The First Turkey in Orbit
Did you hear the one about the first turkey in orbit? It seems he achieved escape velocity by going ballistic after dropping his 30-pound weight belt at a depth of 60 feet.
Seriously, the whole idea behind dropping your weights at depth is to avoid drowning — not to get bent or embolize in the process. This is yet another reason why weight belts are such a Bad Idea. With a weight belt, you don’t have any choices. When you drop your belt, you drop all your weight. The resulting ascent rate can be fast enough to get you fined for speeding in several states.
In contrast, integrated weight systems generally give you options. In a typical weight-integrated BC, one third of your weight goes in non-removable pockets in the back. The remaining two thirds are divided between the removable pockets up front.
In an emergency, you have the option to drop one pocket or two. If you are properly weighted, dropping just a single pocket may be all it takes to ensure you are on your way to the surface. Nevertheless, you’ll still have two thirds of your weight left to help keep your ascent rate under control. Even if it takes dropping both removable weight pockets to get you to the top, you’ll still have a third of your weight left to help slow you down somewhat.
This is good, because there isn’t a lot of air to breathe in space.
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