I'm interested too.
Cheers,
Huw
Do I know you? Your name sounds familiar
Well I received both the Huw Porter plate and the Freedom Plate. The Golem gear I didn't buy finally, instead I invested in afreedive course + gear
I'm currently working in the field, and only had time to dive twice with the Huw Porter plate, and only tried the freedom plate in my living room.
For what it's worth, here are my impressions:
Huw Plate:
The plate is made of aluminium, and is a little bit smaller than a normal backplate. I'm only 5'7 150lbs, so it fits me perfectly. It's very light, 1,4 lbs.
The reverse profile does work, and you don't need a STA, which saves weight. Fit and finish is perfect, the slots for the harness are vey tight, so the harness doesn't slide in too easily.
I used it with the tiny oxycheq #18 mach V extreme, and it's a very light combination. The tank was very stable, and really close to my back, wich is great, except that the first stage regulator that I use for travel is a yoke with swivel turret, so it has a pretty high profile. The tank being so close to my back put the first stage a bit too close to the back of my head when my tank was in the correct position. With a non swivel first stage it would be perfect.
In conclusion, I love it, and once I finish assembling all the parts I want it's going to be a great travel rig that packs very small. I easily fit all I needed for the dive, including the BP/W regulators, mask, fins, knife, and the wetsuit (full 3mm, hood, gloves, boots) in a small duffle bag that easily fits as a carry on in airplanes.
Freedom plate:
The one I have is an early model made of stainless. Because of it's shape its more confortable than any flat backplate, and has a small stabilizer bracket on the lower part of the plate to hold the tank in place. Does about the same thing as the Huw plate inverted profile.
For me, this plate is perfect, except that I'd prefer to have it made of aluminium to save some weight for travel.
As both plates are not available anymore -I bought the last Huw Porter plate, and the Freedom plates are not made anymore-, I'm not sure if this post is very helpful, unless you decide to make your own... And I'm sure making one is way more work that it looks like.