Bright Weights
ABOUT BRIGHT WEIGHTS
Buoyancy and trim are arguably the most important facets of safe and enjoyable diving. Irrespective of what equipment a diver is wearing, their level of experience or the prevailing water conditions, if their buoyancy and trim is not correctly adjusted then their diving experience and safety can be compromised.
It is an aspect of diving which causes most problems
with beginner and experienced divers, yet a diver’s weights always seem
to be the last piece of equipment to be considered and are seen as the
bain of every diver’s life.
A diver’s weighting system is an extremely important piece of equipment. By applying some thought to the principals of physics one can easily asses what the best way would be to properly weight a diver, thereby giving them a streamlined comfortable and safer diving experience.
BRIGHT WEIGHTS VIDEO - SWIM LIKE A FISH!
| BRIGHT WEIGHTS PRODUCTS & RRP |
| PRODUCT CODE | DESCRIPTION | COLOUR AVAILABLE | RRP | |
| BW-BELT | Weight Belt (weights sold separately) | Black, Blue, Yellow and Pink | £18.00 |  |
| BW-CYL-HARN | Cylinder Harness (weights sold separately) | Black, Blue, Yellow | £11.00 | |
| BW-ASTRAP-STD | Ankle Strap (pair, weights sold separately) | Black, Blue, Yellow | £11.00 | |
| BW-ASTRAP-NEW | Flex ankle weights, 500g (per pair) | Black | £24.00 | |
| BW-2HOLST-INT | Intergrated Strap 2 slot (weights sold separatley) | Black, Blue, Yellow | £2.00 | |
| BW-6HOLST-INT | Intergrated Strap 6 slot | Black, Blue | £4.00 | |
| BW-2HOLST-CLIIP | Clip on Weight Strap, 2 slot instructor weight | Black, Blue | £5.00 | |
| BW-WGTS-500 | 500G Bullet weight | Black, Blue, Yellow and Pink | £4.00 | |
| BW-WGTS-1500 | 1500g Cylinder Weights | Black | £12.00 | |
| BW-WGTS-FLX-1000 | Flex Weights 1000g | Black | £8.00 | |
| BW-COMBI-500 | Combi Pack 500g | Yellow | £5.50 | |
| BW-COMBI-1000 | Combi Pack 1000g | Yellow | £8.00 | |
| BW-COMBI-2000 | Combi Pack 2000g | Yellow | £14.00 | |
| BW-BELT-TEN | Belt Tensioner pack of 2 | Black | £3.00 | |
For years divers have used the familiar block weights on a belt around the waist. This is not ideal as the most buoyant area of a divers body is their chest (lung area, where the most neoprene is worn) and it is compensated by placing negative buoyancy around the waist. By doing this one would trim a diver into a chest high position, this is far from ideal and causes countless problems for the diver. Firstly the diver will not be able to fin properly (the correct finning technique being with a relatively straight leg), because if they did they would swim to the surface. So in order to get from A to B they would have to fin from the knee, which can result in leg cramps. They would experience back pain because of their pitch in the water with the weights pulling their lower back down. They would not be streamlined and would require more energy to get from A to B and would consequently use more air and have a shorter bottom time.
WHAT MAKES BRIGHT WEIGHTS DIFFERENT?
It is the first weighting system in the world which allows for trim and buoyancy to be adjusted in tandem by allowing the diver the opportunity to split up their total weight requirement over the longitudinal axis of their bodies. The diver is able to place weight over the buoyant areas of their bodies thereby adjusting buoyancy and trim in tandem.
The most important dive course taught by any dive school is arguably the entry level course. Interestingly
enough the biggest problem faced by the diver and instructor during the
entry level course is buoyancy and trim. By using Bright Weights
correctly all these problems can be circumvented.
SO WHATS AVAILABLE?
WEIGHT BELTSThe weight belts have been designed to give ultimate comfort and ease of use. 500g plastic coated lead weights slide in and out of holsters in the belt and stay in place without the need of weight retainers.
Once loaded the belt folds and bends very much like a universal joint. A marine grade stainless steel buckle and D-ring are sown into the belt.
CYLINDER WEIGHTS
1500g plastic coated weights are strapped onto the SCUBA cylinder in tandem. The BCD fits over the cylinder as normal with the weights fitting snugly against the back pack (whether hard or soft). This means that 3kg have come off the waist being transferred to a position over the chest and lung area, thus levelling the diver out into a horizontal position. Voila! Balanced Bouyancy.
From a safety point of view the split weighting arrangement provided by using the waist belt and cylinder weighting system together is excellent. Consider the following scenario. A diver at depth with 9kg on their weight belt finds themselves in a compromising situation and ditches their weights. They are going to be 9kg positively buoyant and will accelerate in their ascent to the surface, with risk of a barotrauma. If the diver had been using Bright Weights, they would have split the (kg into 6kg around their waists and 3kg on their cylinders. When ditching they would have ditched only the 6kg around their waists. That is 30% less, which would mean a slower ascent rate and less chance of a barotrauma. On the surface with weight on their backs they would be assisted into the face up position with less chance of drowning.
The system doubles up as a cylinder carrying device and anti roll device for safe transport
ANKLE STRAPS
Ankle straps are employed when a diver is 'fin light'. This is generally an uncommon phenomenon, being found mostly with female divers.
Dry suit divers generally always use ankle straps to prevent the state of 'inversion' when using a dry suit.
WEIGHT INTEGRATED BCDs
FLEXWEIGHTS: Flexible sausage like soft weights weighing 1kg.
COMBIPACKS: 500g, 1kg, and 2kg square soft weights fit into weight pockets and have webbing straps, which allow for the weights to be used on waist belts as well
INSTRUCTOR AIDS
Instructor weights are 1kg weights which get clipped onto underweighted divers BCD's.
ACCESSORIES
