Thank you, that's helpful.
I don't want to go too big in volume but also I want to keep my rig versatile, in case I go do a liveaboard somewhere colder, that's why I'm not looking at the 10L and below.
Fair enough.
On the STA, does it really make a difference? My understanding was that some wing will require one and some wing use something else, but overall it's the same thing it holds the tank in place.
It does make a difference. With an STA, the cam bands are threaded through the STA. Without, they are threaded through slots in the plate and wing.
The disadvantages of an STA are that they add weight, bulk and cost and position the tank farther from your bank making the rig slightly more tippy. These are all minor issues, but why deal with it if you don't need to?
For the record, using an STA is advantageous if you are diving cold water and want the extra weight or if you dive multiple setups as you can switch wings or plates just by undoing and redoing 2 bolts instead of unthreading and rethreading 2 cam bands.
On the apeks slot size, isn't this standardized? I would assume all brands have the same spacing/size for the holes no?
The spacing for the bolt holes is standardized. That's where the STA will be fixed if you use one. You can also bolt the plate to the wing even if you don't use an STA. I don't bother bolting my wing because I think it's easier to clean and pack with the wing being partially separate from the plate. It may take a couple of extra seconds to put an unbolted BPW on a tank, but once the cam straps are locked down, everything lines up nicely.
However, placement of any slots in the plate and wing for cam bands are not standardized. Most plates and wings have slots that are much longer than the 50mm (2") webbing so you have some flexibility, but not every plate will work with every wing.
I was considering:
- Apeks WTX D30
- Tecline Donut 13 (military line)
- x-deep Zeos - needs STA
- OMS performance mono 27 black
Any obvious choice? Xdeep and OMS are almost half the price of the Apeks and Tecline in my country.
Then get the OMS. It's a solid wing. I don't see any complaints except the pull dump requires a lot of force. I don't see that as a problem since I never actually use pull dumps. I prefer the butt dump or using the LPI button.