In Reply to: What the heck is going on at Padi? posted by Captain Tim Burke on January 23, 2006 at 17:24:35:

Here's the official standard and you can see it's being misinterepted.

12. Weight removal at the
surface. This skill develops
removing weights in an
emergency. Student divers
practice using the quick
release mechanisms of
their weight systems.
Ideally, students remove
and drop their weights,
but this may not always
be feasible. It is acceptable
to remove the
weights and hand them to
you, an assistant, someone
on a boat, etc. It’s
recognized that some
weight systems release all
the weights individually.
For such systems, you may
have students remove all
but one or two weights
before the exercise,
making it possible for you
or an assistant to catch or
easily recover only those
weights if dropped. Be
certain there are no divers
below when conducting this
skill to avoid accidental
injury from dropped weights.
You may have students
redon their weights
if appropriate for the exit,
but it may be easiest to
have students exit with
weights off.

• Knowing WHEN to ditch (or not ditch) a weight belt is the real lesson Walt 12:54:00 01/24/06 (0)