BP/W for beginners?

[Divercouple]

We have started to do some research into what gear we should buy for ourselves going forward. We don't have anything yet.
Our diving will mainly be in a drysuit, and from what we can understand so far, going with a steel bp/w setup is highly recommended.

Are there any major drawbacks to using a bp/w as beginners?

(Apologies in advance if this has been brought up before.)

 

[grf88]

None whatsoever. It is a very good choice and saves you from buying a conventional BC which you would replace with a BP/W anyway.

 

[Eanxbr]

After a 15-year hiatus, I returned to diving and migrated from a regular BCD to back plate+wing diving. I started off with a steel back plate, diving primarily in wet suits (3mm and 7mm) with single tanks, then started diving with drysuit with double tanks. I migrated from a steel backplate to aluminum in this last configuration.

I have found that backplate + wing configurations give you added flexibility when selecting gear for different diving conditions.

Hope this helps, and have fun!

 

[DiveLikeAMuppet]

Steel backplate is highly recommended with a drysuit, especially if you plan to dive very cold water with a thick undersuit.

If you travel a lot, you might end up also buying a lighter aluminium backplate so there is a tiny amount of gear duplication. If you dive off a RHIB ("zodiac") and need to remove your gear before getting in, go slow the first few times - removing gear with single piece harness is perfectly possible but requires a bit of practice, especially in a drysuit.

The only real drawbacks that I can think of:

• Some courses (rescue diver) require removing casualty's harness on the surface as one of the exercises. It's a completely pointless skill because in a real world scenario, you would just cut the harness. Removing the harness requires some skill and few hints from a good instructor - e.g. deflating the wing and drysuit a bit. If you take the course in a tropical destination, you might need to loosen the harness to cheat as local instructors might not have a clue how to help you.
• You should be careful how others perceive your skill level. Generally new divers don't start with BP/W, so other divers might assume that you know more than you actually do.

 

[OTF]

BPW is better, which is why most serious/experienced divers dive them, even for easy dives.

Since you asked specifically about downsides and everything under the sun has pros and cons: BPW setups do take a little bit more fussy adjusting and setup when new because they let you have more customizability. If you go for the classic continuous webbing DIR style (which is my preference for comfort, simplicity, and durability) it can be slightly more difficult to don/doff than something with shoulder strap buckles (which you can get if you want). But these are really not significant issues.

 

[Divercouple]

None whatsoever. It is a very good choice and saves you from buying a conventional BC which you would replace with a BP/W anyway.

Thanks! The modularity and option to configure as we want/need is what makes more sense to us than a conventional jacket BCD.

After a 15-year hiatus, I returned to diving and migrated from a regular BCD to back plate+wing diving. I started off with a steel back plate, diving primarily in wet suits (3mm and 7mm) with single tanks, then started diving with drysuit with double tanks. I migrated from a steel backplate to aluminum in this last configuration.

I have found that backplate + wing configurations give you added flexibility when selecting gear for different diving conditions.

Hope this helps, and have fun!

Thanks! We do think a bit about where and how, most of our diving will likely be in a drysuit in 10-20C water temps.

Steel backplate is highly recommended with a drysuit, especially if you plan to dive very cold water with a thick undersuit.
The only real drawbacks that I can think of:

• You should be careful how others perceive your skill level. Generally new divers don't start with BP/W, so other divers might assume that you know more than you actually do.

Thanks! If bp/w is highly recommended for drysuit diving in colder waters, which we do have here, why wouldn't beginners use them as well? What we don't here get is why someone would assume a skill level just by seeing a piece of dive gear, instead of actually asking.

BPW is better, which is why most serious/experienced divers dive them, even for easy dives.

Since you asked specifically about downsides and everything under the sun has pros and cons: BPW setups do take a little bit more fussy adjusting and setup when new because they let you have more customizability. If you go for the classic continuous webbing DIR style (which is my preference for comfort, simplicity, and durability) it can be slightly more difficult to don/doff than something with shoulder strap buckles (which you can get if you want). But these are really not significant issues.

Thanks! We think we can live with the adjusting and setup, to us that does make a lot more sense. If you also can get the shoulder strap buckles it would also make donning/doffing easier. Are there other methods to do the webbing? How do we find the right lift capacity for use with a steel tank?

 

[Boarderguy]

Thanks! If bp/w is highly recommended for drysuit diving in colder waters, which we do have here, why wouldn't beginners use them as well? What we don't here get is why someone would assume a skill level just by seeing a piece of dive gear, instead of actually asking.

There are better $$ margins for an LDS to sell a new diver a BC than to get them a modular system that will grow with their diving. The majority of dive professionals use whatever system the shop owner sells vs their own preference.

Thanks! We think we can live with the adjusting and setup, to us that does make a lot more sense. If you also can get the shoulder strap buckles it would also make donning/doffing easier. Are there other methods to do the webbing? How do we find the right lift capacity for use with a steel tank?

HOG makes an harness system with shoulder straps that are adjustable and have clips. I use that one and it works well for me since I can loosen my left arm for easier don/doff.

 

[Vitesse2l]

One potentential disadvantage of a BP/W system is the lack of built-in pockets.

Easy way round that is to use your drysuit pockets instead.

I occasionally switch back to my old bcd but diving with the bp/w is so much easier.

 

[DiveLikeAMuppet]

Thanks! If bp/w is highly recommended for drysuit diving in colder waters, which we do have here, why wouldn't beginners use them as well? What we don't here get is why someone would assume a skill level just by seeing a piece of dive gear, instead of actually asking.

Money and habits. In the UK clubs (BSAC) favour Buddy Commando because it's indestructible as club gear and out of (bad) habit. Commercial shops - with few exceptions - use jackets because jackets are far easier to setup for large classes, bring higher margins, look less intimidating to beginners and are better at preventing poor swimmers from panicking on the surface. Nobody cares about the actual diving bit.

It's difficult to upsell on a piece of steel with few holes, a simple webbing and a simple bladder/wing. That's also the reason why you see wings with comfort harnesses, weight pockets and other "stuff" that's quite unnecessary.

People assume skill levels based on mental shortcuts and it's very subconscious. Brand new gear, snorkel attached to a mask? Probably a newbie, watch out. Drysuit, backplate & wing, maybe even in decent trim? Probably someone who thinks about their diving a bit more, maybe I don't need to explain everything. It's really deceiving.

I realised how big a problem it is when I started diving a rebreather - lots of divers would look up to me and expect me to lead dives and solve their problems, because my gear looked very advanced, so I must have been very experienced. A bit a of a problem when you have less than 10 dives on the thing . I had to be very upfront about what to expect.

Thanks! We think we can live with the adjusting and setup, to us that does make a lot more sense. If you also can get the shoulder strap buckles it would also make donning/doffing easier. Are there other methods to do the webbing? How do we find the right lift capacity for use with a steel tank?

You might be fine with a single piece. Worst case you can later add a plastic buckle to one shoulder.

I used a 38 pounds / 17 kg wing with single 15 litres steel cylinder and I feel that it was about right for cold water as you need quite a lot of lead.

 

[Imla]

Thanks! The modularity and option to configure as we want/need is what makes more sense to us than a conventional jacket BCD.

Thanks! We do think a bit about where and how, most of our diving will likely be in a drysuit in 10-20C water temps.

Thanks! If bp/w is highly recommended for drysuit diving in colder waters, which we do have here, why wouldn't beginners use them as well? What we don't here get is why someone would assume a skill level just by seeing a piece of dive gear, instead of actually asking.

Thanks! We think we can live with the adjusting and setup, to us that does make a lot more sense. If you also can get the shoulder strap buckles it would also make donning/doffing easier. Are there other methods to do the webbing? How do we find the right lift capacity for use with a steel tank?

Beginners DO use them around where you live. ProDykk teaches Open Water in them. Don't remember what OFD does, but they did use them. You will not be assumed to have a certain skill level for using a BPW in Norway. All the dive shops in the Oslofjord area are well accustomed to using/setting them up. However, if you go to FUE, they are especially knowledgable about them. (You can rent one there if you want)

I advice using a single piece webbing with a steel plate and a crotchstrap for Norwegian waters. There is no need for strapbuckles, comfystraps or the stuff. If you are using single tank a 30-35lbs single tank wing, and for double set (Small double are really nice to dive in drysuit) you need a 40lbs wing.

Just send me a message if you have questions. @steinbil in here is also a local and well versed with a BPW.