Weight belts, Over Weighting and why I love my Deep Sea Supply Weight Plates

[Mo2vation]

I dive a BP/W. My first BP/W going into and coming out of Fundies was a Halcyon 36 pound Pioneer rig. Shiny plate, stiff webbing, the whole 9.

It wasn't long until I moved to a hand made prototype back plate of unknown origin for my Halcyon rig. This thing weighed over 13 pounds, and was an awful contraption - rough hewn and hand pounded and shaped... it was a beast. But I grew to love having a heavier plate and smaller weight belt.

I still remember the first time I saw a DSS rig... I had such rig envy. The way the wing disconnected from the plate without having to remove the straps, no STA (my Pioneer held the cylinder in place, sort of, with these integrated ridges in the wing's center channel), the heavy duty corrugated hose, the blocks that let me get the non-stretching cam bands rock solid, the way it held the cylinder closer to my back, the compactness of the wing, etc, etc, etc. I was smitten.

Eventually, my dive buddy conspired with DSS, and for my birthday she landed a DSS rig on my doorstep. I was stunned. What a wonderful and loving gift!

To dive this rig, with its 'normal' 5 or 6 pound plate, I needed to add some serious weight to the belt. After a few months of this, I purchased a set of the DSS weight plates, and took all that lead off the belt again.

My point is this: I've dived both. I've dived with a standard plate and a heavy belt, I've dived a heavy plate and a lighter belt, and hands down I am a fan of the lighter belt and the heavier plate.

At present, my weight belt is 10# - and that's heavy for me. I like to be a bit heavy, as I like to be able to drop as I shoot - especially later in the dive. I can dive with a 6 or 7 pound belt and be fine. With a wetsuit, I wear no belt at all. When I'm diving water in the 40's with my thinsulate, I add 3 or 4.

All that said - I don't understand the concept of the heavy belt. If someone is in a fluffy BC, and diving a 10mm wetsuit or something, or may an aluminum cylinder with a dry suit (do people do that?) I can see the need for a 20 or 25 (or more....) belt. I guess. But I really can't though.

I dive a dry suit, I dive a scooter, I don't solo dive. The chances of me having a triple failure (wing, DS, scooter flood) that would require me to halt a fine dive because of catastrophic buoyancy loss is beyond remote.

What is the reason someone would dive a monster weight belt? Aside from adding maybe 5 or 8 or 10 pounds to your BP rig that could make it a bit more inconvenient to schlep, I can't think of a good reason why a person would dive these monster 18, 20, 25 pound belts.

Unless maybe someone gets that cold, or is that big of stature that they simply need it? I've been thinking about this since the 'dump your weight' thread - and I can't wrap my head around someone in a single cylinder ever preferring to dive with these huge belts. In fact, I can't think of the scenario whereby I'd ever dump my belt.

I've probably missed something here. Help me out.

Thanks!


-Ken

[AzTek Diver]

Couldn't agree more. I don't at this time use the DSS rig but a weighted STA and a couple of weight pouches that I put 10lbs in, no need for a weight belt. I've used this rig for years and I sure don't miss having a weight belt to deal with. If I ever do need to drop weight (never have) I can dump the two 5 lb weights in a couple seconds.

[LCF]

My total required ballast for my single-tank Puget Sound rig is 31 pounds. I dive a steel plate, 6 lbs in camband weight pockets, and a 20 lb weight belt. Why? Because I like to be able to strip the rig down to minimum to move it around on land. If I put ten more pounds on it in a way that wasn't easy to remove, I'd have to lift that in and out of the car/truck, and carry it up the hill from Day Island Wall. As it is, I can take 26 lbs easily off me to climb hills -- it just requires two trips.

A 20 lb belt, with shaped hard weights, sits neatly on my hips and doesn't hang from my shoulders. It's comfortable, and I forget it's there.

Peter has the weight plates and loves them. I swear at them, every time I have to try to get his plate off his tank

[fdog]

My dear friend Ken:

(A) Your lungs aren't the size of mine
(B) Your water isn't as cold as ours
(C) You aren't even in the same league as me when it comes to being a "cold weenie", hence
(D) I wear undies for two



....sooo I have weight plates, 10 lbs on the tank bands, and a 22 lb belt. It's a monster I know but that's what it takes.


All the best, James

[mikemill]

What is the reason someone would dive a monster weight belt? Aside from adding maybe 5 or 8 or 10 pounds to your BP rig that could make it a bit more inconvenient to schlep, I can't think of a good reason why a person would dive these monster 18, 20, 25 pound belts.

<--- Displaces a lot of water (aka, big and fat).

[TobinGeorge]

My dear friend Ken:

(A) Your lungs aren't the size of mine

No mortal has lungs that size.



What, 2-3 breaths to fill one of these?

Tobin

[Mo2vation]

No mortal has lungs that size.
http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...UNDudzciJIR2jw


What, 2-3 breaths to fill one of these?

Tobin

Does that count the half-a-breath he has in his mask?




-K

[Jeff Shaw]

16 lbs here.
But my current caloric intake might help that...
Still though, I gots big lungs.

[fdog]

Meh. It's a curse, having big lungs.

There's the lead. 7 extra pounds worth.

And every year, when I go in for my physical, I tell the X-Ray Tech I have big lungs, and they're going to clip off the top and the bottom. I mean, this has happened enough, ya know? Anyway, I usually get the dismissive smile and pat on the shoulder, accompanied by " I've done this a long time, dearie, don't you worry". Three films later, they have a sorta desperate look in the eyes.

Does that count the half-a-breath he has in his mask?




-K

Hey! That's only on the way back up, it doesn't count.


All the best, James

[b1gcountry]

I've got a 1/4" steel plate that I like as well. With Doubles, 400g thinsulate, and thermals, I only wear a 10 lb weight belt. Its a bit harder to travel with on planes, but I like it a lot better. I'm never ditching my weight belt, and if I have two stages on, I honestly don't think I could get it off when TSHTF anyway.

I also like to put a couple 2lb soft weights in my undergarment pockets. Its an easier way to add a couple pounds, and a lot of times, it means I don't have to put the weight belt on at all. When I'm diving a single tank, I really like the XS Scuba tank band weight pockets. They're fairly cheap, and if you put them near the wing, they get the weight in a good position not to roll around on you.

I tend to distribute the weight around in a lot of places. The only downside is that's more to keep track of. I've left my weight belt on the boat a couple of times. One time it was even on a deco dive, but I managed. I've been a lot more careful since then though.

You're not missing anything. People follow the rule of primacy. OW classes just add more weight to the belt to make people sink. Its easier. People already have weight belts. They just add more and more, and don't think to change things. Either that or put it all in weight integrated pouches, and whatever is left over goes on a belt.

Tom

[Mo2vation]

I love integrated weights. Especially the velcro types.

I find a weight pack about every third or forth dive at Vets. Goodness knows how many I've picked up at Catalina.

I post the finds here, and if I get crickets, they go straight to the classifieds and to eBay.

I've upgraded the wine at many a dinner because of this bogus design.

Memo to BC manufacturers: More velcro integrated weights, please.




-Ken

[TobinGeorge]

Ballast fixed to the divers rig has a place, and most of the pros and cons have be discussed in this thread.

In my opinion, for single tank cold water diving it's good practice to have ballast roughly equal to the weight of the gas carried on the diver (belt ) vs having 100% of ones ballast on the "rig"

This allows for a smaller wing to be used.

Tobin

[gsk3]

I have been diving with no weight belt since my second dive post-OW. However, I hesitate to recommend it to anyone whose comfort level I don't know, since there are plenty of instances where beginners saved themselves from drowning by dumping their weights to stay afloat (often the trigger seems to be hopping in without their tank valve open).

For singles I have the XS Scuba weight pouches on cam bands. For doubles I use a v-weight. Works well.

The one time I've had a problem was diving an HP130 single with enough weight to sink me in my drysuit (something like 22lbs) in the cam band pockets in freshwater. My singles wing is 30lbs, and it wasn't quite enough to hold the rig up by itself when I clipped it off to clamber into the RIB. Certain board members can feel free to comment on my unpreparedness in this particular incident ;-). Still haven't thought about whether I need a bigger wing to dive 130s, or just need to take some weight off the wing onto a weight belt. I suspect the latter, since wings are for correcting buoyancy swing, and 30lbs is likely sufficient for that in a DS.

[Fish Eater]

I, too, have a DSS steel backplate with DSS weight plates. Alas, I also have a heavy weight belt: 26 pounds.

Thick drysuit, big lungs and too much bioprene.

[bj139]

I rigged an old Scubapro Xtek wing to an AL plate (-2lbs), put 10 lbs (-10lbs) in 2 weight pouches on shoulder straps, strapped on my HP117 (-9lbs) and went to the shore. I had to go back to the setup point to get whatever it was I forgot. I inflated my rig and removed it. It sank. I guess I found out the wing buoyancy was less than 21 lbs. This is my tropical wing anyway. Since then I put some weight on me (either weight belt or DUI weight harness) and some on my rig. If you have to remove your BC at depth it is much easier if you and your BC are each neutrally buoyant as others have mentioned.