Asymmetric Safety Belt

Excuse my poor written English, however I would like to talk about SAFETY, spend words about that is NEVER ENOUGH!
Please read carefully cause this solution can save our life, it's really useful!
First of I would like to underline that the following technique is not an idea of mine, a lot of experienced divers already know it. I like to tell about for these speros that don’t know it jet and speak with everybody about your personal experiences.

Another summer has ended and, back in my country, Italy, as it always happens every year, it’s looks like a war bulletin. Many folks speros died, mainly due Syncope causes; today most of them could be alive as you're going to understand.

Samba and Anoxic Syncope in fact is the most common cause of death among our activity,
95% of syncope cases happen while surfacing, during the last few meters.
If unfortunately we black out, it becomes fundamental surface with our mouth upwards, as it easy to understand, it makes a big difference! Indeed, I'm going to explain a technique of wearing and loading our belt weight that 100% ensures that, I'm going to call that "asymmetric safety belt."

First of all, calibrate in a right way our belt weight is fundamental.
Everybody has a different body structure, bone thickness, etc, so, there's not a precise rule that can tell us the exact amount of weight needed,
it depends also on our wetsuit thickness, fishing depth, etc, however, generally speaking,
much better to have a little positive trim, off course, as it’s more difficult to gain depth, it will be much easier to surface quickly, without spending much energies.

In order to calculate the correct belt weight:
Beginning with a few kilos, (2-5 Kg about) depending on our wetsuit thickness, we have found an average right belt weight when, while breathing in, full expanded lungs, the sea level is at our neck high, under our chin, our head must be completely out of water. While breathing out, empty lungs, the sea level must stay at our mouth high, close to our chin. As I already said before, generally speaking, much better to calculate a little positive trim than a negative one.

As the name suggests, an asymmetric safety belt is a normal weight belt where the weights number is placed in an asymmetric manner.
As example a 3 kilos belt, 3 lead pieces of 1 kg each. We are going to load 1 kg on a hip, 2 kg on the back, close to each others, near the buttocks, nothing on the other hip. It's very important that one hip is loaded, the other one no, IT’S FREE FROM WEIGHT.

As you can see in photo:
with an asymmetric disposition of the weight, we are going to create 2 opposite and similar forces, F1-F2.
F1, due to the 1 kg loaded on one hip, goes down, the other force, F2, that in an opposite direction, from the other unleaded hip, goes up due to wetsuit buoyancy. It results on a torque momentum of our body spin axis from feet to head.
The intensity of the spin momentum, T, is the result of the weight loaded in one hip, multiply (*) the distance (R1+R2) of the spin axis. We can deduce that, with a more heavy weight on one of our hip, we are going to have a stronger body rotation, as well, bigger is the distance R1-R2, results in a stronger rotation too. Cause this simple physics law, due to the weight loaded on our bottom back too, while a senseless body is surfacing, is going to spin, turning on with upwards face, the mouth will be out from the water heading off drowning.

Practically speaking, in order to understand better how it works, try by yourself with your normal belt, move the weight in an asymmetric position, the full weight stay on one hip, move to the other your buckle in order to have the hip free from weight.
Dive down a few meters, relaxing and acting as you pass out, your body is going to surface turning your face upwards. Of course, with a safety belt the momentum will be faster and optimized.
The asymmetric safety belt works when the overall belt weight is precisely calculate resulting in our body neutral or little positive trim while we're on the sea bottom, keep that in mind because is fundamental!
As it easy to understand, with a too heavy belt load, a senseless body is going to sink or at list, while in a few last meters, surfacing really slow.
With a belt loaded in a normal way, with a symmetric weight disposition, a pass out body will surface with the face downwards with deadly consequences if nobody is quick helping.
As we sow with the distance R1-R2 example, in order to optimize the spin momentum, better to keep the safety belt as down on the hips as possible in order to get a distance R1-R2 as wide as possible.

Here some practical solutions:

- Dress a single belt as already explained, 1 kg on a hip, nothing on the other, the rest of the weights on our back close to each other over the buttocks.

- Wear 2 separate belts, as example a full 5 kg weight, 3 kg on the under belt, the asymmetric safety one, 2 kg on the upper belt.

Remember that much better to wear a rubber belt, we can even make it by our self with a wheel truck, than those made in nylon with a safe easy to open buckle.

How overall trim must be a little positive, or neutral on the bottom of the see otherwise a senseless body will sink.

As already told, better to wear the asymmetric belt as down as possible on our hips , as you can see on the photo, securing it with a sort of bend that don’t allow any belt spin around.

In both of solutions, in case of danger, it will be easy to undress the belt really quick.

In case we are wearing extra weight on our back and, or an ankle band weight, the spinning momentum of our body will be even better as it’s easy to understand.

Please, let try the system first with your normal belt, turning it on one body side as already suggested, it takes you just 5 minutes, you understand that it really works! Than try one of the above mentioned solutions, work it out, try by yourself different solutions in order to find what’s working as best in your particular case. Once you find what is the best for yourself, I'm sure, you never go fishing without an asymmetric safety belt.

It’s really important to say that this technique DON’T WARM US FROM SYNCOPE RISKS, however it makes a difference preventing a senseless body to drown while surfaced.

I would like to thanks my good friend Fernando from Taranto, Italy, a professional spero that is studying new system up grade trying to improving it with some skilful solutions.