Seeking advise for my first BP/W purchase.

[TSandM]

I don't know what you are thinking of in terms of "lumbar support". When I think of that, I think of the heavy elastic belts that folks who do a lot of lifting sometimes wear (and I am not sure they actually DO very much) or the formed cushions that you can put behind your back when you are driving or sitting for long periods. Neither is relevant to scuba diving, although if you want to wear a belt under your exposure protection, I suppose you could.

No BC is going to "support" your back. On the other hand, I, who have a fiddly back, have not found that standing or walking in scuba gear aggravates it. Where scuba gets your back is in moving equipment around on land, and in particular bending down to pick up tanks from the ground. I solve that by trying, as much as I possibly can, not to allow tanks to get down there in the first place (gear up in the truck!).

Of the rigs you have listed, the only one which is DIR compliant is the Halcyon. Halcyon equipment is very good quality, and that setup will definitely grow with you into technical diving, should you decide to go there. (I agree about skipping the Cinch to save some money, though, if money is an object.) Halcyon is just kind of the Porsche of backplate setups -- high quality, but matched with a price that is higher than the quality supports, at least in the opinions of a lot of us. I would assume your listing of that brand is because that is one that you can actually go to SEE in Sydney (if this is Sydney, Australia -- if it's Sydney, BC, you can drive across the border and see a LOT more brands!).

If you are interested in knowing what equipment is DIR-compliant, Dive Center Bondi can help you there.

 

[rongoodman]

To be DIR compliant you'll need a one-piece harness, which rules out the Hollis and the Poseidon. The Voyager has a pull dump which you'd have to replace. I like Halcyon and use a 30# Eclipse for single-tank diving, but unless you have a particular reason for needing the Infinity version, just start with the simple Hog harness--easy enough to upgrade later, and cheaper. You could also take a look at Deep Sea Supply and Oxycheq. Here is a link to the GUE site with some explanation of their required equipment configurations.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I can also set you up with a new HOG BPW for a good price. PM if interested.

 

[halocline]

Definitely start with a simple system; metal backplate, small wing, hogarthian harness, no padding. See how that works. Since the requirements for best performance in the water and on land are so radically different, you need to choose your priorities. The transpac was designed for difficult shore approaches, but its still nothing like an actual backpack where you would be reasonably comfortable carrying 50 lbs. To me, the metal plate actually does a better job of spreading out the point of contact between the round cylinder and your relatively flat back anyways.

If you peruse the classifieds, you'll see that a simple metal plate/hog harness/small wing system retains its value much better than the padded gizmos.

If I were buying a BP/W set up now, I would probably start with caveadventurers.com and try to get a good deal on an oxycheq mach V wing/dive rite (or oxy) plate/harness. Another excellent choice would be deep sea supply. With those, it's best to get a full set up, as the plate and wing fit together particularly well.

You'll find that with either of those set ups, if you get a good deal, you'll be able to use it, and if for some reason you don't like it, sell it without losing a lot of money. Try that with the poseidon!

 

[steelwindmachine]

am also new to diving, but researching the whole JBCD vs BPW thing...

so, a wing+back plate would be simpler, more advantageous than something like the Zeagle Express Tech?

I guess it really comes down to trying to find the products locally, trying them on and if possible, getting in the water with them to make the final decision...rather than buy, try and resell at a potential loss if it doesn't work out =\

 

[Goldorak]

Thanks everyone for your responses. I've been busy with work, therefore a bit of a late reply.

It seems I should have explained the lumbar support requirement I mentioned a bit better; so what I meant is a backplate/padding that follows the hollow contour of the lower back so that there is no gap between. Or on the other end of the scale, the backpack also shouldn't try to pull the lower back straight in order to close that gap.

Admittedly I didn't look into the non-padded metal backplate because they indeed do look uncomfortable to walk around with. And as I will be doing a lot of shore diving where I will need to carry my gear around I sort of ruled them out... but as I've never used or tried them, I may be wrong.


Unfortunately the only BP/W BC's in my list I'm able to try out here in Sydney (Australia) are Halcyon & Dive Rite. People mentioned Oxycheq, DSS, HOG etc. but I haven't found any local dive shops which stock them here.
So I have come to the conclusion that I will need to decide between these 2 because as a starter I will be depending a lot on the local shop to help me out :sos:

I had a look at the US dive gear stores you guys mentioned... I'm amazed at how much more expensive the gear is here in Australia... Halcyon Infinity is priced at $1200 at my LDS. Wreck Diver Supply has it on sale for $830... and I'm not even going to start about the regulator setup I'm looking at. :depressed:

 

[Tortuga68]

Halcyon dealer prices are set (and closely regulated) by the regional distributor... to be nice, I'll just say that the Australian distributor hasn't caught up with the recent exchange rate fluctuations, and leave it at that *cough +50% cough* sorry I couldn't help myself

Regarding the lumbar issue, I've never seen a BP with the kind of padding you're talking about (following the contour of the back)... the Halcyon 'padding' is pretty thin and regularly shaped (DIR is anti-padding), actually it's function is as a pocket for your SMB not padding per se. It's not unconfortable when diving (at all, even with an SMB in it, since you 'hang' below the plate) but if you have a back problem and are doing shore hikes, well - only you know the answer to that one

Some companies (eg HOG, see below) make padded BP liners, but again I've not seen one that is contoured (also the holes might be in the wrong place to match a Halcyon BP). If that's something you really need, you might have to investigate a custom pad

 

[Goldorak]

Halcyon dealer prices are set (and closely regulated) by the regional distributor... to be nice, I'll just say that the Australian distributor hasn't caught up with the recent exchange rate fluctuations, and leave it at that *cough +50% cough* sorry I couldn't help myself

Regarding the lumbar issue, I've never seen a BP with the kind of padding you're talking about (following the contour of the back)... the Halcyon 'padding' is pretty thin and regularly shaped (DIR is anti-padding), actually it's function is as a pocket for your SMB not padding per se. It's not unconfortable when diving (at all, even with an SMB in it, since you 'hang' below the plate) but if you have a back problem and are doing shore hikes, well - only you know the answer to that one

Yeah I'm waiting for them to do me a good package deal... hopefully taking into account the USD-AUD exchange rate. They are a friendly and experienced dive shop and local distributor for Halcyon.. so I'm prepared to pay a bit more to support local business and build up a good relationship with them; but within reason

Regarding the lumbar support... I've come to the conclusion maybe I myself don't even know what exactly I'm looking for... an antigravity BP maybe?
I guess I'll have to find out and if not find another solution besides the BP to alleviate the problem.

 

[Tortuga68]

The problem is, it's the distributor who's making the margin on the exchange rate - not your LDS. The fact we're at $1.05 now doesn't make any difference to the dealer's margin or wholesale price. They're getting shafted just as much as the end user (you), if not more because they're losing sales to the US dealers like WDS. I know at least one Halcyon dealer in Australia who dropped out because of this same issue

I don't expect distributors to adjust their pricing on a monthly basis, but they've had the good end of the deal for years now

Anyway, good luck with the package deal