No ditchable weight

[phoenix31tt]

Hi All,

i recently did a pool session in which i required 0 weight to submerge and when i did submerge i was negative i had to add two quick presses to be neutral (this is what i usually added with my previous setup in salt water).

neways based on previous experience this may mean that i only need to dive with 4lbs of weight in salt water... which i most likely would want to put on my tank straps, meaning no ditchable weight.

previously i could "swim up" my old rig while having 0 air in my bcd and being fully weighted (8lbs) so i think i will definitely be able to swim this one up...

are there any other concerns i should take into account with not having ditch able weights?

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Don't dive overweighted is about it. It sounds like you are very lean and have a small percentage of body fat. (What's your secret? Please tell me!) I would advise rather than putting the weight on a tank strap to put it on a weight belt or a couple pouches on the waist strap since it is only 4 lbs that you can ditch quickly. You got the 23 lb wing. It needs to be able to float the rig. It will do that just fine with the al plate, al tank, or even a steel tank. As well as your regs.

Since you are more or less neutral now you may want to be able to drop that extra four pounds if you need to assist another diver to or at the surface and possibly support them there. Putting the weight on the tank bands could cause you problems in that respect.

 

[Superlyte27]

This ditchable weight theory is interesting. 30 years ago there was BCD's with CO2 cartridges that would auto inflate a BCD in about 3 seconds. Ultimately, some people were hurt wearing them, and the cartridges were removed and the hole plugged with a bolt. Then it was a weight belt that had to be right hand release, then weight pockets in an integrated bcd. Meanwhile tech divers using bp/w have gotten rid of ditchable weight all together for at least 3 decades.

Can you swim your rig up without a wing if you had to? If not, your rig is setup wrong. If you can, do you need ditchable weight? Nope. But ask 10 different people, you're almost certain to get 11 different opinions.

 

[phoenix31tt]

It sounds like you are very lean and have a small percentage of body fat. (What's your secret? Please tell me!)

i'm sporty, plus i'm of "African" descent... i've heard that Africans have higher bone density and thus make them less buoyant in the water.. dont know how true ..

my major concern is trim.. if i put them on my waist it may affect my trim... of course when i dive this weekend i will try both scenarios. if i'm trimmed with them on my waist then its a no brainer they can stay...

however if they aren't i'll have to weigh the options..

superlyte.. i know tech divers follow very different procedures to rec divers and thus they may be better able to deal with non ditchable weights... how do you guys deal with the scenarios that jim presented?

i.e.:
-providing help at the surface
-swimming another diver up
-being swam up by your buddy

 

[Superlyte27]

Providing help at the surface? I'm guessing you mean my dive buddy has had some sort of issue, and I need to save him. Ok, we're on the surface, he's got any issue, but lets say he's over weighted, unconscious. I need to keep him afloat. I hold on to him, and inflate my wing. Because my rig is balanced, and I am just less than neutral at the surface, I inflate my 68lb wing we both float.

Same answer for the next two points.

In the event that my wing and my buddy are completely useless, and I must keep both of us on the surface, I'd inflate my drysuit, or deploy a float. I'm guessing we didn't have a triple failure (My wing, buddy's wing, and buddy is unconscious), so in the unlikely event that I didn't have a drysuit or a lift bag (which is pretty friggin unlikely) I can still inflate my buddy's wing, although he's unconscious he'll still able to float, and I can hang on him if my wing died at the same time he became incapacitated.

Ultimately, this is all contingent on my ability to swim a rig up. If what I'm wearing doesn't leave me 10, 20 even 30lbs negative in the water, and I can maintain buoyancy without a wing, then we're all good. The days where I wore LP108 doubles that were negative 10lbs each, with a stainless steel plate, in a wetsuit, in fresh water was stupid.

 

[phoenix31tt]

In other words there are different contingencies for each situation that does not require ditching weights,The fact that I'm talking about 4lbs alone to be neutral means we just need to test scenarios that work for us.

 

[eelnoraa]

I think let NOT get ahead here, it is not about providing help or swimmin another diver. If your BC fail to store air, you may not be able to help yourself, not to mention others.

Ditchable weight is about when BC fail completely 1) you should be able to swim up with full tank. 2) once you reach surface, you should be able to stay floated and wait for help.

If your rig is balance, you should be able to do #1 without ditching weight at all. But the key is #2. If you have a balance rig and in drysuit, I think it will be no problem. If you are in thin wetsuit, you may not be able to sustain your head out of water for too long by kicking especially when you tank isn't empty. In that case, a few lb of ditchable weight make a difference. I know it is worse case sceniro, but better to prepare for the worst.

 

[Superlyte27]

One reason why redundancy is so important to us.

 

[phoenix31tt]

Point taken, need to be able to stay on the surface not just swim up


Ok my main worry is trim, I may be trim with 4lbs on waist, if I'm not I guess worse case I go 2lbs waist and 2lbs tank, hopefully that gets me trim and still have some ditchable

 

[Kevrumbo]

Wreckdiving in the tropical Pacific, I don't need added lead weights on a belt at all --1kg/2lbs Aluminum backplate, 18kg/40lbs lift capacity Wing with twin 11L Cylinders (double AL80's), and 5.5L/AL40 deco bottles & 11L/AL80 bottom stage, with a 0.5mm full wetsuit.

In case of Wing failure, my redundant buoyancy at depth & on the surface is a 36kg/80lbs Halcyon Liftbag:
Lift Bags | Halcyon