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Anthony Appleyard wrote, on Mon, 11 Aug 1997 16:41:36:-
> ... where can I get a diver's <BALLAST BAG> that I can wear instead of a
> weight belt, and on site fill it for free with sand or stones that I can
> jettison without finance-induced reluctance?!? ...

  David Strike <strikinc@oz*.co*.au*> replied:-
> ... may be just what you're looking for. ... 'Weigh-2-Go' For The Travelling
> Diver ... Zymurgy Inc., have developed a range of portable weights that
> won't put your airline baggage allowance over the top! Constructed from
> sturdy polypropylene the 'weights' are hollow containers marginally larger
> than the 'normal' lead variety ... Each canister features two low profile,
> screw-top, filling caps, one allowing ingress of water while the other
> permits the escape of residual air. Threaded onto a conventional webbing
> belt ... Once at the dive site the user simply fills the containers with the
> water into which they will dive, either salt- or fresh.

  ERH!!!!???? WHAT!?!?!!? Underwater, the water filling these `weights' will
be neutrally buoyant!!!, and the only weight effect will be the weight of the
container, so to get 20 lb of weight I would have to cart around 20 lb of
hollow polypropylene, as heavy as 20 lb of lead and much bulkier. Plus that,
the lighter the stuff that the weights are made of, the bigger proportion of
the weight is lost underwater due to bouyancy. Water-filled weights exist, but
for use out of water!!!

  A diver's ballast bag would have to be:-
  (1) Easily quickly emptied in an emergency by the diver who is wearing it.
  (2) When full, leakproof enough to stop sand from leaking it, in case the
diver could only find sand and not shingle or stones on site to fill it.
--
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