Bad for the Environment, Too

As if weight belts did not have enough going against them, there is one more thing:

The use of weight belts is not consistent with environmentally sound diving practices.

Why is that?

• Weight belts generally concentrate all of a diver's ballast at a point below his or her body's natural balance point.
• To make matters worse, BCs generally provide most of their lift at a point above this natural balance point.

The result is a tendency for divers to be forced into a “head-up/feet-down” position. In this position, divers are:

• Not very streamlined.
• More likely to accidentally kick or damage coral and other sensitive aquatic life.
• More likely to stir up silt, ruining visibility for themselves and their buddies.

Integrated-weight BCs, on the other hand, tend to concentrate ballast precisely at or above most diver's natural balance point. This makes it easier for divers to maintain a perfectly horizontal and more environmentally-friendly body position.

Is there anything weight belts are good for? »

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