Welcome to Water Tip Wednesday. I’m Jackie Troy with Oceantroller snorkeling and freediving, helping you find the right freediving weight belt.
Weight belts come in different materials nylon webbing and rubber. Nylon webbing is very slippery. Not only do the weights slide back and forth from side to side, but you’ll find these weight belts will slide up and down your torso, making your dive very uncomfortable. Freedivers prefer rubber belts because they tend to stick to your wetsuit better and the weights don’t slide around. waist belts also have different types of buckles. This particular buckle cinches down, but there are freediving rubber weight belts that are similar to a regular belt you would wear with a tongue pin and notches, I prefer the one that cinches down so I can make micro adjustments as my wetsuit compresses or as needed. Whereas with the notches, you’re stuck with a certain size and you can’t make those micro adjustments. The standard way to put on a weight belt is so that it is right hand release, which means you hold the belt buckle in your left hand, bring it around your waist, feed it through, and this is the part that makes it right hand release. Remember when we talked about diaphragmatic breathing, placing your weight belt on your lower hips is very important so that you do not hinder your belly breathing, or your ability to maximize your inhale. If you find that your rubber weight belt still tends to ride up onto your ribs as you’re diving, especially for women to purchase a cross strap and just slide it over your belt. The best types of weights to use are the square lead weights as the cylinder ones tend to dig into your body. Well that’s your water tip for today. Next week we’ll cover how to weight yourself properly. Until then dive safe. Never dive alone. Oceantroller out.
