Halcyon BP; One size fits all?

[scottk]

DADDY BIG-GULP once bubbled...
Okay GANG.. Question Time for a newbie!!

<el-snippo>

Question(s): is the Halcyon SS and/or AL BP's all the same size; thus one size fits all? Does the metal BP rest right next to your back with no additional padding?

I've surfed the WWW tring to find info that assists one to a fuller understanding. NOTTA

Hi Big,

For most divers, one size does fit all, but not for all.

I make plates in three different basic sizes, and a few really off the wall custom plates on occasion. Divers shorter than 5'3"
(160 cm) or so seem to be more comfortable with a shorter plate.
Divers taller than about 6' 2" (188 cm) or so seem to be more comfortable with a longer plate.

1) How tall are you?
2) How much weight do you need?
3) Wet or dry suit?
4) Are you going to fly commercial airlines with the plate?

The thing you have to understand is that Halcyon (made in Taiwan), DR, OMS, etc are locked into one plate size by their choice of manufacturing methods. They have to purchase a new set of coining dies for each and every plate config they offer ($$$$$), so they will, of course, tell you that one size fits all, and any other ideas are foolishness. Having the plates coined is an expensive initial investment. The per-plate cost can be as little as $12 to $17, but you gotta sell a lot of plates to pay for the dies.

I am here to tell you that for the people I have made large and small plates for, the difference for them was huge.

Guys like Fred T and I aren’t ever going to hit the numbers that Halcyon does, and speaking for myself, I don’t want to. But what we do offer is an ear instead of a sales pitch, options instead of blinders, and a bit of that old fashioned American ingenuity and craftsmanship that cookie cutter manufacturers wont address.

I enjoy diving and divers, and making custom stuff or making right what the manufacturers made wrong, is what I do for fun.

Keep your eyes and ears open; there are a lot of really cool things coming on the horizon;

1) I am prototyping and an all stainless reg set for dubs that uses standard o-rings and parts you can buy at a hobby or hardware store, and has the hoses and ports pointed in the
right directions. Thisis an enormous project, and the testing and breathing dyno work alone is daunting.

2) Patrick Duffy is coming out with new single and double wings that are built like a silk tank, and Patrick is developing and bringing in cool stuff all the time. The guy is tireless, and best of all; he is honest as the day is long. He will be offering complete BP/Wing rigs in the near future, of higher quality and reasonable price.

3) New and emerging battery and electronics technologies are going to revolutionize dive lighting. We are going to see LED clusters take the place of many incandescent bulbs, and in combination with nimh batteries, will offer an entire weekend of diving on one set of batteries or a single charge.

4) There are also some real cool things happening with rebreathers, especially coming out of ISC:

http://www.customrebreathers.com/

Scott




http://www.selchie.com/whats_new_and_custom_stuff.htm

 

[Dryglove]

Wow we got both the BP big dogs(Fredt and ScottK) to participate on this thread. Its always nice to hear an opinion from the masters. I personally own a fredt heavy plate but you cant go wrong with either of these guys.

By the way Scottk, the new wing by patrick is looking great. I cant wait to see the single tank wing.

 

[scottk]

lal7176 once bubbled...


<snip>

Thanks for the plug!

By the way Scottk, the new wing by patrick is looking great. I cant wait to see the single tank wing.

(image of a rodent furiously peddling a stationery bike)

We are peddling as fast as we can!

The dub wing is being dove right now, then next week we are going to have 5 other divers dive it, and then make any changes needed before Patrick pulls the trigger on production.

The single wing is really cool.

Scott

 

[Dryglove]

scottk once bubbled...


(image of a rodent furiously peddling a stationery bike)

We are peddling as fast as we can!

The dub wing is being dove right now, then next week we are going to have 5 other divers dive it, and then make any changes needed before Patrick pulls the trigger on production.

The single wing is really cool.

Scott

Thats cool. I am going to be in the market for a single wing real soon. My halcyon pioneer wing had a terrible accident(no fault of halcyon) and is on its last legs. Im kinda surprised the patches have held up for this long. I am seriously considering the double wing also. I recently purchased a new OMS 55lb single bladder wing and might ebay it and go with yours depending how much the wing costs and my budget allows me.

 

[wrongkey]

that somebody who knows what they're doing is going to start making a single tank wing. Halcyon is getting away with charging way too much money for theirs, which is understandable given the current lack of alternatives that could be regarded as being as good.

Scott, you guys ought not forget us Southern boys in this. Don't fergit, we could use a good single tank wing that doesn't have as much lift as you guys diving in Washington are going to want....

 

[victoriawtx]

set up with an aluminum backplate and a 27lb lift single wing. I am on the shorter side, about 5'4" and with a LOT of adjusting, I have found that I am very comfortable with it.

It's good though, to have options, and if you are on the taller side, a longer BP may fit you better than the standard sizes that the manufacturers design. I would recommend looking around on the web, and talking to people here on the board. We all have had different experiences with BP/Ws. FredT is a great resource and I've heard his products are of great quality.

Good luck!

 

[scottk]

wrongkey once bubbled...
that somebody who knows what they're doing is going to start making a single tank wing. Halcyon is getting away with charging way too much money for theirs, which is understandable given the current lack of alternatives that could be regarded as being as good.

Scott, you guys ought not forget us Southern boys in this. Don't fergit, we could use a good single tank wing that doesn't have as much lift as you guys diving in Washington are going to want....

We are concentrating on reducing inventory and cost, so we are going to be focused on two wings for dubs and two wings for singles for now.

We couldnt forget you southern boys if we wanted to and we dont! Lots of input and e-mail I get is from some very good firends in various parts of Texas. You guys get ruined when I talk one of you into coming up here.

Scott

 

[DADDY BIG-GULP]

FredT once bubbled...
Tall folks, or to be more accurate folks with long torsos will find a "standard" length plate can be made to work, but it places the "waist strap" up against the bottom of the ribs. I find this not really optimum for comfort or stability.

Alternately folks with short torsos will find the bottom of the plate resting on bone at the pelvic arch and the plate uncomfortable out of the water.

The other variations are the width of the straps at the shoulders and the weight of the plate.


I manufacture plates for both tall and small divers along with the "standard" size, in weights from 1 pound up to 19 pounds negative. All have at least 3 different angles the straps can cross the shoulders so you can adjust the harness to what suits your body style best.

PM me with your e-mail address for details.

FredT......
Greetings, As all good divers do their homework prior to a dive, I feel I need to do my homework prior to getting equiped with good equipment. Your name keeps surfacing regarding BP's, so I have decided to further persue what you have to offer. Will you please share with me your personal comments, thoughts, and ability to make BP's. I am interested.

thanks in advance

FredK ( nice name.. us FRED's needa stick together!!)

 

[kingprawn]

Sorry I’m late on this post, but I have to put in another plug for FredT.

I am 6’6” with a long torso rather than legs. Fred is right on the ball! I rented a Halcyon bp with a 27# wing. Worked great, nice rig, but the waist band was around my ribs. It definitely restricted my breathing when snug.

Fred’s long BP arrived the other day, and is a work of art. I tried it on with the STA and I am very happy. The way it is configured makes it more adjustable/configurable than the H’ BP. The longer plate also distributes the weight and load better on my back.

Did I mention that it was less expensive. Not my deciding factor, but I’m not complaining.

Great Job Fred.

 

[FredT]

To those waiting for a message return I'm out of touch and can't do attachements. I should be back from the funeral on Wed and will catch up then.

FT