No Ditchable weights?

[quonniediver]

I am a newbie with a half a dozen dives. I have a buddie who is just certified also. He dives a BP/wing with a steel tank. We dive in New England so we use a 6.5 mil wetsuit. He attaches some weight to the back plate but it isn't ditchable, he doesn't need a weight belt because of this. Is this safe? I always thought you needed at least a little weight on a belt to get positive. Is the only way to get him bouyant in an emergency by filling his wing? Does this seem correct?

 

[sheck33]

on what configuration is used. i dive doubles and i dont need any additional weight, so i have no ditchable weight unless you consider a cannister light ditchable weight of course. but i dive a drysuit so its bouyancy doesnt change much. with a wetsuit that can be very different and having some ditchable weight is necessary. if the emergency is that he is OOA than the only way to inflate his wing is by doing it orally. if i were in a wetsuit i'd probably want some ditchable weight, if only to get mor epositive on the surface, ditching a lot of weight at depth is not a good idea.

 

[Wendy]

Does your buddy have any other means of bouyancy? Would he be able to swim up his gear if his wing failed? I personally wouldn't dive with weights attached to my bp where I would be unable to ditch them. Is he opposed to using a weight belt. What about getting weigh pockets for his harness?

 

[TJisthe1]

I agree wit wendy, he definately needs to either get a weight belt or some ditchable pouches, they also make a pouch that attaches to your tank to put weight in, and it has a ditching handle, i have only seen them on the internet though..

 

[jonnythan]

quonniediver once bubbled...
I am a newbie with a half a dozen dives. I have a buddie who is just certified also. He dives a BP/wing with a steel tank. We dive in New England so we use a 6.5 mil wetsuit. He attaches some weight to the back plate but it isn't ditchable, he doesn't need a weight belt because of this. Is this safe? I always thought you needed at least a little weight on a belt to get positive. Is the only way to get him bouyant in an emergency by filling his wing? Does this seem correct?

Next time you guys dive together, have him completely deflate his wing at the bottom (I'd do this at maybe 60 feet at the beginning of the dive) and try to swim it up at a safe ascent speed.

If he can do it, I'd say he's all set. If he can't, then ask him what he plans to do if his wing gets ruptured.

When he can't answer, tell him to move some weight to his weight belt.

 

[rdriver]

Just my 02 cents but you may want to tell him to carry a lift bag for a back up......
Rob

 

[Ron Brandt]

We should have dichable weight but in 23 years of diving the only times I have ditched weights is to demo for my students.

Ron

 

[ew1usnr]

rdriver once bubbled...
carry a lift bag for a back up......

That would be a bummer to have tanks so heavy that it takes a lift bag to get you off the bottom. It sounds like a salvage operation.

 

[diverbrian]

With a steel backplate, I am negatively buoyant. That is what I accept diving that rig. Up here I dive dry and the drysuit can be inflated in a pinch. If I were diving doubles in a wetsuit (which I don't forsee in the near future), I would have redundant wings. That seems to be typical of many of the people that I dive with. Ditching weight deep is a last resort anyways. I have jumped in without inflating my wings. I can stay up if I need to.

Oh, if I were diving someplace with a severely deep bottom, I don't want to think about trying to shoot a bag while I am still sinking. I was taught to get neutral and do it. I wouldn't rely on it to have time to pull me up if I had the deep blue under me. You can really go down quite fast. I guess that I could in a pinch (survival being first and foremost), but it wouldn't be any fun. So, I don't count a lift bag as a secondary buoyancy device.