8 dives with new rig and we both LOVE it!
Playa del Carmen 2 dives, Cozumel 4 dives (2 drift dives and 2 Nitrox Wreck dives), Cenotes 2 dives)
My wife did not like the trim pockets on the cam straps so on the 2nd day we used her weight belt and she was much happier. While I didn't have an issue I plan on moving at least 2 pockets to our waist harness and see how that is. She used 8 lbs and I used 12 lbs. Worked great and never felt over weighted except for the cenotes dive with the fresh water. but our dive master said we were not too over weighted. The wing provided more than enough lift and we both found the rig easy to be on the surface with as well.
We used a 2.5 shorty for Playa and Cozumel drift dive, 5 full for cenotes (75 degrees), and 3 full for wreck dive. The one piece harness (with shoulder padding) was very comfortable both in wear and ease of getting into and out of. Much easier than our normal BCD with the only adjustment point being your waist buckle. We both enjoyed the long hose set up and over all thought that the many hours of research paid off with how we set up our rigs. I purchased tech shorts (Mares and Halcyon). While I liked them both the Mares are a baggy short with lots of play when using the pockets. The Halcyon were my favorite with the neoprene providing a solid base for the pockets so getting to any item was just easier. If you have never done a Cenotes dive I highly recommend it! I am currently using the AppleWatch Ultra with Oceanic+ and it has a beautiful presentation that I enjoy. My wife has the Teric with AI and she loves being able to easily keep track of her cylinder pressure. (I'm hoping for AI for the Ultra in the future).
Kind of all over the place with this post but to the original question I asked about the value of DGX Aluminum BPW for someone thinking of this kind of set up I would say absolutely! We will get a lot of use out of this set up and it has started us down the right path for our future diving adventures!!!
Thank you all for your many suggestions and comments!
I'll add a photo (forum says photos restricted in coming days and I can't seem to post more than one)
View attachment 803447
