About to purchase a BP/wing setup

[WaterDawg]

Hey,

I just have a tip on weight. You might not need all the weight you think, In my old Zeagle I used 16lbs, now w/ the SS back plate and the #27 wing I wear a weight belt w/ only two-3lbs weights. I cant ever feel it. so you might wanna save yourself some $$ and try that. As for padding, "fougget abou it". In the water you dont feel the harness, But Halcyon does make a pocket that goes against you BP and it does provide some padding.

Hope this helps

 

[Dryglove]

It might help if you add some info like

do you dive salt or fresh water

warm or cold water diver

do you travel(weight issues for airlines)

what type of exposure protection do you wear

how much weight do you currently wear

are you overweighted that you know of

what is your current bc set up

Do you or will you ever need to don your bc in the water

what kind of tanks do you dive

That way we can give you some more definite anwers based on our experiences.

 

[mth71]

lal7176 once bubbled...
It might help if you add some info like

do you dive salt or fresh water

warm or cold water diver

do you travel(weight issues for airlines)

what type of exposure protection do you wear

how much weight do you currently wear

are you overweighted that you know of

what is your current bc set up

Do you or will you ever need to don your bc in the water

what kind of tanks do you dive

That way we can give you some more definite anwers based on our experiences.

All of that is true. Unfortunately, with only 5 dives under my belt (I've only done my basic OW class so far, that's it), I can't really answer the other questions very well. My diving has been, and probably will be (for a while), in freshwater (Beaver Lake, AR). To me, the water is cold, but that's only because I come from Daytona Beach, so anything below 87 F is cold to me. While I think that most of my diving will be in what is probably considered warm water, I would like to try some cold water diving eventually.

I hope to travel, but I don't want my equipment selection to be based on that, especially since I have my mind set on a BP/wing. The one weekend that I did my training, I believ I had a 4 mm full body suit on, with about 15 lbs of weight, which seemed to have worked out well, but I'd like to experiment with a bit less.

I don't know if I'll need to don/doff the BC in water. We had to do that in the pool and OW session, but is that something that divers do very often? I don't have the experience to know yet. I do know that I want to do technical and cave diving eventually (probably full DIR).

Unfortunately, my experience level just doesn't allow me to answer those questions very well. I am going for my advanced OW over the Fourth of July weekend, so hopefully I'll start to get a better idea of some on those questions, but it's going to take some time.

Thanks for bringing up those points. Even without having answers to them, I would like to ask one question myself: while I believe the 27 lb wing is probably sufficient for me (based on reading other posts), would there be anything wrong with stepping up to the 36 lb, "just in case"?

Thanks.

Mark

 

[Dryglove]

mth71 once bubbled...


All of that is true. Unfortunately, with only 5 dives under my belt (I've only done my basic OW class so far, that's it), I can't really answer the other questions very well. My diving has been, and probably will be (for a while), in freshwater (Beaver Lake, AR). To me, the water is cold, but that's only because I come from Daytona Beach, so anything below 87 F is cold to me. While I think that most of my diving will be in what is probably considered warm water, I would like to try some cold water diving eventually.

I hope to travel, but I don't want my equipment selection to be based on that, especially since I have my mind set on a BP/wing. The one weekend that I did my training, I believ I had a 4 mm full body suit on, with about 15 lbs of weight, which seemed to have worked out well, but I'd like to experiment with a bit less.

I don't know if I'll need to don/doff the BC in water. We had to do that in the pool and OW session, but is that something that divers do very often? I don't have the experience to know yet. I do know that I want to do technical and cave diving eventually (probably full DIR).

Unfortunately, my experience level just doesn't allow me to answer those questions very well. I am going for my advanced OW over the Fourth of July weekend, so hopefully I'll start to get a better idea of some on those questions, but it's going to take some time.

Thanks for bringing up those points. Even without having answers to them, I would like to ask one question myself: while I believe the 27 lb wing is probably sufficient for me (based on reading other posts), would there be anything wrong with stepping up to the 36 lb, "just in case"?

Thanks.

Mark

The reason i asked you those questions were to help you decide wether to get a steel bp or aluminum one and what size wing to get. A steel bp weighs about 5-6lbs and willl allow you to remove 5-6 lbs from your weight belt. An aluminum bp is negative maybe 1-2 lbs if even that. Also an aluminum bp is better for plane travel as it is very light.

You could buy a steel bp and lighten your belt by 6lbs or more depending on what bc you have dove with.You may even drop more than 6lbs with a BP/wing as there is no padding or air trapping causing inherited unneeded buoyancy.

I have only needed to don and doff my gear in the water one time because we dove from an inflatable. You will need your rig to float and not sink to the bottom especially if you use the ACB weight integrated set up. I prefer just a plain ol weight belt that i purchased from one of our board members by the name of heath74 .

It sounds like a 27lb wing will be sufficient for you. Remember that a 27lb wing doesnt actually have 27lbs of lift as advertised. The 36lb wing is exactly the same as the 27lb wing but with added side bellows. You may want to consider a 36lb wing if you ever plan on diving coldwater(by that i mean cold enough to wear a drysuit or 7mm), weight integration on your bc, or heavy steel tanks.

 

[Scubaroo]

...or, you could wait and see what www.oxycheq.com has in store - they have a nice looking 45b singles wing in the works, that would work better with a STA (single tank adapter) than the current version of the Halcyon wing. I'm guessing it's going to be quite competitive as long as there are no quality issues.

 

[pdoege]

I did the same thing. I bought a BP/Wings straight out of OW.

They were my first purchases.

So maybe you can learn from my mistakes.

1. Buy them used if you can. Much cheaper! The cave diver forum has a really nice used stuff section.
2. Get the SS plate. If you are fit, you will not need additional weights.
3. Get the Pioneer 27 wing. I started with a Halcyon 65, then a DR TrekWing. They suck for singles.
4. Use a normal weight belt until you know how much weight you are going to need. Then you can get a V weight or one of the fancier devices. In all honesty, you'll probably never need the features of the fancy stuff.
5. You are not going to need a lot of D-Rings. I have one on the left hip for the SPG and two on the shoulder straps. The left shoulder D-ring goes unused and the right shoulder D-ring holds my primary reg if I am using the octo.
5. When you buy your regs, use a necklaced 2nd and long hose. Really nice.

Good luck!

Peter

 

[mth71]

pdoege once bubbled...
I did the same thing. I bought a BP/Wings straight out of OW.

They were my first purchases.

So maybe you can learn from my mistakes.

1. Buy them used if you can. Much cheaper! The cave diver forum has a really nice used stuff section.
2. Get the SS plate. If you are fit, you will not need additional weights.
3. Get the Pioneer 27 wing. I started with a Halcyon 65, then a DR TrekWing. They suck for singles.
4. Use a normal weight belt until you know how much weight you are going to need. Then you can get a V weight or one of the fancier devices. In all honesty, you'll probably never need the features of the fancy stuff.
5. You are not going to need a lot of D-Rings. I have one on the left hip for the SPG and two on the shoulder straps. The left shoulder D-ring goes unused and the right shoulder D-ring holds my primary reg if I am using the octo.
5. When you buy your regs, use a necklaced 2nd and long hose. Really nice.

Good luck!

Peter

Pdoege, thanks for the input. Are you happy with your choice to go with a BP & wing as your first gear purchase?

I think I'll be buying my gear all at once through my LDS and get a 12% discount. Still probably not as cheap as the used stuff, but I don't mind, as long as it helps to support my LDS (and in the middle of Kansas, they probably could use the business).

As for the necklaced 2nd and long hose, do you have to buy the long hose separately, after the initial reg purchase? Because most of them don't seem to come with the long. I'll be purchasing the Apeks 200 (I think model APX or something?). I'd like to try the long hose if I can get it put on the reg of my choice.

Thanks again for your advice. I love hearing about others' experiences. Hopefully I'll be back on here in a few months to help others.

Mark

 

[Dryglove]

mth71 once bubbled...

As for the necklaced 2nd and long hose, do you have to buy the long hose separately, after the initial reg purchase? Because most of them don't seem to come with the long. I'll be purchasing the Apeks 200 (I think model APX or something?). I'd like to try the long hose if I can get it put on the reg of my choice.

Yes you have to buy the long hose and short hose seprataly. I think the model reg you are thinking of is the ATX200 which is a great reg.Here are some websites with the long hose plus some video with it being put to use

http://www.baue.org/images/galleries/view_album.php?set_albumName=equipment

http://dir-diver.com/en/news/latest_news.html

http://www.fifthd.com/classindex.html Scroll down to GUE classes and click on GUE Fundamentals of DIR. Then look on the right hand side below the pictures for the videos

 

[pdoege]

Much nicer than a typical BC.

I have used an OMS IQ Pack. They are easier to don/doff and are more comfortable out of the water.

Other people say the same about the Transpac.

I'll stick with the BP.

Peter

PS. When I bought my regs (DR RG1200) I specified a 5' long hose. I almost immediately switched to a 7' hose. The 7' hose tucks in nicely around my canister light. The 5' wouldn't. If you don't have a light, you'll want to add a waist D-ring on the right side and clip the extra hose to the D-ring.

 

[bwerb]

pdoege once bubbled...

If you don't have a light, you'll want to add a waist D-ring on the right side and clip the extra hose to the D-ring.

The hose must remain free of any obstructions for quick OOA deployment. Just tuck it into your BP waist belt. It takes a few seconds longer to tuck back in but it is totally out of the way for diving.