From jacket BC to back plate and wing?

[a22shady]

I purchased my Gear from "The Scuba Connection" in Hillsborough, NJ. But it was a deal at the time offered through Halcyon so you could have gotten it at any Halcyon Dealer. It was a promotion they ran. I believe they did it last years right after chrsitmas time. I think it ws febuary/March

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

So i'm still very new to diving with just over 30 open water dives. I do dive very often (25 in the last three months) because I enjoy the hell out of it. And since I enjoy the hell of diving I have been reading the forums and magazine articles about all things scuba diving. On my first ocean dive one of the crew used a back plate and wing. He was really cool about all my questions and I liked his approach. Of course I have the full vest bc with Air 2(gemini) and all the stuff that goes along with that.

It seems to me that most people start with the jacket BC because they aren't quite sure they will like diving all that much. But I've seen a handful of folks doing recreational dives with the back plate system. So if I was interested in trying a setup like that, where would I even start? For those of you that use the back plate and wing systems, what prompted you to use that setup and where did you begin? I'm guessing it's better to know someone that uses a back plate?Lastly what are some pro's and cons?

Then there's always the path of the rebreather.....If only I had an extra 10k (x 2 for me and my wife). I think the thing to do is find someone who is willing to let me try a rig and maybe in a pool would be best. Maybe i'll hate it or maybe i'll love it.

A pity you live so far away. Out here, backplates are popular because they are well-suited to the cold-water conditions we dive in. A lot of us own more than one, and happily let anyone who's curious about them try one of ours out.

We also have a rebreather instructor who, once a year, puts on a "rebreather experience" in a local pool ... where the rebreather-curious can come and take a little "discover rebreather" seminar and get in the pool for a few hours with any number of different units. Last month I got to try out five different models of rebreather from four different manufacturers (Meg, KISS, rEVO and Inspiration).

Maybe what you really need to do is spend some time in Seattle ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[SDE Dennis]

My first two BC's were jacket style and for me there were uncomfortable. Kind of like a ballon wrapped around you. I learned how much I didn't like a jacket when I bought a transpac . I love it. You need to try one to apreciate it.

 

[theod]

Yeah, and then some.

Cos - if like me since the start of this year when I got my first BP/W, you'll start falling in love with it, start pricking around, getting your harness just so, learning where the hell to stow things, ignore your wife and children in the pursuit of perfection, then - in a blazing beam of light just after payday - realise that actually you need more and better of everything. Plus lots of little bits from expensive people like Halcyon where zip ties cost $40 for 2 (size S). Immediately having made this decision and subsequent spend you will realise that what you really wanted was twins. So go out and spend it all again except this time you have tanks too and now a fair amount of regs to your name too. You will likely at this point also need:
a) a larger house
b) a new wife
[edit: c) a good (yet inexpensive - you're poor now, remember) lawyer]

You can always console yourself that if and when you get off your lazy ass you can sell it all on e-bay but of course you won't. Even the poodle jacket holds fond memories and besides your too busy trying to remember which way the tri-glide actually goes. You will learn that making a mistake on your last shoulder d-ring on your one piece harness is a costly mistake indeed and one you will not make twice. Except you will.

All this notwithstanding you will likely never go back to a jacket BC. You'll have spent far too much money by now to ever admit you were wrong (which you weren't)

J

I love it! Every Word!

 

[theod]

Maybe what you really need to do is spend some time in Seattle ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Actually you are not the first person to tell me that. If I had my way I'd own every known piece of scuba gear.

 

[AndrewA]

I started diving in aBCD similar to the one my instructor used. I was very happy with it for a couple of years but then as I started to look at longer (deco) dives I switched to a wing system. I was not at that time ready to make the jump to a simple BPW setup and bought an OMS IQ system which I used for the next 3 years (both for recreational and technical dive). Over the last 6 years I went all the way to single piece harness and back to having a single break in the harness. I have never regretted taking my time and trying different configurations.
(Next week I start back at the beginning with a rebreather!!!)

 

[orm]

I love my BP and wing setup... I'd been diving jacket for over ten years, then went doubles for my cave course and I was thinking, "why the hell didn't people tell me about this before!?"

Saying that, I had a lot of good times with my jacket and still dive with it in the ocean (although I get a bit naffed off when I'm all over the place in it!)

But, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter if you have tens of thousands of dollars of equipment on your back or a mask and a snorkel. You should make this about the diving, and the equipment is there as a means to an end. It shouldn't be the other way around.

 

[sabbath999]

Maybe what you really need to do is spend some time in Seattle ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Not to steal the topic, but we have made Seattle one of the next couple of stops on our agenda (next year... we have to get in more training dives in our drysuits first, so you all don't break out the clown noses to stick on our faces).

 

[jgoodstein]

My Instructor is a hard core Florida cave diver. He gave me the following pros:

1. BPW can be used for nearly all diving styles (Cave, wreck, Rec, tech)
2. Completely customizable and easily field repaired
3. Better center of gravity control
4. More streamlined
5. Less belt weight

I used a jacket in class and found that the bpw was less restricting and forced me to carry only necessary items as opposed jamming my pockets full of stuff. I felt much more horizontal and streamlined as well.

 

[Sas]

It seems to me that most people start with the jacket BC because they aren't quite sure they will like diving all that much.

Actually I think it is more they don't know about other options. I had heard of them vaguely when I was contemplating purchasing my own gear (at 20 dives) and I asked at the shop but they made fun of the idea saying it was only for technical diving and I deferred to their judgement.

But I've seen a handful of folks doing recreational dives with the back plate system.

Sure they are fine for rec dives. Actually nearly all of my regular buddies have BP/Ws and we're all rec divers primarily, I guess people often end up diving with what they see others using

So if I was interested in trying a setup like that, where would I even start?

Beg, borrow and steal different types, or at the very least one type so you can see what you think. Then you have to decide on brand, type of harness, wing, AL or steel BP and so on. When you get to that stage there's lots of advice around Scubaboard

For those of you that use the back plate and wing systems, what prompted you to use that setup and where did you begin? I'm guessing it's better to know someone that uses a back plate?Lastly what are some pro's and cons?

I tried one when I went interstate to visit some people I met on Scubaboard. One of them (hi almitywife!) said I had to try her BP/W and I'd always wanted to give one a go. Really loved it from that dive (was about dive 100 for me) and got my own one three or four months later after deciding on a few things I wanted. Now I have two, one for single tank and one for twinset, but I kept my old BC for friends to use.

Pros, jgoodstein summed them up well but I'd also add they can often be cheaper than a BC. My doubles BP/W cost me $270 (new), for example.

Cons: Unfamiliar to some people so you'll have to explain about your harness if it is one piece. It's a struggle to think of cons actually...