We have noticed an increase in customers buying weight harnesses as opposed to weight belts lately, and it has sparked some discussion on which of the two are better. While both of them will assist in counteracting buoyancy of our equipment, especially our wetsuit, they do have some individual features. Let's look at some of the features of a weight belt and a weight harness.
Weight Belt
At the moment, weight belts are definitely the more popular method weighting ourselves for spearfishing.
Price: Weight belts come in a few different varieties, which make them range in price.
There are some obvious stand-out points with The good thing about weight belts is that you can carry as much or as little weight as you need, and use almost any sized dive weights.
Weight harness
Weight harnesses are not the most popular form of weight system, but from what we have seen they are definitely increasing in popularity.
Price: Weight harnesses are slightly more expensive than weight belts, due to the neopreen used and the amount of manufacturing that must go into them.
While weight harnesses can be a little more expensive than the standard weight belt, they do have some hard to go past features:
Streamlined design - better for tight places, like caves and wrecks
Better weigh dispersement and placement - taking the weight off your lower back, spreading it around your body so that you glide through the water more comfortable
Camo patterning - you can buy a weight harness to completely match your wetsuit camo
Great for divers with back problems as the weight is dispersed across your upper body.