Home Made Ankle Weights.

[Mdemon]

A little late, but here's a tip given to me by Scoff, of the UK cave divers.

Get yourself to your local scrap metal merchant and by the thickest lead piping you can find.  You'll need about 600g per leg - get 2Kg for fun.  Be prepared for a minimum charge though...  It is around 30-40p per kilo, so 2 kilos is 80p!!!!  Get a hacksaw/jigsaw etc and cut yourself two equal lengths, each weighing around 600g (which is what the shop ones way).  Cut each piece into 4 or 5 smaller pieces.  Tie each bunch onto a nylon bootlace/paracord or similar.  Fit a quicklok or a bead if you have one (the plastic blob with the hole, and the spring-loaded bit to hold the cord tight?) and tie the boot laces with a figure-8 knot to stop it slipping off.  Voila!  Ankle weights for about £2!  To go the whole hog, go for a dive.  If too light, add more lead.  When just right, replace the laces with webbing and sew on a fastex /quick release buckle.  Strategicly place the lead, then wack it gently with a hammer to flatten it onto the webbing.  Take the money you've saved and put it towards a good mask.

HTH,

John

[John Holmes]

:o
Hi M !
Great thinking!
You should have been with me when I bought my dry suit, regs and everything else thats threatening me with bankruptcy!!
Definitely worth a bit of time and effort.
Cheers
John

[John Gulliver]

When exactly, and where, is the dive show? London? Birmingham? Somewhere else? I'll be in the UK from 28th November to 3rd December, so I might be able to go if it's in southern or central England.

[Mdemon]

You're welcome John H - though Scoff gave me the original idea.  If you like that, you'll love the 50W halogen torch I'm making (~£20 so far)!  £85 for a set of weights is stupid, so I made a 12.8Kg Saddle weight (again from the scrappy@40p per Kg) and this is cam-banded to my cylinder with a support band onto the wing. (I'm not twinning at the mo, so no V or P weights needed yet).  Although I made a successful quick release unit for £2, I decided against it - more probs are caused by dropping weights accidentally than by needing to drop them (in other words, I want to avoid those fatal rapid ascents).  The dosh I saved has gone towards a new mask, 'cos mine leaks! (Cressi Horizon - anybody got any comments/experiences?).  I can't make one of those yet :o(

As some may have seen elsewhere, my pet project in the pipeline is an anti-ascent/drag device, to stop people killing themselves during uncontrolled rapid ascents.  I'll post more on this once I have it perfected.  Initial trials seem promising...

Anybody made their own comms devices yet?

Cheers,

John
"Forget DIR - DIY!"  (Or DIO if you're posh...)

[Mdemon]

Just heard a great variation on the ankle weight theme from a great old timer in Newquay - (John Beaumont from JB Marine and Diving).

Cut out a foot-shaped(-ish) template that will fit inside your boot.  
Go to the scrap metal merchants and buy a few Kg of lead flashing (the wide, thin lead strips that they seal the side of a roof with).
Using the template, cut out as many sheets as will fit in your boot.
Tape them together into a compact, heavy insole using duct tape (the tape with the fibrous bits in it - HM Forces is held together with this stuff).

And there you have snag-free weights. Which are also at the extremity therefore are more effective, gram for gram, than ankle weights, and much cheaper as they don't need buckles or webbing.

A quick addition to my earlier recipe for ankle weights - I cut very thin sloopy loops to connect the two buckles - if the buckle breaks, the loop keeps the weight from falling off.

Enjoy!