Dump weight belt?

[Gombessa]

Say you're on a boat dive and draw the short straw - you've been left behind for some reason, or you surface and the ship is nowhere to be seen. There's no land in sight, seas are calm, and you've got 1000psi in your tank, adequate thermal protection and inflation. All you can do is deploy your SMB and wait to be seen.

Would you in such a case drop your weight belt, even if you had no trouble staying afloat with it on?

[Mycroft]

I am weight integrated. My weight is balanced around me, so just dropping the front weights would put me on my back and might cause trouble. As long as I can inflate my BC, I am balanced to remain upright and should be fine.

[medic001918]

I actually don't end up diving with ditchable weight, so it's not an issue for me. But I suppose if I did carry weight, I might ditch it just to ensure positive buoyancy.

Shane

[rox@ucf11]

if bouyant (able to inflate bcd) I dont see why I would ditch the weight I think it would be kinda a non issue in the conditions you described

[MLenyo]

yeah, i'd keep the weights probably. you could just orally inflate the bc if necessary, as well.

[Gombessa]

Originally Posted by rox@ucf11

if bouyant (able to inflate bcd) I dont see why I would ditch the weight I think it would be kinda a non issue in the conditions you described

Yep, that's the premise - bad situation but no immediate danger that would make it obvious to drop the belt.

Would you worry about your inflation suddenly failing or something else going wrong that forces you to quickly deal with the weight belt then (and maybe not being able to do it due to panic/exhaustion/fatigue, or dropping it and having it catch on some part of your gear when you actually need it gone)?

Or is there a good reason to keep it on, ranging from "I have no reason to take it off" to something that may affect your safety, such as your rig pulling you on your back or stomach with no weight belt?

[rox@ucf11]

hmm I would say if you had to dive again then you wouldnt be able to w/o your weights, and I wouldnt be to worried about your bcd failing even if you were to over inflate the dump valves would release the extra air.

it is not difficult to take the weight belt off just pull one latch and its gone I wouldnt worry about it catching on anything I think even if caught a litlle on your fin that it would fall right off.

[wheelman]

You might want to keep the weight belt in case you have to beat back the sharks.

[SarahBella]

Without a good reason for dumping the lead I guess it would stay where it was-my BC pockets are 50ish for a pair so unless its an emergency they are staying right where they are.

[newways]

Keep the weights if they are yours, rented from the jackasses that left you behind?...DROP THEM!