Weight Belt

[Baka]

Hi all, lm looking to get a new weight belt and i dont know what to get. What kind of weight belt do you use and why. thanks for any info

 

[Amphibious]

I use a "marsailles" weight belt for my freediving/spearfishing.

the rubber compensates for wetsuit compression when i'm deep.

the rubber is sticky, doesn;t move much

the buckle is heavy duty, and non-quick-release. I like this as I spend a lot of my time crawling into holes, scraping my belly in shallow rapids and such, don't need a big buckle flap to catch on anything and open.

if Quick-release is a must there are a rubber belts made wit standard buckles. Omer makes some, but I hae nver had my hands on them, yet. woul assume they areup tthe high standards of the rest of my Omer Gear

 

[BatRay]

Non-slip weight belt is very important - I was using my nylon pocket-type weight belt a few weeks ago, and it slipped up around my chest when I submerged .

 

[Morg]

Anyone know how well the pocket weight belts work?

 

[Amphibious]

Anyone know how well the pocket weight belts work?

:yack
non-hydrodynamic
Expensive
non-compensating


the only nice thing about them is they are very comfortable :t

 

[Polystigma]

When I first bought my gear I got one of those pocket/pouch wieght belts. No matter how much I tightened it. The belt would always end up practically around my neck after a dive. I was later told about the rubber belts. So I went to a local dive shop and got a rubber weight belt made by trident. Since then I have had no problems with the belt moving around. It's always in the same place after the dive.

 

[jimdoe2you]

Baka,

I checked your profile and saw that you enjoy freediving and spearfishing. My recommendation is as follows:

1. Go to the shop link at the top of this page and enter the scuba store

2. Go to "Accessories", and then "Belts"

2. Purchase the, "Imersion Inox buckle"

3. Go to Ebay and purchase the rubber belt from this guy who always has them for sale, "http://cgi.ebay.com/SCUBA-DIVING-FREEDIVING-RUBBER-WEIGHT-BELT-NEW-NR_W0QQitemZ7216475675QQcategoryZ74004QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

4. Find some vinyl coated weights and stainless weight keepers at a local dive shop. I can't recommend the weight size since it depends on your body type and wetsuit.

5. If you have issues threading the belt through the buckle, just PM me (cause it's tricky).

6. Remember to wear the weight belt across your hip bones and not up high around your waist like most people do with nylon belts.

Jim

 

[BatRay]

Anyone know how well the pocket weight belts work?

Not a good idea. Any head-down diving will shift the belt to your chest. That can make you lose your concentration and potentially scare off fish. What's worse, it can move from side to side as well, and you need to access the buckle in a hurry. My last (ever) dive with the pocket-type belt ended with the buckle completely on the other side of my body, and that was scary. Also, pocket-types can get caught on stuff in the water; kelp, etc.

 

[Baka]

6. Remember to wear the weight belt across your hip bones and not up high around your waist like most people do with nylon belts.

why is that? I mean is that how your supposed to wear your weight belt when freediving?

 

[Amphibious]

How I always wear mine, scuba or Free. just seems to "sit right" when it's down on my hips...

 

[Groupermadness]

Just below the top of the hip Bone in the natural groove and my weight belt sits, as tight as a camels arse in a sand storm. and im using a nylon belt .

 

[Morg]

Thanks all for that input. I never tested them out at all so its great to hear that feedback

 

[matrixed82]

For those of you with a rubber weight belt (marseille) do you leave the weights on it all the time when stored? Is the belt permanently deformed if you decide to change the weight arrangment?

 

[Amphibious]

I haven't taken the weights off mine in 2 years, wouldn't know

 

[Jon]

There are two reasons to wear your belt tight around your hips, andnot your waist.

First, is that is doen't get in the way when you breath- since most freedivers use a deep stomach (yoga) breath during their breath up and don't want anything getting in the way of a fuill breath of air.

Second, it seals up the bottom of your wetsuit jacket, assuming your using a standard 2 piece frediving suit, so that you don't get any water flushing through it.

One final reason that I wear mine like this is that when your diving for long periods of time in cold water you tend to want to pee in your wet suit (immersion diaresies) and it holds all the urine down by your feet instead of letting it migrate up to your ears.

I find the marsieles belt eaiser to release than a standard rubber belt with a normal scuba buckle on it- maybe becuase the buckle is so wide and the roller on it helps it slide right out.

Jon

 

[Baka]

but dosent it hurt your hips when its there? and also my nylon belt inhibits my kick a little bit when it gets around my hips

 

[Polystigma]

This is the belt made by Trident. It's rubber and has a nice SS quick rlease mechanism. The one in the upper left hand corner.

 

[Old Man Dave]

I make my own weights and my own belts. Some of the commercial rubber belts are too thin. I use stainless overcentre quick release buckles available from any scuba dive shop and buy 1.2 metre (4 foot) strips of 50mm (2 inch) wide by 4mm (3/16 inch) solid (unexpanded) neoprene. I get the neoprene from a local company that keeps sheets of it for making heavy duty gaskets etc. They cut it to size from huge sheets for a cost of less than £3 for material and cutting. Good or what?
Dave

PS Details of my weight making is on this thread.
http://forums.deeperblue.net/forum108/thread59961.html

 

[Rockbrother]

I also use a rubber belt, but with 1kg bullet weights. I used to have 1/2kg weights (looked similar to the Old Man's weights) on my nylon belt, but unfortunately the gap was to small for the rubberbelt to fit through. The smaller weights are more comfortable than the normal 1.2 kg block weights and you can adjust your weight more acurately.

I will never go back to nylon though, even for SCUBA diving, the rubber is just much more comfortable and never turns around you waist with all the weights ending at the front and the buckle on your back.

Wilhelm

 

[Old Man Dave]

unfortunately the gap was to small for the rubberbelt to fit through.

Some of the commercial rubber belts are too thin.

Many of the "slot" fitting type weights are designed for nylon belts. Nylon belts are about 1mm - 2mm thick. That's the size some manufacturers use for the thickness of their rubber belts. Unfortunately this is too thin and when you weight up, the belts stretch under load and can end up round your ankles. :vangry
However, if you have a thicker rubber belt it may not fit through your weights.
When I came across this problem originally I found you could "stretch" the weight slot with a cold chisel. However I've now modified my weight mould so as to accomodate the thicker rubber belts.
Just something to watch out for.
Cheers
Dave

PS Yes my weights are about half a kilo + a bit ( about 1 1/4 lb)