I want to know about bp/wings

[Davey Diverson]

oversea once bubbled...
You see these everywhere in posts. I use a jacket style (sp cassic plus) and its great, but I'm curious aout the bp/wings. Please describe its advantges even if they are just personal, because I'm curious

They are a lot less cluttered. I think they are a lot more comfortable as well, but YMMV with regards to that. You will get to remove weight from wherever you keep it, generally. They are a whole lot more reliable, as there is less stuff to break. They are more adaptable if you want to do different types of diving. They are easier to maintain.

The real kicker for me was how it performed in the water. It's like it wasn't even there.

The best bet for you to know the truth, though, is to go dive one. You might hate it, but I'll bet you don't.

Good luck!

 

[cat]

(But I'm not trying to quit... )
I'm a newbie (< 50 dives) wet rec wreck diver.
Jacket BCs don't fit me very well and I dislike the constriction when they are inflated at depth. Tried a back-inflate, weight integrated "tech" BC for one dive. Ill-fitting as it was, it was still much better trim-wise than the jackets. Expen$ive, though and had an impressively confusing number of pockets and D-rings.

I bought a steel BP&wings last month and 13 dives ago for around $550 US, incl. liftbag storage pack (this was a fair bit cheaper than the "tech BCs I'd looked at - your mileage may vary). Would have bought it sooner but I decided to have it fitted at the store the first time and that meant travelling a long way (snuck in some diving while I was there ).

I was more fortunate than most BP/wings "converts" in that I clued in about them through this board BEFORE investing in an expensive jacket or back-inflate BC. I bought an old one from a friend (Hi Jeff!) to use as a stopgap measure while I shopped for a BP/wings. Saved me a lot of effort, money and self-recimination.

I dropped 11.5 lbs of weight from my belt - and nearly half of that is GONE, not just transferred to a better position - it was the weight needed to sink the old BC! I can empty the wing completely when ascending (air-trapping is an issue with some BCs). No constriction in the chest at depth. Easy to move in. Easy to stay horizontal (when there's no instructors present to make me nervous!). No plastic clips to break - plastics do get more brittle in the cold. Added bonus - on the surface, inflate, flip onto your back and relax as though you were in one of those pool lounge chairs.

It's not the most comfortable thing to wear onshore and I did have to learn how to fit it properly. I'm trying to think of a third drawback and failing, though I'm sure there are a few more (apart from the snide remarks I get about a rec diver having a "tech" setup - you know who you are and lighten up! I don't make sarcastic comments about your kit in your presence.)

I don't know if it's the solution for everyone - those who dive warm water may not run into the serious trim issues that I did when trying to balance lift in the upper torso with the lead required on the belt (or in trim pockets) to sink a 2-pc 7mm suit) and they may like the padding on a jacket BC.

A friend wants to borrow it to try out on a dive we will be doing - he can't find anywhere that will rent him one. This means I'll have to do a dive in a regular BC again

And kindly lay off Popeye - I don't know what he does on rec.scuba (or in the past here) and I don't really care. If he quits hanging out here in disgust like a few other highly experienced divers have done, it will be a loss, IMO. I've noticed that his replies are usually more polite than I'd expect given the amount of provacation and he tends to give straight answers to questions, especially newbie questions. If you start your post with "not to be a jackass but" odds are maybe you're being a bit of one, no?
Ok, flame away.

 

[ouachita]

Ttttttttrrrrrrrrrrrrrroooooooooooollllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll!

 

[el-ninio]

diveski01 once bubbled...
I can’t wear a backplate and wing without a wetsuit, drysuit or some other rash guard because the straps dig into my shoulders. Divers should not be diving without thermal protection or protection from aquatic life in any waters. Diving in a swimsuit alone is a good way to lower the body’s core temperature. Hypothermia is bad for off gassing during safety/deco stops. Circulation to the body’s extremities is slowed and can result in poor off gasing, which can lead to decompression illness. There are virtually no waters in the world that won’t drop your core body temperature. A thin wetsuit will help prevent a loss in core body temp and is more than adequate to prevent chaffing from the shoulder straps.

have you ever dived where the water heat up to 30 deg. cel. or oven more? They do so in this part of the mediteranian during the summer, and using "thermal protection" can end up with a heat stroke underwater, espetualy if you need to fight the current.

I will probably switch over to bp/w this summer, but posts like this are so clearly beised that I probably can't learn anyting from them, aparet from understanding what type of bc the writers prefer...

 

[Dryglove]

cat once bubbled...
[BAnd kindly lay off Popeye - I don't know what he does on rec.scuba (or in the past here) and I don't really care. If he quits hanging out here in disgust like a few other highly experienced divers have done, it will be a loss, IMO. I've noticed that his replies are usually more polite than I'd expect given the amount of provacation and he tends to give straight answers to questions, especially newbie questions. If you start your post with "not to be a jackass but" odds are maybe you're being a bit of one, no?
Ok, flame away. [/B]

Lets get this straight. I was only trying to get him to use the search function first as this has been discussed in detail many many times. If he would have said he has already used the search function but was unable to find what he was looking for i would be more than happy to go into detail and post some previous threads related to his question.

Popeye was the one that prompted my response with his pompus smarta$$ know it all attitude response.

A little respect goes a long way which is why i said "not to be a jackass" as i was not trying to say it in a demeaning manner.

To answer your question yes i can be a jackass when provoked and its pretty obvious so can you.

 

[bridgediver]

el ninio, I think you need to re-read that post.

If you look, diveski stated that it is recommended to wear thermal protection OR protection from aquatic life - ie a skin (I'm assuming thats what she meant).
I think she is also correct in that even warm water can drop your core temp. Even water temps in the low to mid 30C will drop your body temp over time if you're in the water long enough (unless its over 37C?).
I think the illness you mention is heat exhaustion. Heat stroke is a more severe condition that usually takes a long time to manifest and I'd be surprised if it could occur in the water.

side note: It's unfortunate that you feel that you can't learn anything from what you say is a biased post. She has covered alot of details about BP's fairly extensively. I thought it was well done.

takes

el-ninio once bubbled...


have you ever dived where the water heat up to 30 deg. cel. or oven more? They do so in this part of the mediteranian during the summer, and using "thermal protection" can end up with a heat stroke underwater, espetualy if you need to fight the current.

I will probably switch over to bp/w this summer, but posts like this are so clearly beised that I probably can't learn anyting from them, aparet from understanding what type of bc the writers prefer...

 

[Genesis]

and even so I dive a thin wetsuit.

Its mandatory to prevent Jellyfish stings and the like.

Anyone who dives in a bathing suit is asking for it. Not due to crashing into the coral (although that certainly is a factor if your buoyancy control is poor) but as protection from the things that sting in the water.

Are they ALWAYS present? No. What are you going to do about it if you don't have the wetsuit on and THEN find out that they are?

If a 3 mil is too much, wear a skin.

 

[FredT]

Genesis once bubbled...
Its mandatory to prevent Jellyfish stings and the like.

Shorts are mandatory, at least as far as I'm concerned, when triggerfish are about. The T-shirt is optional.

If hunting rigs or wrecks for large fish Dickies heavy coveralls are highly suggested to keep the barnacles on the ouside of your skin, but even then they are not MANDATORY.

Jellyfish in the Northern gulf are an annoyance at most.

OTOH Bristleworms are flat dangerous no matter what exposure suit you are wearing, or not wearing for that matter. A skin is useless against them,and even a 1/4" suit simply gives you a bit more time before you notice the embedded spines.

FT

 

[Genesis]

I'm well aware that it won't help against bristleworms (much if at all), but with the rest of the things about I consider it pretty much mandatory, and I'm usually hunting around wrecks

We do get some UGLY man-o-war-sized jellys here, and even worse, we occasionally get the "soup" of CHOPPED jelly tentacles.

The latter is downright ugly if you're unprotected. You WILL get stung on all unprotected pieces of your body; with a full suit its limited to some on the face and neck, but without your arms and legs are both suitable "targets".

Its not dangerous but it is darn annoying to have the "pinpricks of a thousand tentacles" all over your body....

We had a day like that a couple of weeks ago.... I was glad I had my full 3 mil on.