Weight belt or BCD

[MiamiMike]

I recently acquired an Zeagle BCD with weight integration pockets. I recently gotten my OW cert. and my instructor told me I couldn't use my weight integration BCD for my training and checkout dives and I was forced to use his weight belt.

Can anybody tell me the pros and cons, from using the BCD versus weight belt? I've haven't been able to try it myself and don't want to complicate things on my next dive.

 

[SolarStorm]

Must have been and instructors choice. I did my certification with integrated weights. Personally, I like the trim pockets so you can reposition some of the weight. The main pockets dont feel as restrictive to me. and there isnt as much to carry tot he boat as the weight is already in your bcd.

However, in cold water and with a drysuit, I am not sure I will get enough weight into my BCD. With a wet suit, I carry 22#. Will tell you within the month with a Drysuit.

 

[DiveMaven]

It may be that the instructor simply felt it was easier to use the belt and not have to rethread the Zeagle when you did the weight dumping exercise.

Personally, I wouldn't go back to a weight belt after getting an integrated BC. I can spread my weight around my body and never have to worry about my belt falling off. I know someone who lost their weight belt at depth (diving cold) and had an uncontrolled ascent and a DCS hit.

You happen to have the best integrated system IMO. Not only do you never have to worry about losing a weight pouch, but one simple motion will drop your weights. Zeagles rock!

 

[Skeeter1097]

the system that you have is one of the best. but there is two thing I did not like. If you where to pull the cord you can't change your mined. How do you get all the wights back let a lone back in the pocket at 50' or 20'.
Some times the seas are ruff it can be difficult to get in the boat. Some times after handing the fines to some one on the boat we hand the weight pocket to the boat too.

 

[SailNaked]

Your instructor was likely wanting you to learn to use a weight belt.

Advantage of weight belt is that you can hand it up or place it on the boat before you get out of the water so you do not have to climb the ladder with all the extra weight. also you can put the weight in the back or front depending on what works better for trim.

Advantage of integrated is well its integrated and you are not as likely to forget it on the dock or in your car. maybe some other advantages like it does not move about, but in my experience the pockets fall out and that is a large disadvantage.

 

[deepwater]

I use a harness myself, but as for your instructors choice. Assuming you were not the only student in the class, he has to teach the same thing to everybody. Ditching weight belts is a skill he needs to teach and taking time to teach everybody there own rig would take to long.

 

[Krenath]

I think it's a good idea for him to have trained you with the weight belts so you know how if, for some reason, you ever end up with rented or borrowed equipment. But I also think he should have covered diving with the integrated weights as well and explained the differences between it and belts.

I was trained with belts and immediately upgrated to integrated weights and I can't see a reason I would want to go back. Among other things, integrated weights are supported by the jacket when you're on land, not the belt, so the weight is spread across your upper body, not concentrated on a belt that digs into your hips. For me, it makes climbing back aboard a boat without dropping weights a lot more comfortable.

 

[Stu S.]

On the surface, the belt with lead blocks always rested right on my hip bones. Ouch. Particularly ouch when walking with the belt on. Maybe a belt with soft weights would have solved this. A weight integrated BC solves it real good. (And buying a steel tank means using less lead as well.)

 

[SolarStorm]

the system that you have is one of the best. but there is two thing I did not like. If you where to pull the cord you can't change your mined. How do you get all the wights back let a lone back in the pocket at 50' or 20'.
Some times the seas are ruff it can be difficult to get in the boat. Some times after handing the fines to some one on the boat we hand the weight pocket to the boat too.

I personally find the weight pockets on my Oceanic Excursion easier to use. When my daughter and I did our OW we did dive 3 in VERY heavy seas. For the first time in 50 years of life I got seasick (I never get sick, even when I did some aerobatic training)

Our instructor had us jump in, then get dressed including weights. I was actually glad for the pockets as they simply slipped in and "click locked". My daughter had the same experience with her BCD.

Dumping the pockets is easy too, and during our course we always had to hand up our weights before climbing in the boat. Once we were certified they dropped this requirement, but there were no issues dumping or adding the weights. Much easier than the belts we used in the pool sessions.

 

[Garrobo]

I use DUI harness with pullouts. Eliminates the rubbing and rock and roll with a belt. I think belts are prety much down the road now a days. Also, I can't see any reason to dump weights anyway.