That's right. The quick-release weight belt which so many people will tell you is a vital diving aid. I think it's a horribly bad idea, an anachronism, and should not be an option you even consider when you start buying your own gear.
Pro-QR divers will often point at diving fatalities, and say "He still had his weights on. He'd have survived if he dropped his lead." in a smug fashion.
This is utter stupidity. A diver who had a QR system dies, and this is a good reason to have QRs? No. This is a failure of the QR system, not a justification for it.
The problem is, QR weight systems are inherently flawed in that it is only appropriate to use it in a high-stress, panic-inducing situation. Dropping your weights will result in a very rapid ascent which could result in a burst lung and the bends.
Therefore, you should only drop your weights as a last resort, i.e. When the only alternative is drowning.
When you're seconds away from death by drowning, you're unlikely to be in a rational state of mind. You're more likely to be terrified and panicking. You will not remember that you can ditch your weights. This is proved, time and time again, by fatalities who could have survived if only they'd ditched their lead.
Only a very highly trained, well-prepared diver will be able to stay calm enough that, seconds away from drowning, he retains enough presence of mind to take the appropriate action and release his weights. There are very few such divers.
However, it doesn't take any special nerve or presence of mind to stay calm if you never get into a life-threatening situation in the first place.
The two situations that people generally hold up as 'proof' that ditchable weights are needed are loss of buoyancy and loss of air.
If you have redundancy for both, the potentially-fatal, panic-inducing situation of "I have to ditch or die" never arises. Only "Sod it, now I have to use my backup and end the dive early" arises.
And then the QR-user goes screaming up to the surface (if he was calm/lucky enough to use his QR, that is) so fast he can barely get the gas out of his lungs quick enough to avoid bursting them, whilst the redundancy-user makes a calm, controlled ascent.
The QR diver goes to hospital, the redundancy-user goes to the pub. Not because he's a super-diver who stays calm in a crisis, but because he never had a crisis in the first place.
The QR is a useless addition. In fact, it's worse than that. It's not just useless, it's dangerous.
Why? Because people will think they can rely on it to get them out of trouble. But they can't, as stated above. When it comes to the crunch, they will be too panicked to ditched. And yet, their entire 'survival strategy' relies on them doing so:
"I have a problem"="I'll ditch my weights"
But they won't. They'll panic, and they'll keep their weights. And they'll die. As so many others have.
Get rid of the QR. Suddenly, you can't solve all the "I have a problem" scenarios by parroting "I'll drop my weights". You have to think about what kind of problems you could have, and how you could solve them.
"I loose buoyancy"="Get redundant buoyancy"
"I run out of air"="Take redundant air & stay with my buddy"
and so on.
Unlike dropping your weights, these are skills you can rehearse on every dive in perfect safety. Do your buoyancy on your drysuit, then do it on your BCD. Perfectly safe. Switch between your main and backup air supply every now and again, to get into the habit. Perfectly safe. Breathe off your buddy's octopus. Perfectly safe.
Drop your weights and ascend so fast you become airborne? No chance. You'll NEVER practice that on a dive.
Non-QR solutions can easily be practiced until they become second nature. Using a QR cannot. And not only do you become more likely to use your backup plan if you don't rely on QRs, but the scenarios become a lot healthier too. Compare and contrast:
Diver's BCD fails, he dumps his weightbelt & rockets to the surface, with a high chance of bursting a lung and getting bent
or
Diver's BCD fails, he uses his drysuit for buoyancy, ascends at a safe, controlled rate, does a three-minute stop a 6m, surfaces as normal.
I know which I'd rather do.
Lastly, there are many instances - too many - of weights falling off accidentally during a dive. I'll wager that you know more divers who've lost weights by accident than you know who've dropped weights deliberately. As one diver put it: "I've never had to rely on being able to drop my weights, but I've had to rely on them not falling off on every dive"
Relying on QR weights, you are relying on a system that you don't practice with that puts you into a life-threatening situation before you'll use it. The best it can do for you is save you from drowning by giving you the bends.
Relying on redundancy, you are relying on a system you can practice with on every dive that keeps you out of life-threatening situations. The best it can do for you is allow you to ascend in a perfectly safe, controlled, calm manner.
Ditch your weight belt.