Diving Weight Belt

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Hello!

I went swimming again yesterday afternoon. Had the lane all to myself because some kid sicked up the leisure pool, and they closed that side and shooed away people with kids...

So there I was in the Olympic pool, with the fin off, trying to swim to the bottom, but I kept floating up straight away. I'm unsinkable!!!

I had a chat to one of the life guards about my inability to sink and she mentioned a weight belt. I've looked on google, but I'm a little confused which weights to get.

I just want enough weight that will allow me to swim but not so much that I sink the minute I go in the water.

Are there basic belts with light weight sinkers?

[Thalassa]

I'm the same way. I, and I believe Raina, both got weight belts from Nerine, and they work pretty well. Mine is a 5 lb belt and it makes me just float slower or be able to sit on the bottom of the pool without letting every ounce of breath out.

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Lol yea... I spent 15 mins fighting buoyancy, and even expelled air from my lungs, I don't even get to touch the pool bottom before I shoot straight back up!

[Meshy]

I'm the exact same, I have to fight to hit the bottom, even after letting all the air out of my lungs. None of the sporting good stores carries them at the moment. (at least in store, I don't want to pay for shipping if I can avoid it) So I'm just waiting for summer to actually hit (even though we didn't have much of a winter this year)... Hopefully it'll be something that I can decorate to look mermaidy and won't look too silly.

[Mermaid Jaffa]

I've just had a look...

All the dive shops here are out of 1kg weights.

5lbs is 2.5 kgs, and I don't want to wear one that has too many weights like 0.5 kg spread all round.

Trying to think what weight is good just to have 2 on the front and 2 on the back. Or spread them out like four corners around my waist.

[Echidna]

Can you sink if you expel all air on the surface, or do you still stay there?
And when you swim down forcefully to the bottom, exhale fully, do you still shoot back up?

In that case, you'll need more than just 2,5kg.

I'm of the same buoyancy, and I needed more than 4kg in the beginning to achieve neutral buoyancy.
If you train regularly, you will aquire more poise and muscle, and you might be able to gradually reduce the weights, but only to a certain point.
(For reference; I know freedivers who use around 10kg weight if they're wearing a neo suit!)

I'm now using 2kg and I can swim ok, but float back up when I stop moving.
For performing/synchro swimming I go without weights.
That's quite a workout :p

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Nope. Can't sink at all. Tried all ways I could think of.

Fin off. Deep breath exhale at the bottom, regular breathing then holding breath without air intake. I'm just one big giant float!

My efforts at diving is just me fighting the pool trying to stay at the bottom!

So sad... Can't even touch the bottom of the 1.2 m depth pool with my hands!

[Thalassa]

Yep, it's frustrating to try to do tricks and just have to be working so hard to stay UNDER the water. We should start a buoyancy support group, lol!

I know my weight belt has 5 weighted shells spread evenly. It doesn't completely get rid of the buoyancy, I still float eventually, but slower so I have time to do stuff. I'm still not comfortable with trying neutral buoyancy. Oh! It should be noted that I also have a silicone tail, so that may make a difference in the weight.

[Echidna]

So sad... Can't even touch the bottom of the 1.2 m depth pool with my hands!

The human body is naturally buoyant!
Some people just a bit more than others.

It's hardest to not float up in the usual "tailswimming" zone though (once you're deeper, the water column keeps you down, and at around 15m begins the free-fall zone no matter what your personal buoyancy is).

Getting a few weights is pretty normal for anyone into diving, and while I sometimes stare open-mouthed at people who can just sink to a shallow pool bottom and stay there without even exhaling, I've come to consider my floatiness a lifesaving advantage.

It really helps when doing synchro swimming too, and I mostly am alone when freediving, so in case I ever suffer a blackout, I will float back up to the surface instead of sinking down and inevitably drown, so I'm a bit more at ease with my body as my personal FRV :p

[PearlieMae]

I'm a sinker. ;) I can lay on the bottom like a shark until my air runs out!

[Mermaid Jaffa]

I'm a sinker. ;) I can lay on the bottom like a shark until my air runs out!

*sigh*

Is it doable to try to spread the weights around so its not mainly located on the hips?

I was looking at these and wondering.

http://diveimportsaustralia.com.au/mcnett-ankle-weights/

[Thalassa]

Hmm. I suppose you could do two belts? One on the hips and one on the ankles? I wouldn't recommend any more than that because it will likely slide around and be a pain. Is there a reason you don't want it on your waist? Keep in mind the more different places you have weights, the more difficult it will be to get the weight off quickly if there's a problem.

[Mermaid Jaffa]

I don't know. I thought if I spread the weight around, I wouldn't feel so floaty.

[Kelphinea_Kelp]

Has anyone tried the soft weights?

[Thalassa]

That may be true, ireneho. I guess it depends on where you're the most buoyant. Most of my buoyancy is centered in my rear end, and my fluke does a really good job of weighing my ankles down, so a waist belt works for me. Whatever you do use, make sure it's in a place you can get it off/out quickly if you need to.

[Mer_Adella]

You should talk to Nerine the Arctic Mermaid as she makes the weight belts for mermaiding. She can give you reasons on what it good and not good as well as she makes them herself :)

[NerineArcticMermaid]

Indeed I do. The waist is the best place since most of a human beings fatty(floaty) tissue is stored in our bottoms and stomachs. Ive made these for several people. They are indeed mermaid styled. I list them in my etsy shop they come in 2-8lbs. Send me a msg. We can discuss more. Nerinethemermaid@Yahoo.com is best way. I hardly get the time to come on here these days.

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Indeed I do. The waist is the best place since most of a human beings fatty(floaty) tissue is stored in our bottoms and stomachs. Ive made these for several people. They are indeed mermaid styled. I list them in my etsy shop they come in 2-8lbs. Send me a msg. We can discuss more. Nerinethemermaid@Yahoo.com is best way. I hardly get the time to come on here these days.

Thanks! Though not looking at getting a serious mermaid belt yet, just want something simple that I can wear in the swimming pool.

[Capt Nemo]

May want to try the local dive shop. I've found shot filled 5 lb single ankle weights that are long enough to wear as a belt.

[Mermaid Jaffa]

May want to try the local dive shop. I've found shot filled 5 lb single ankle weights that are long enough to wear as a belt.

Thanks for the info. I decided not to get a weight belt as I don't have a swimming buddy. And also I am an epileptic, I might not be able to get the belt off in time, should I ever have another fit. Which I haven't since I was a teenager, but you never know what will set it off, so to speak.

[BayouMermaid]

irene, pretty much all weight belts for diving have a quick release buckle, if that is any comfort. Of course, you know best what your limits are.

[Mermaid Melanie]

silicone weight belts for freediving are great cuz you can wear them on the hips without them falling down also meaning your not going to restrict your full inhale of air with it being around your waist - and yeah all these belts have a quick release buckle - very easy to use , if you wear it correctly !

[AptaMer]

I think these are the cutest weight belts I've ever seen, and they're super fast release. They're held on in the front by velcro, so you would be able to undo them even faster than a quick-release belt buckle. If you click on the full-screen option at the bottom right of the video you can see how they're attached easier.

I also think the swimmers' wetsuits are really pretty too. This performance was in the Cirque du Soleil movie Journey of Man.


http://youtu.be/7QeRzLFnXIc http://youtu.be/7QeRzLFnXIc

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Thanks all but... How can I say it nicely?

I know diving weight belts have quick releases, I have read about them and looked them up in various websites. Despite all my floatiness, I have come to accept that part of me as I can quickly roll over and stop for a breather. Instead of stopping the swim, stand and lay on my back to float.

When someone is having an epileptic fit, they can't do things by themselves. Some shake and fall down, some zone out and stop moving (I zone out), some shake whilst still standing or sitting etc.

I do take care of myself, in that when I feel tired I stop to rest, but as the thing is, its unexpected. Fits are not routine, can happen at any time. Even though I grew out of it by my teenage years, does not mean I am fully cured. Brain scans show it is still there, just not as active as it was when I was little. So having a weight belt would be slightly dangerous for me as I do not have anyone to swim with, that can act immediately should any trouble happen, rather than waiting for the lifeguards to take action after one has sunk underwater.

BTw, it says the "video is not available"

[AptaMer]

Hi Irene,

Didn't mean to offend. For m the discussion devolved into a kind of geeky discussion of quick release and even quicker release. My apologies.

You're absolutely right that your tendency to float is like a safety feature. As soon as you add weight so you can stay down, you're freediving, and diving with at least one other person is important then. I have a friend in who dives very conservatively and who had never had a blackout- but she had a blackout a couple of months ago while doing what should have been a routine underwater swim in a pool. Fortunately this was at her freediving club night and her buddy pulled her out instantly. She said she never even knew the blackout was coming and wasn't able to even try to release her weightbelt. Sounds similar to what you're describing.

[Mermaid Jaffa]

No problem. It just felt like there was many suggestions of what the diving belt is and stuff, when I have already explained that I changed my mind about buying one.

I don't know if the lifeguards are trained to spot people in distress whilst undergoing their medical conditions, I really don't want to be the first one for them to test out their skills. Nor to be the first mermaid that drowns in her tail.