again no stiching near the bladder.

 

[Rockhound]

I'll let the other folks express their concerns over your dive plan and I'll try to add a few comments specifically addressing your "sudden weight loss". I would, however, suggest thoughtfully consider some of the good advice you've gotten.

On to the loss of your weightbelt:

First of all, I've "been there, done that". I've have lost my entire weightbelt while at 70' and while I was wearing a 5mm suit. I'm a big guy, I was overweighted and I did not use proper weight distribution (this was a LONG time ago, okay?).

What happened? Not much. I began a fairly robust, but controllable ascent almost immediately. I then realized what happened (duh), flipped head down and descended to look for my belt. My total ascent was less than 10', so I did not (thankfully) decompress my suit enough to start accelerating things.

I was not impossible to descend, but it was difficult and it did require that I "fight' to maintain depth. I grabbed a piece of wreckage and held on once when I got tired, but then spotted my belt and was able to swim over to it. My buddy did not see what happened, and was never aware it occured. Boat buddies, you gotta love 'em.

In another "jeesh, what wuz I a thinkin?" moment, I actually left the boat without my weighbelt on at all (oh, shut up). In this case, I was wearing a 7mm suit. Because I was used to my old weight integrated AtPac and was diving with a new wraparound , I simply forgot to put on my belt. This time, I got down almost 70' feet while thinking "Gosh, this current is awful". Well, the current wasn't awful, my lack of prep was. When I realized my mistake, I simply used the ascent line to slowly work back to the boat. I made the last 15' controllable by swimming slightly head down from the granny tie off on the mooring/ascent line toward the stern drop lines. It was not a problem, but i did have to swim pretty hard to maintain control, which isn't what you want to do at 15', even after a short (really short) dive.

Finally, I lost my belt on a night dive in rough conditions when the granny line hooked my buckle and released the belt. This time, my belt slid over the line and began heading for the bottom,attempting to take the line with it. Unfortunately, I was fiddling with my camera and wasn't holding on. I made a very quick descent, caught my belt and just "rolled" into it on the way down. It was a non event, mostly because I was only in a shorty (er, I THINK).

All of these demonstrated to me that the loss of all or part of your weight at depth is usually manageable.

These days, I dive with distributed weights when in my wetsuit, and very little weight when "nekkid" (ew). My Zeagle has intergrated weight pockets, but the weights are held by zipper topped pockets above and with a ripcord system below. I carry enough weights in the rig for a controlled ascent, with the rest distributed on a belt when wearing a suit. I don't wear "permanent" weighting when suit diving, but mainly because I haven't settled on a safe configuration (more training, more reading, eh?)

I am not aware that Zeagle ripcord type systems are prone to failure, but I do recognize that ANY system, including double buckled weightbelts can fail. Proper weight distribution and the knowledge that you can handle sudden "weight loss" at depth may be the difference between a simple inconvenience and a serious accident.

 

[tinman]

The frequency of velcro weight pockets letting go has kept me away from integrated weights, particularly since adopting a metal depth compensating clip on a low tech - but reliable - weight belt. These clips come with a pressure spring that keeps the weight belt snug as your wet/dry suit compresses at depth. Earlier advice from Senior members here is well worth listening too - particularly since you are diving in the tech category which is outside my comfort zone. You're diving at depths that aren't forgiving for equipment failure nor diver error - you should Thank God for sharp eyed and quick witted buddies who can handle 3 martini dives...