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Post by SeaRat on Jan 20, 2016 22:59:46 GMT -8
The only time I don't dive a weight belt is when I dive the Dacor Nautilus CVS, as it has internal weights. Even then, with a full wet suit, I wear an auxiliary 8 pound weight belt.
John
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Post by technidiver on Jan 21, 2016 4:39:08 GMT -8
I wear usually 15-20 pounds. I could wear less if I didn't have a massive BCD...
TD
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Post by diverdon on Jan 21, 2016 7:18:40 GMT -8
I wear usually 15-20 pounds. I could wear less if I didn't have a massive BCD... TD If that is the weight you use for an aluminum tank, you could probably drop 5 lbs+- with a steel 72. I used a steel 72 with my drysuit during my New Years Day dive and only used an 18lb weight belt. If I use my weight integrated BCD and an aluminum tank I need to add approx. 5lbs. DD
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Post by technidiver on Jan 21, 2016 12:50:57 GMT -8
I'd like to try the steel 72'. Sounds like a plan up at the pool ! TD
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Post by nikeajax on Jan 21, 2016 14:16:56 GMT -8
TD, ummmmm, you'll be more than trying... 'cause after that, you ain't never gunna go back ta recycled coke cans again JB
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Post by technidiver on Jan 21, 2016 14:18:45 GMT -8
Recycled coke cans? That's a good one! I gotta use that at the pool.
TD
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Post by scubadiverbob on Jan 28, 2016 23:08:55 GMT -8
If the water is warm enough (over 65 degrees), I usually don't need a weight belt or weights. I wear swimming trunks and a t-shirt and my steel 72 provides enough weight to sink me ...
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Post by technidiver on Jan 29, 2016 5:45:13 GMT -8
I wish the water was warm! But I love diving in 60-70 degree water... Just picked up a pair of Apeks RK3 Jet fins. That'll help me sink. Usually I have my feet above my head.
TD
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Post by surflung on Jan 29, 2016 7:15:32 GMT -8
- The BCD is really a poor substitute for buoyancy management. But it DOES make it possible for divers who are improperly weighted to compensate. And that's a significant attraction that CAN come in handy.
- BUt, I like adjusting my buoyancy with a simple weight belt. I put a D-Ring on one of the front weights and I have a couple of 2 lb clip weights I can grab or hang from my dive float if I need adjustment during a dive. And, I dive a fair number of different equipment configurations and depths... So my weights DO change.
- A good illustration (for me anyway) of the difference between weight belt diving and BCD diving is to watch me and my PADI dive buddy descending at Fortune pond: I do a jack knife and swim down head first. He lifts his BCD inflator and "sinks". If you look at it in aeronautical terms, I'm FLYING and he's BALLOONING.
- My personal approach to diving with a BCD is this: I start a dive weighted neutral or slightly floating with an EMPTY BCD. At 12-15 feet I want to be be neutral. And as I go deeper, it should only take the smallest amount of BCD inflation to neutralize for suit compression. Most the time when I'm weighted this way, I don't end up putting any inflation in my BCD. And for this reason, I wear a minimal 18lb lift "Traveler" BCD.
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Post by tomcatpc on Feb 1, 2016 21:49:12 GMT -8
I think I was the only student during my Open Water Cert. dives who bought and used a weight belt? Maybe that was the "start" of me to gravitate towards vintage Scuba kit? No, actually, I had every intention of diving vintage before even starting, but that is another story.
I like using weight belts, even when diving with a modern BC, which at this point has been the majority of my diving. I do see others using weight belts as well, so there must still be a "core" of us out there? Might sound strange, but I always thought of the plain traditional weight belt as an "iconic" item in a Diver's kit and had to have one. Now...I have a few, and probably will end up with more.
What I'm going to grab next is one of the wire belt buckles. I have two vintage two-lbs weights that I found and will be looking for more. (I think there is a person casting reproductions of the vintage oval-ish shaped weights?) Mark
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Post by tomcatpc on Feb 1, 2016 21:51:35 GMT -8
As for the warm water shorts and steel 72 and not needing weight... The couple times I've been in a pool with my double hose reg. and a steel 72 tank...I can agree with not needing weights. Mark
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Post by nikeajax on Feb 2, 2016 12:35:47 GMT -8
Might sound strange, but I always thought of the plain traditional weight belt as an "iconic" item in a Diver's kit and had to have one. Now...I have a few, and probably will end up with more. Mark, yeah, I hear yuh... there are certain things you think of that are just, as you put it, "iconic": the rotary telephone, lever action rifles, incandescent light bulbs, TV's with big knobs and rabbit ear antennas, and divers with weight belts and DH's! You just think that everyone knows that's how they're supposed to look/be... It's up to people like us to educate the next generation so that they're not as forgotten as vacuum-tubes and buggy-whips! BTW,I don't have a buggy whip, but I have a lot of vacuum tubes to keep my old TV's working... JB
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Post by duckbill on Feb 2, 2016 19:33:17 GMT -8
As for the warm water shorts and steel 72 and not needing weight... The couple times I've been in a pool with my double hose reg. and a steel 72 tank...I can agree with not needing weights. Mark Same here. But expect to need about 4# in the ocean (or wear a bigger knife ).
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Post by tomcatpc on Feb 3, 2016 1:19:20 GMT -8
I hope I have to deal with that "problem" in real life sooner, rather than later! Ha ha!!! I totally miss the Pacific, can't wait to be there again someday! Mark
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Post by polecat on Feb 3, 2016 12:26:21 GMT -8
I float my BCD and put it on AFTER Im in the water, whether Im entering from boat or land. Also take it off and float it before I get out. Very easy to use this way.
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