How to ditch and retrieve your weight belt at the same time......

[jimdoe2you]

Save time and money!!! Ditch and retrieve your weight belt at the same time!

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yGrGIY82DI]YouTube - Aquasub Weight Belt - Blooper[/ame]

(Actually, I was demonstrating ditching the belt to someone when the belt decided it didn't want to leave me.)

 

[The Killer's me]

LOLLLLLLL...

looks cool, i never tried it b4, however i thought you will shoot up faster once you ditch.

cheers and keep diving.

 

[fcallagy]

Jim 3 things
1. nice swim through
2. very instructive teaching.
3. I am presuming the rubber caught on your ankle and that a weight didn't hit it first otherwise ouch!!!

 

[Mr. X]

That's one of the reasons I have concerns about belt stringers - they increase the "snagability" of your weight belt. Also part of the reason why I now prefer flat dive knives & sheaths.

 

[ILDiver]

That's one of the reasons I have concerns about belt stringers - they increase the "snagability" of your weight belt. Also part of the reason why I now prefer flat dive knives & sheaths.

In scuba classes, we demonstrate a ditching of the belt as un-clipping it and holding it out to the side, arms length away from your body. That way it has less chance of hanging up on gear.

 

[jimdoe2you]

I should really look at getting scuba certified someday.

 

[ILDiver]

Scuba has a little more to get hung up on. People try to ditch their weights some times and it stays trapped under their BC. I have seen them hang up on the buckles of fins. I was surprised it caught on yours. You must not use a lot of weight, but then I'm used to shallow dives in a 5mm suit too, so a lot of weight

 

[felipe felop]

jim your video doesn't play bud, can you repost it so i can learn from it.

mr.X do you still attach your stringers to your belt,what do you do now?,i attach mine to a boogie board now,i remember all to often an inquisitive seal getting a free dinner, no thanks don't fancy even a playfull bite from one,i like the idea of yours about knife stowage & tangles,ie flat knives,i guess only practice with a gloved hand allows you to deploy your cutting tools quickly enough to react, reason i say it cos its a 3D world in the water & SA(situational awareness) is paramount.

i'm so stuck in my ways attaching fish to my weight belt, cos i don't want my prize taken from me by a curious seal if its attached to my boogie board,its happened a couple of times,only to find the skull, stringer & a dragged swim by the seal making my pants turn a funny shade of brown,till he/she gets there prize,can anyone give any advice on this cos i don't know about anyone else but they still scare the sh*t out of me when they do what comes naturally to them :crutch:crutch

 

[Bill]

Great video Jim. Looks like a demo that I'd do. I keep volunteering to be a PFI instructor but they tell me that showing how not to do something is bad teaching. So much for our chances of a new career.

 

[Mr. X]

Haven't dived for few weeks due to weather & other activities. I plan to persevere with the belt stringer - just not comfortable with it yet, it'll take some getting used to. The main advantage is camo/attraction and closeness - although it takes me longer currently & the spike seems too small to iki. I still take a stringer on my float as well.

 

[samdive]

I did this once at 30m when I decided to ditch my belt because I was panicking.... belt wrapped itself around my monofin, between my feet and I swam all the way up like that with it banging on my fin...

didn't even samba!!

was a seriously close call though... now I teach people to throw it off to the side...

 

[jimdoe2you]

I agree about technique Sam. I'm a former University of Florida diving program instructor and always taught holding the belt away from the body, however my ambition here was to demonstrate the release ease of the russian navy design buckle by showing how mearly swiping it with a single finger can release it.

 

[samdive]

mmm... does that translate as "I was showing off"???? the downfall of many a diving instructor : )

 

[ILDiver]

I seem to keep making an innocent situation get blown out of proportion. Sorry Jim I was not trying to draw negative attention. It was "snagability" comment by MR X that triggered my response. I did not know your scuba experience, but was definately not questioning your skills.

 

[naiad]

In scuba classes, we demonstrate a ditching of the belt as un-clipping it and holding it out to the side, arms length away from your body. That way it has less chance of hanging up on gear.

I did the removal and replacement of the weight belt in my open water scuba course. I struggled with it for ages, it was so heavy, I was floating around face down trying to put it back on, using loads of air, and managed to cut my hand on some barnacles. But at least I did it! rofl

 

[Erik]

When I was teaching in Canada, this was the worst part of scuba training for many students.... cold water suits with 25 to 30lbs on the belts made for some hilarious situations! Many couldn't even hang on to the belts once they were opened, and the belts would drop to the bottom of the lake, so we usually did it in shallower spots.

 

[naiad]

Glad I'm not the only one!

 

[spaghetti]

Jim despite the belt accident I agree with Callagy: that was a very clean, elegant and "aquatic" dive. Kudos to mr. Doe!

 

[azapa]

those little tabs on the heel of fins suck and serve only to enable the likes of Jim's fancy tricks. I've cut mine off (sounds bad).

Re knives, I made a 2" wide rubber band to hold the handle flush to my leg, removing the knife is still easy, but nothing gets caught in it. Oh yes, weights are other nasty snaggy things, still working on that one.

Nice vid Jimbo.