Intergated Weights

[JDC]

When I was looking to buy my ncd it was a big thing for me to have weight intergrated as I hated wearing the belts and didnt see the point in spending extra money on a weight harness when you could get a bcd that did the same thing and use the money saved to get something perhaps better then I would normally.
I have never looked back on using integrated, although I did try using another belt recently as I wondered if I was over complicating my diving. I still didnt like it and still didnt find it as comfortable as using weight integrated.
I know some people who have inegrated jackets and use just the trim pouches and a belt so that if they ever have to drop weight they can choose how much to drop at a time.
For me though I still stick with my integrated pouches, its more comfortable on the surface and in the water (for me) and only takes a bit of extra lifting for the benefits.

[Houseplant]

totally agree with papabear, but it may not suit everyone. with a 5mm wetsuit, i wear 4kg of lead. if you need a lot more, integrated may not be the way forward.

[simon moore]

I load all of mine into the integrated pouches, trim pockets and all. I'd rather not, but I have a lower back problem which means a belt is a bit of a killer. The pouches are easy to dump/hand up, and any complaints about what's left in the jacket are dealt with by a wry sideways smile at the twin set of the whinger in question.

I've just bought a jacket where the trim pockets are quite high up. One problem I have found with loading them up to the max is that it is harder to look nonchalent when you have flipped over in the water and are finning along looking at the surface like a upturned beetle.

Simon

[Scubee]

Originally Posted by simon moore

I load all of mine into the integrated pouches, trim pockets and all. I'd rather not, but I have a lower back problem which means a belt is a bit of a killer. The pouches are easy to dump/hand up, and any complaints about what's left in the jacket are dealt with by a wry sideways smile at the twin set of the whinger in question.

I've just bought a jacket where the trim pockets are quite high up. One problem I have found with loading them up to the max is that it is harder to look nonchalent when you have flipped over in the water and are finning along looking at the surface like a upturned beetle.

Simon

If a belt is a problem, try a harness. All the weight taken by the shoulders and I find it much more comforatble than either a belt or integrated weights.

[Spacehopper]

I used to use a jacket with integrated weights and lost the right hand side pocket 3 times. The first two times it did not matter much as we were rolling about in the surf, once going in and once coming out. However the third time was potentially more serious as I got it caught on the edge of the window as I was exiting the bridge of the Staingarth. Luckily dropped on Ratcliffes head and woke him up . He was able to recover the pouch while I held onto the boat and together we managed to relocate it and continue the dive. The consequence of losing 50% of my weights in open water is not something I like to think about so now I use a Bowstone harness ..... and a wing.

Gareth