Weighting And Staying Alive.....

[decompression]

So, recently I joined a local FB page which focuses on lost and found. Shockingly, there were many (far too many) posts saying they lost a weight on X wreck or X site. Yes, not just at the sight but while diving. All of the missing weights were of the ditchable variety, ether Velcro, plastic release or both.

Now, most of our wrecks are sunk so they don't interfere with ship traffic, i.e DEEP. So, losing a weight pouch on a deep, current swept wreck gives me "cause for concern". You can only imagine the negative outcomes.

So, for all divers, please ensure your weights are secured, or better yet, investigate better weighting options that don't require 50% of your weight in a ditchable pouch.

Dive safe, dive often.

Jay.

 

[2airishuman]

So, for all divers, please ensure your weights are secured, or better yet, investigate better weighting options that don't require 50% of your weight in a ditchable pouch.

I'm new at this and don't claim to have all the answers. But after reviewing what data I could find, and discussing with more experienced divers, I've come to the conclusion that rapidly ditchable weight is, for me, more of a safety liability than a safety benefit. My rig doesn't have weight pockets, and if I'm diving a thin enough wetsuit, I have no ditchable weight at all. I practice swimming it up in a simulated wing failure with extra lead to simulate maximum wetsuit compression.

With a 7mm suit I use a rubber weight belt that is under the waist and crotch strap of my backplate. I can ditch it quickly if I need to but it is not going to come off by accident.

I carry redundant air and would use that in place of the "emergency buoyant ascent" that I was taught for an OOA emergency.

 

[Kairoos]

It depends on the ditchable weight system. My Zeagle Express Tech BCD has their "zip touch" system, which looks like this:

You put the weights in through the zipper and then there's two flaps held in by velcro to release the weights. You have to lift the first flap to be able to pull down on the second one, which will release the weight. You need to pull very hard to get the velcro to let go.

A system like this works great. It's simple but strong. I have problems with the ones on BCDs like this:

The inserts almost always come out too easily, or are too easy to think you've secured the insert, but in actuality, it didn't catch. When I first started diving I was using a rental BCD like that and the insert fell out - I didn't notice until I couldn't stay down during my safety stop. I've seen the inserts fall out while people are diving and I had to swim over and pick the inserts up!

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

It depends on the ditchable weight system. My Zeagle Express Tech BCD has their "zip touch" system, which looks like this:

You put the weights in through the zipper and then there's two flaps held in by velcro to release the weights. You have to lift the first flap to be able to pull down on the second one, which will release the weight. You need to pull very hard to get the velcro to let go.

A system like this works great. It's simple but strong. I have problems with the ones on BCDs like this:

The inserts almost always come out too easily, or are too easy to think you've secured the insert, but in actuality, it didn't catch. When I first started diving I was using a rental BCD like that and the insert fell out - I didn't notice until I couldn't stay down during my safety stop. I've seen the inserts fall out while people are diving and I had to swim over and pick the inserts up!

I've noticed that the BCD's that my students are given, when it is snapped in, you can see the word "locked". It is frightening to think how easily some of these can fall out.

 

[TMHeimer]

Kairoos, My old Phantom BC with those type Velcro pocket inserts don't come out if you hear them click in---for sure. If not sure, take it out and do it again. But, I have lost weights myself, due to my own error once, and due to a busted buckle that happened somehow during gearing up. I have also picked up more than my share of student divers' integrated weights when I was DMing (once almost got hit on the head by one while on the bottom looking for another student's weight).
But I like the thread. If I did a lot of deeper diving I'd ditch the old BC. For my normal shallow dives I'm not too worried. I can always grab a rock, the bottom, or something if I lose one again.
I found when DMing that every once in a while the weight just wouldn't click in properly to the shop BC. Time for the spare BC at that point.

 

[Kairoos]

I've noticed that the BCD's that my students are given, when it is snapped in, you can see the word "locked". It is frightening to think how easily some of these can fall out.

I've never seen one like that, and I've seen far too many weight inserts fall out of people's BCDs to ever think that it's a good system.

 

[yle]

I've always used weight-integrated pouches in my BCD, except during my IDC when we had to use weight belts. My students use integrated weight pouches exclusively (because that's what our rental gear has. And I've never had a problem with them falling out. The BCD I use while instructing is the one I bought when I first started diving, so it has been very well used. And the weight pouches still work properly.

I appreciate the benefits of weight belts and integrated weights, but I don't agree that weight belts are inherently safer. The weak point of both systems is user error. Weight pouches can fall out if they're not fastened properly, and weight belts can fall down and off if they're not tightened properly.

I drill pre-dive safety checks into my students' heads. I tell them running through a basic checklist with their buddy takes 60 seconds and will prevent the majority of potential gear problems. I also tell them that on a typical dive boat they will likely see almost nobody doing such a safety check (sure... people turn on their air, take a few breaths from their reg, and then declare their gear ready to go.)

I'm sure you'd find a very strong correlation between people that lose weights and people that don't do a pre-dive check. If the gear itself was the problem, the manufacturers wouldn't be able to sell it due to liability.

 

[Storker]

The weak point of both systems is user error

A-men!

The only system I'm wary of is those where the weight pouches are fastened by a simple Velcro system, like in this BCD. Velcro loses its properties over time, so if the BCD has been used for a while, even due diligence when donning won't safeguard against accidental loss of a pouch. OTOH, I've had one of these, where the pouches are fastened with decent quick-releases and secured against accidental release with Velcro, and I struggle to see any way I could lose one of my pouches unless I messed up properly while donning the gear.

 

[2airishuman]

weight belts can fall down and off if they're not tightened properly.

Weight belts can't fall off as a result of being loose if the are worn under the waist belt and crotch strap of the BC. Also, rubber weight belts are much more forgiving than typical nylon or (old school) canvas ones, both because they stretch, and because they don't slip as easily. They are one of a number of things that the freedivers get right that doesn't have widespread acceptance in the scuba world.

 

[kafkaland]

I'm new at this and don't claim to have all the answers. But after reviewing what data I could find, and discussing with more experienced divers, I've come to the conclusion that rapidly ditchable weight is, for me, more of a safety liability than a safety benefit. My rig doesn't have weight pockets, and if I'm diving a thin enough wetsuit, I have no ditchable weight at all. I practice swimming it up in a simulated wing failure with extra lead to simulate maximum wetsuit compression.

Unless you have reliable, readily deployable redundant buoyancy, I would be very reluctant to dive without ditchable weights. The problem may not be swimming up when you are a few ponds negative, but staying up. Too many fatalities occur at the surface when someone is unable to establish positive buoyancy there quickly. And in an emergency ditching weights is the fastest way to do so.