Skill Demonstration – Weight Removal and Replacement Underwater

Today we will look at a skill that is useful for your PADI Divemaster or PADI IDC course, as it is part of the skill circuit that you are required to complete for both of these courses.

Getting comfortable with the skills requires some practice and also to understand the intent of the skill: what it is meant to explain or make our students understand about diving?

Let’s look at weight removal underwater. The performance requirement for this skill is as follow: Remove, replace, adjust and secure all or part of the weight system without losing control of buoyancy, body position and depth.

• With weight belt and weight integrated BCD : on the bottom in water too deep in which to stand.

• With any weight system that requires reassembly after weights are removed: in shallow water.

Depending on what weight systems you and your students are using, the skill will look a bit different. Today we are going to look at doing this skill using a weight belt, as it is still the most commonly used system in entry-level courses in most areas.

As per usual, there are various techniques to perform this skill. In our video here we perform the skill negatively buoyant, but if you feel your students are comfortable to do it neutrally buoyant then it is also a great way to do it.

Finally, depending on what exposure protection you and your students are wearing the skill can also vary a bit, the important part being that they need to be able to maintain control of depth and position underwater.

In order to demonstrate this skill, follow these steps:

• Use the right hand to release the weight belt buckle.
• Slowly remove the weights from around your waist while holding onto it.
• Keep the weights close to your body, in order to avoid switching body position or a big change in buoyancy.
• Replace the weight belt around your waist, making sure the buckle is on the left side in order to have a right hand release and that there are no twists on the belt.
• Secure the weigh belt again and position the weights for good trim.

This skill is important as it could happen during a dive that your students would need to add or remove weights, or even to resecure their weights during the dive.

During your PADI Divemaster course or your Instructor course you will practice this skill and hopefully these few tips will help you master it!