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Rubber Belt questions.

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irishlostboy

Member
Jun 6, 2013
73
24
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Hi, I am wondering if anyone can tell me what rubber dive belts are made of? currently using webbing scuba belts, which are annoying as they slide about. I tried to order one with my latest gear order, but they were out of stock with scubastore, and most other places I looked had them at a silly high price, so thinking of making my own. are they just normal neoprene? If so, I can just buy a sheet of neoprene and a few quick release buckles and make my own. I plan on making my own lead dive weights too, as there are 3 of us needing this gear, DIY makes financial sense.
 
Not entirely sure what they are made out of. But if I was to DIY one I'd use a deflated inner tube. It would stick well and stretch nicely so ideal in my opinion.
 
50mm heavy gauge rubber. Normal neoprene has too much stretch in it and is no way near strong enough to hold all your weights in place plus the stuff would just tear from the abuse it would go through.

As for making your own weights it will save you a fortune just as long as you follow the correct safety procedures. Trust me melting lead can make you sick and its not nice.

How much were you looking to pay for the rubber weightblelts as I might be able to help you out?
 
Hey, thanks for the replies. I would shy away from using a tire inner-tube, as presumably it would bunch up along its length into a more rope-like structure under use, rather than sit flat like a belt. We are fairly lean individuals, and need as much padding as we can get, so if that happened it would not be comfortable.

I was looking at spending 10 euro each for rubber belts with quick release buckles in scubastore. 3 of them. If you could sort me out with similar Scott, that would be great.
Ya, I will be ordering a mold from Leo Darmitz in Canada tomorrow. I already have 11kg of lead. my other two mates can get the finger out and scavenge their own lead. The weights we are currently using are on loan from my uncle, and will have to get them back to him sometime. We will take full precautions with the smelting process. have done a fair bit of homework on that. the only bit I still have to work out is how to rubber or plastic coat them, to minimize raw lead contact on a day to day basis. So far it has been a fun learning process.
 
For rubberising/coating them maybe try vinyl paint..... It's not something I've done or heard others doing but may work ok.

Good luck with your project
 
Cut a car innertube to the desired width. take the outside (where its normally running on) to avoid asymetry. get a quality buckle that keeps the thin material clamped tightly and secure (test through pulling reasonably strong).

ready is your free belt. ...that has awsome stretch, is more comfortable than most expensive and thick rubberbelt, less bulky and heavy and will live for ever.


PS: there is no rope effect at all- it´s the opposite, as is actually following every little bone much better than the strong rubber
 
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10 euros Damn thats a good price and one I cant beat lol.

How thick is car inner tyre?
 
some good info there regards car inner-tube. cheers. I will try and find a tire shop that might have waste inner-tubes. a new inner tube would be pointless as they are about 15 euro. perhaps I could laminate sections of innertube to make it thicker? I will experiment with this for sure.
ya, a tenner was a good price for a belt for sure. other places are more like 20 quid. here is the link to the belt.
Seacsub Elastic Belt Nylon Buckle. Accessories Belts, Scubastore.com, buy, offers, dive
It is out of stock, and the due-in-stock date keeps getting moved forward. I have two Mares camo wetsuits, two spearguns, and (had) two belts ordered. the belts kept pushing delivery time, so had to cancel them. I don't like waiting a month for an order of new shiny toys. hopefully have our new suits this week. shiny.
cheers for the info guys. much appreciated.
 
Well, I went to the local tire place and got two old inner tubes. just cut the center piece out in a big belt. it is pretty good so far. going to clean and test it. I think it would be better laminated to double thickness though. Can anyone recommend a suitable glue for such a job?
 
barge cement, and be sure to use acetone or other solvent to really clean both surfaces.
Do you need to laminate them?
I would think that two layers should be fine even without gluing them together.
 
barge cement? will have to look that one up. cheers.
I am nearly finished my belt Mk.1. I cut it nearly double wide, then folded the edges into the center and glued them down with neoprene glue (it is what I had to hand), making a nice rounded edge and making the whole thing thick enough to fit nicely in the quick release buckle. I will finish it up and post pics tomorrow. So far it seems to be working well. the tire guy told me to pop back in a few days for more rubber, so will try Mk.2 then.
 
Here are pics of finished inner tube belt Mk. 1. any questions, or advice for improvement, please post. cheers for help so far.
 

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good looking work there.

i used bike inner tubes for my weight belt as well, but in the same way as in a neck weight.

its a 3kg tube and a 2 kg tube i also have a 1kg neck weight so i can mix and match to get the weight rite for diffrent setups. the metal bit is a pelican hook quick release clip.

diddavetellyou
 

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nice. I have not figured out what the neck weight is for, and am loth to put things around my neck if i dont have to. I will have to do some research on it. Did you use/make lead shot for inside your belts?
 
Yes the tube is filled with lead shot I bought on amazon £5 a kg free del.

The idea of the neck weight depends on the dissapline you are doing.
For dynamic (usually pool based) it is so all the air in your chest is counterbalanced and you glide further horizontally. Like I said my neck weight is only 1kg and it makes a massive difference.
For depth disciplines, when you go head first it pulls you down rather than pushes, apparently its easier to control that way round.

Hope that helps

Diddavetell you
____________________

Have drybag will travel
 
I believe the Guerns make them out of old conveyor belt rubber.
 
I have about 10kg of roof flashing sitting here doing nothing, so it will be my source of lead. I hope to not have to spend money on lead. prices are just going up for that stuff. I might experiment with making some shot out of the last kg and make a neck weight out of a bicycle inner tube, and will try that out as an experiment.
Interesting info on conveyor belt rubber. I would have thought that they would have been very thick and/or reinforced with fabric preventing much stretch? but I have no actual clue. but good info, cheers.
It will be a further week and a half before I can test my stretchy car tube belt out now, partly due to weather, partly due to other things on. hate not getting to try out new toys straight away.
 
Car innertube belt tested this weekend. Works fantastically. Even compared to the actual proper rubber belt we were sent in our order (apparently they had one in stock, not two.) Comfortable, and stayed glued to my hips all day. Innertube belt FTW. Thanks guys.
 
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