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Anything that is heavy enough to drown you should be easily ditched with one hand. Check out the dive gear websites for buckles and avoid anything that takes more than one quick action to ditch.
I learned how important this is when I rolled off the boat with 38lbs of lead, an 8lb steel back plate and a steel 100cf tank strapped to me with the valve still off. No air to breath and none to inflate my rig. I was lucky enough to be able to grab the deco bar at 15' and ditch my entire rig with one hand. There's no doubt that I wouldn't be here today if I had to even think twice about how to get out of my rig.
There was no reason for letting this happen. I have been diving all my life and there was almost 100 years experience between the group of divers that I was with. But still, it happened. I guess what I'm getting at is that you can't expect things to not happen. You need to make sure you are ready to react if they do.
Sure, much more weight then a surf belt but all it takes in one inhale of water and you could be done.
Take it for what it's worth. Just sharing....
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