Weighting And Staying Alive.....

[Belzelbub]

It depends on the ditchable weight system.

Agreed. Years back, I used a simple Velcro system. Never had a weight fall out, but understand that the Velcro does wear out over time. And unlike the Zip Touch system, the Velcro needed to be opened and closed regularly.

I've seen enough recalls on the the clip in pouches to make me wary. At least one manufacturer recalled their new improved pouches after their first recall. Doesn't really fill me with confidence.

I'm now using the Zeagle Ripcord system. Some don't like it because it takes a bit longer to rethread, but it really only takes a couple minutes. As long as you zip the pocket closed when you add your weights, they really can't fall out on their own.

 

[The Chairman]

With all these weights being lost, it's funny that we don't hear about more people corking to the surface. Why? They're over-weighted to begin with. Way over-weighted to the point they probably didn't realize they lost it until they were on the boat taking them off.

There's no doubt about it: I hate weight belts. I'm shaped like a pear and they like to slide right off of me down to my ankles. I use integrated weights or a DUI harness. Somehow, in spite of how unsafe they are supposed to be, I have never lost one. Ever.

 

[Kairoos]

With all these weights being lost, it's funny that we don't hear about more people corking to the surface. Why? They're over-weighted to begin with. Way over-weighted to the point they probably didn't realize they lost it until they were on the boat taking them off.

There's no doubt about it: I hate weight belts. I'm shaped like a pear and they like to slide right off of me down to my ankles. I use integrated weights or a DUI harness. Somehow, in spite of how unsafe they are supposed to be, I have never lost one. Ever.

I'm certainly guilty of this myself, I'm almost definitely overweighted. I still dive 12-14lbs with my steel tanks and a 5/4/3mm wetsuit. I could probably drop down to 8-10lbs. Personally I would rather be a little overweighted than underweighted. Being underweighted can ruin a dive, but being overweighted isn't much of an issue in my experience. My 7' SMB has 50lbs of lift so if my wing went I'd be fine, and I'd probably just ditch some weight if it became a problem.

 

[2airishuman]

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.

There are three separate accident/incident scenarios here.
1) In the event of a wing failure, I'm going to swim it up, and ditch my weight belt (if using it), hang off my SMB, or ditch my kit. I practice all of those. When I don't have ditchable weight, I'm not quite 10 pounds negative, worst case. I can swim that up, comfortably, more or less indefinitely, without a wing or SMB, so none of this has to be rushed.
2) In the event I can't establish buoyancy at the beginning of the dive because I splashed with the valve off and an empty BC, I can reach my valve and open it, or I can swim to the surface and orally inflate, or I can switch to the pony cylinder (if I'm using it) and orally inflate.
3) In the event of some other emergency that requires me to establish positive buoyancy at the surface, I'll inflate my wing, orally if necessary.

 

[diver0008]

I am using an AquaLung Axiom i3 with integrated weight pockets. They click in very securely, and I have never had a problem. Very happy with it.

 

[diver0008]

12 lbs

 

[diver0008]

Why? They're over-weighted to begin with

I recall having read once, that with proper weighting, at the surface, BC fully deflated, you should be eye-level with the water's surface with lungs full. Does this sound right?

 

[Bob DBF]

With all these weights being lost, it's funny that we don't hear about more people corking to the surface. Why? They're over-weighted to begin with. Way over-weighted to the point they probably didn't realize they lost it until they were on the boat taking them off.

I was out on a boat dive and doing a swimming safety stop back to the boat when I noticed something unusual on the bottom. I had plenty of air so I went down and found a weight pocket so I brought it back up, did my safety stop and got back aboard.

I asked if anyone lost a weight pocket and got no response. During the evening I checked with all the groups and buddy teams on the boat trying to find out if anyone on the boat lost a weight pocket and still no one lost any weight. I figured I had some more weight to add to my lead collection, and hit the rack.

Next morning as we all were suiting up for the first dive, a diver from my LDS came over and asked if I was the guy that found the weight pocket. It seems he was going along the day before and all of a sudden his buoyancy and trim were off. He corrected the buoyancy, but he kept rolling to one side and could not figure our why. He finished his dive and the safety stop without any other issues. It did not dawn on him that he lost the weight pocket I was trying to find owner to, until he did a pre dive check on his BC and found it missing.

I just shook my head and told him to leave the weight from that pocket on the boat and split the weight he had left between the two pockets and he might find that controlling his buoyancy at the safety stop easier.

The look he had on his face when he had to ask for the pocket after telling me the night before that it was not his was priceless. Occasionally I still chuckle when remembering the incident.


Bob

 

[The Chairman]

At the root of all this is an inattention to detail. You've simply got to pay attention to how your weights get clipped in, or risk losing them. Also, you should be evaluating just how much weight you need on a continual basis. Most people need more weight when they first start out because they are simply not relaxed. They breathe with their lungs mostly full and learn to relax as they get more experience. That's a good thing, so why not take advantage of this and try dropping your weight 2 pounds at a time? You might be surprised at how much weight you can shed.

 

[clownfishsydney]

My first Aqualung/Seaquest BCD had pockets solely held in by velcro. Atfer a few years the velcro lost its stickiness and on a 45 m dive (150 feet) dive, both fell out as I ascended. Luckily my boat has a very heavy deco weight at 12 m and I just held onto this till I had completed my deco.

I then made up some clips so that the pockets were secured and if they fell out, they at least did not drop away.

The newer model BCDs had pockets that clipped into place and I have never had a problem with them.

I have also lost a weight belt more than once (back before these BCDs) when something caught on the clip. Luckily all these happened on the bottom and it was easy to rectify.