With todays weight integrated BCD’s, are weight belts now obsolete? Alec explains that a weight belt is still very useful in certain dive situations for diver comfort and safety.
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Hi Alex sorry about sending Bolex marine info . I have been pretty sick. I am sending it Thursday IF you can send me adress again. Thanks Tony seelbach
…mmm If you want to add more weights to your BC you can put some in the front pockets ! I still only use my weight belt
what is your view of rubber weight belts like the Rob Allen Marseillaise Weight Belt? I love it and find it easy to remove, but others do raise their eyebrows when they see it.
I only used 8 pounds when I was in the Florida keys because I was only in a bathing suit
Alec, I am fairly new to diving. I have always breathed heavy, so my Question is how can I use less air? I can drain a standard 3000 rather quickly and it makes my dives much shorter than most divers. I would really love to extend my dive time so I can get the most of my NDL.
Thank u do much
So when traveling to warm water diving locations, do they tend to have soft weights for rent or should I take mine?
I’m a shallow water river diver usually 7 to 8 feet only using a 13 g pony bottle looking for Arrow heads “face close to bottom “ sometimes going into deeper areas but I I have bad ears blew both drums in Hawaii years ago just have trouble equalizing now tried everything
Hey this is Michael from mdo video I have a weight belt with pockets in the front. Can I fit two 5 pound weights in it.
Very nice video I love it. I was thinking to put all my weight I need (8-10lbs) in my trim pocket of my BCD. Is this a good idea ?
Hey Alec,(Hi) I like BC in this integrated knowledge Tech Tips I used same BC, The question is O.M.G. I try or did use 10 on each side" dumb" and I been diving from 2009 Now 2018 I will buy weight belts Please keep your Tech Tips coming this year.
I like using a weight harness rather then a belt when I need a lot of weight (i.e. drysuit with heavy undergarments). Easy to dump weight if needed and it helps make up for the fact that I have no hips and no butt to help hold a traditional weight belt up. Biggest issue with it can be that it does tend to position the weight lower on my body than a BCD does. A few pounds of trim weight positioned up high on the tank however levels me right out.
I highly recommend your channel to all divers, good no-nonsense info presented exceptionally well.
As a larger chap I have tried integrated bcd's and weight belts , weight belts have a habit of falling off due to a large belly , with the amount of weight i need to wear around 8 – 10 kg depending on wetsuit / drysuit , it just makes the belt too heavy and you run the risk of it sliding off which is a major worry mid dive. The integrated bcd's are much nicer and does solve the issue but with the integrated weights you have a lot around your belly still which i found mucks up your trim too much. I have since switched to a wing , and now use the dui weight harness which i find much more comfortable and it still gives me dumpable weights. So if you have a couple of extra pounds on you like me seriously look at the wing and harness option.
Alec, I'm 6'1" and weigh 230 lbs and have only dove in Minnesota lakes. Because I wearca 2 piece 7mm wet suit I need nearly 40 lbs of weights. I have been using nothing but AquaLung rental bcd's and have no problems putting 15 lbs of weight in each weight pocket. That being said I do want to tell you thatI'm a new diver and I have noticed that the more comfortable I get diving the less weights I've had to use.
Another very good idea of splitting weights between the BCD and belt is security. In case you lose your belt (it happened to me onde), you still have some weights in your BCD. Also, in the more unusual event of needing to take of the BCD, you still have weight on you (belt). Form me, this is the most important reason to split the weights. And it's comfortable.. great 🙂
You did not mention soft weight belts. These are much more comfortable than the belt you showed with hard weights.
This as well as one of the other BC videos from Alec has really made me take another look at how I'm distributing my weight- Excellent broad scope information that can really help a person drill down to what's important given their own setup and make adjustments as necessary. Awesome series!
I use integrated weights because I have trouble keeping a weight belt on. I did receive weight belt suspenders as a Christmas present from my dive buddy!
I did what your described in video split weights up on bcd and for a bit more comfort and less readjusting weight belt,I opted to use a marseilles rubber weight belt.its self adjusts and you dont need weight belt retainers normally.
I find Nylon one you got to adjust as depth decreases,can be a pain,dont get this with rubber belt.
link to belt
http://www.divingdirect.co.uk/spearfishing-c127/weightbelts-c138/mares-marseillaise-belt-p2154/s8456?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=mares-marseillaise-belt-marbe&utm_campaign=product%2Blisting%2Bads
vid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmt5Y3LaMWc
another great video Alec.
Rob
Kevin getting roasted!!!!
thanks for the tips about weights it helped alot…
Oh yes, very practical. I wish I had put five more minutes of thought into carrying a few extra pounds in my 5-mil suit so I didn't shoot up to the surface!
I have a Sea-Quest Pro QD i3 BCD with Aqua-Lung's SureLock II integrated weight pouches. Each pouch has two pockets, and I have one 10-pound "Pocket Weight" brand plastic coated ingot (like the 5-pound one shown at 6:30 in the video, but thicker) in the lower pocket of each pouch. They fit snuggly, but they do fit, and still leave room in the other pocket for more weight if needed. The "trick" is to match the curvature of the weights to the curvature of the SureLock II. (Two 5-pounders wouldn't fit in one pocket, though, because you not only have twice as much lead, but twice as much plastic coating.)
In theory, I could put two 10-pound Pocket Weights on each side (one in each of the pouch's two pockets), for a total of 40 pounds (and I've tested it; they do fit), but that would almost certainly be too much weight.
Right now I have one 10-pound Pocket Weight on each side of the BCD, and five pounds in each trim pocket for a total of 30 pounds. I'm 6' 5" and wear a 7mm farmer john and 7mm jacket (total 14mm at my torso), so I still need a bit more weight to get negative at the surface. I COULD put more weight in the BCD (Aqua-Lung rates each pouch for 16 pounds), but I won't; as you suggest, I'll put the remainder on a belt to spread the load. Thanks again for your helpful and informative Tech Tips.
nice well done. very good. TY very much
Really enjoying these videos Alec. I dive with a 5mm wetsuit and I use a belt from Bright Weights (http://www.brightweights.com/index.php/products-scuba) and I love it. I only need 4 kg of weight and I might drop another 500g. The belt is so easy to configure, the weights just slide into the belt like an ammo bandoleer. Even if I needed another 4kg, the belt would still be comfertable.
I'm a new diver, just got my OW certificate last month. Love your videos, wish I'd found your channle sooner. I want to become a Dive master, even an instructor if I could. Any suggestion on gears or tips for thoes newbies like me who just in love on the first sight with diving and wish to take it as a career. btw, any thoughts on sea sick, motion sick?
Alec, I love your videos. I'm an experienced diver but didn't have my own full gear. Got a lot of information from your videos and bought a full set now.
This is a great series – common sense based on vast experience.
early days we only had weight belt. Back to diving again after a long break and BCD I now have can have 30# (10 each side and 5×2 on the back pockets). I trying belt again because when diving off a kayak it is much easier to dump (and attach) the weight belt first (I use 24# with drysuit and 100cf steel tank) and pull the BCD+tank off the water into the kayak without all the added weight – it's already heavy enough and awkward to not tip over as it is…
No weight belt, can't think of a scenario where I'd need to 'quick release' any weights find on the new jackets.
How about putting some weight on the tank strap or some clip weights on the joke valve, Aloha :-))
You should also mention they now have belt with pockets that you can put the Sherwood style weight bags into so even you weight belt can be also better the those slabs of metal. My BC is rated for 15 pounds droppable for each pocket but I tried two 4 pounds in each plus a 5 in each non-dropable pocket. I am using a dry suit in salt water and weigh about 200. So 26 is still way to light. I am not sure where to put it.
alec could you do a tech tip on ankle weights because I hate ankle weights I am using a drysuit
Thanks for any help in advance
Neil
With a steel 72; sometimes I don't use weights !!!
Do you actually use as much as 20-30 pounds of weight when wetsuit diving? Because here in Norway many of us use about 18 pounds or 8 kilograms and we all pretty much dive exclusively with drysuits
Mate, try a wheight and trim harmess. I use a Northern Diver weight and trim harmess and it can keep up to 25 kg of lead shot and even with that huge weight it is still very confirtable and stable.
Hello Alec, another great video. I have a question. I will be buying an Aluminum 80 tank tomorrow but I want to know if i should buy one that is from 2016 as oppose to the 2015 and 2014 manufacture date they are selling me. The instructor says there's really no difference since the rental tanks they use last 30 years or more. I don't know if he's saying that to just sell me a tank or what. Thank you and have a pleasant day. God bless you.
Alec, just like you I always use coated lead. Sadly, every time we go to the Caribbean and ask for coated weights, we get that funny look of disbelief. They either have not heard of coated weights, don't know anyone who uses them, or try to put us down with a "pro" spiel about the perfect record of bare lead weights. I've given up on trying to change that culture and accepted that when on vacation you just put up with bare lead.
As for soft weights, I think they are even worse. Unless they are perfectly sealed, which they never are, the grinding action of the lead shots produces this nasty grey sludge of lead oxide that gets all over your equipment and in the environment. I avoid them as hell.
Great video, but I use a Zeagle Stilleto BC almost every week and I can honestly say from experience it will carry over 30 lbs of weight with ease.
love these videos, keep em commin!!
Wear a weight belt made of rubber (e.g. Omer). Seasoft are the best weights but expensive.
Good video bit you forgot tomention not to exceed the bcds lift capacity… 🙂
What about backplates ??