Thread: Make your own weight belt.

Things you will need.. One buckle $15 from your local sports shop (probably cheaper round) ,one length of rubber belt $15 from you local para rubber or such, one beer and one dog (optional)

Take your buckle in to make sure the rubber belt fits your buckel ( don't guess and hope)
Also get Flexi belt I went with heavy duty and it's bloody good but way to firm not enough give in it so when breathing up it doesn't give around my guts.. Also allow an extra 600 mill of length if you have the weights you bind on. Mines a bit of a tits up so back to get another length of belt. And photos of the mould and weights used to follow

That looks like a hell of a thick belt

Yeah like I said bits of a tits up... But that said I've seen 3 comercial ones torn with eyelets tearing out of the rubber hence the thick stuff.
That's also why went with a clamp rather than the normal belt buckle.... Any ideas welcome!

Originally Posted by stingray

Yeah like I said bits of a tits up... But that said I've seen 3 comercial ones torn with eyelets tearing out of the rubber hence the thick stuff.
That's also why went with a clamp rather than the normal belt buckle.... Any ideas welcome!

Sorry my comment may have come across a bit negative.

It wasn't meant to be. I think the clamp should work pearler if it has got good teeth in it.

Dogs no longer a cone head

Originally Posted by puku

Sorry my comment may have come across a bit negative.

It wasn't meant to be. I think the clamp should work pearler if it has got good teeth in it.

Na your all good ! I'm just to sensitive.. I hate fucking up something I should have worked out / thought about before hand... Moving forward going with lighter / thinner rubber. Also show the mould and making of weights.. Could even loan the mould to forum members. Anything to make it cheaper for others setting up for free diving.


Yeah Cam cone head gone... Still limping and sulking hard. He's moulting like a barstard, so mums sympathy has run dry and he's an outside dog again much to his dismay.

dont make normal weights. make crescent shapped ones. they sit on the body nice and dont catch in kelp!!

Depends on how much weight you need, I'm a skinny white boy
That needs 11kg to sink
I use to use 3 big paua shaped weights but started to get a sore back
So moved to a neoprene vest that holds about 6kg and rubber belt takes the rest
I find It keeps my core held down better when on bottom if that makes sense

dont make normal weights. make crescent shapped ones. they sit on the body nice and dont catch in kelp!!

Originally Posted by longrange308

Depends on how much weight you need, I'm a skinny white boy
That needs 11kg to sink
I use to use 3 big paua shaped weights but started to get a sore back
So moved to a neoprene vest that holds about 6kg and rubber belt takes the rest
I find It keeps my core held down better when on bottom if that makes sense

Photo please!

What ever buckle you get, make sure you can get it off your person with one hand. You dont want to be stuck somewhere and unable to remove that which is stopping you from getting air....

I made one years ago. Its clasp was a rollover cam. If you pulled it with one hand it would come away from the body and separate from you with one hand and without letting it go. The dive instructor insisted it was unsafe until I got him to try take his one off with one hand. He had a conventional claw clamp that the belt goes through and he had to let the end go to remove it. When he saw how quickly mine worked, he still insisted it was not safe but I noticed h stopped trying to sell me his ones as he could see they were worse than mine. All the other belts I have ever seen all have the same commercial buckle that he had on his. Best one I saw had a pin in the hinge like a grenade. If you got into trouble you pulled the pin. Buckle did not open but it actually separated from the belt and released from the other side. Never did find out where he got it.

Been thinking of redoing my weight belt, as it keeps slipping down. I have the pocket style. I have a rubber one and that doesn't slip for free diving.

http://pararubber.co.nz/industrial-r...ber-strip.html @stingray is this the stuff I need to get?
Going for a dive Waitangi w/e and need a few things

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@puku @Gapped axe

So far this project has being bloody niggley. Would have being cheaper for me to by a ready made barstard ( but where the fun in that eh)

So lesson one get a toothy buckle
...lesson two take the buckle to para rubber with you and make sure you get the right thickness
....lesson three allow extra for threading on dive weights if nesscary
....Lesson four don't loan out your dive mould.
Here you can see the rubber is to thick and the buckel won't close properly on the rubber

Stole this buckle of a web belt that I had spare ,close but still not acceptable ,as you can imagine that flapper hooking in the kelp/weed and you belt coming loose when you battling that cray


So off to shop once again to get it bloody right!!
Here is a photo of both buckles front on

A neat project, but I seem to be suffering from a case of act first think later on this one!
Cheers

Also I am thinking about drilling the lug hole out a mill, this should add clearance to the jaw allowing it to close futher...might go see @veitnamcam , because Stingray the ham fisted has a solid history of fucking up things like this!