Soft plate BP/W vs. hard plate vs. back inflate BCDs

[redacted]

The Transpac with harness and rigs like that will probably make you carry a bit more weight than a hard plate with webbing. There is a lot of padding and fluff that tends to hold a bit of air which makes you add more lead. If the webbing is uncomfortable for your hikes, you can always add shoulder pads.

My wife insisted on one of those nice comfortable looking Transpacs with all the padding years ago. She has now opted for a simple hard plate for cooler water and an Oxycheq UL plate for warm water.

 

[akivisuals]

You live in SoCal, not sure how far south that means, but if you are close to LA that means you can pay Tobin a visit at DSS. If you are particularly tall, short, wide, or just like supporting local businesses, his BP/W's are made in Pasadena and are very high quality. They also allow you to bolt on weight plates so you can ditch the weight belt altogether. If you are less than 3 hours from Pasadena it is worth the trip.

I actually live about 30 minutes from Pasadena unless there's traffic, which could mean 2 hours. HA! I've had several recommendations to check them out so perhaps it is worth a visit.

---------- Post added January 29th, 2015 at 10:53 AM ----------

Are you buying your BC to go diving in or hiking in? Get a regular steel backlplate and one piece webbing harness. If the harness causes some type of problem, it will be no big loss to replace it.

(I've done shore dives in mine in a T-shirt without issue.)

I'm not buying the BC to go hiking in, but the reality is in my area and the type of shore diving that I normally do, I hike. Sometimes scramble up and down very steep hills or even cliffs in Palos Verdes. Long walks from the car to the dive spot are not uncommon with stairs, trails, and rocks involved.

---------- Post added January 29th, 2015 at 10:59 AM ----------

The case for something padded in SoCal -

Old MarineLand
Divebums - A San Diego Dive Website

There's also a remote site north in Malibu nicknamed Heart Attack Hill. I've also walked about 1/2 mile to dive LaJolla Cove. That includes two flights of stairs and parking in the 2nd lot because the close garage was full. People that own multimillion dollar homes in the area only grudgingly support public access beaches also so there's no street parking unless you have a community resident tag.

Although I own a Ranger, I think the optimal solution since you're already compensating for the 7Mil is one of the padded soft backplate models. Another factor is that it gets almost 100^o in SoCal during the summer. So you'd pass out wearing a 7mil jacket during the trek.

The west side of Curacao is similar in spots. Anyone whose been to Playa Kalki or Lost Anchor knows what I mean. Or 1000 Steps on Bonaire. And those are the more accessible climbs with improved facilities - stairs/paths etc.

This is my thought process exactly. Does the soft backplate have the ability to add an AL or steel plate or a STA for rigidity? Would that help in that sense? Is the reasoning for not going with a soft backplate the whole "bells and whistles" argument or is it mainly because of stability? A rep I spoke with at an online dealer recommended a STA to make the Transpac XT or HTS 2 more stable.

---------- Post added January 29th, 2015 at 11:04 AM ----------

The Transpac with harness and rigs like that will probably make you carry a bit more weight than a hard plate with webbing. There is a lot of padding and fluff that tends to hold a bit of air which makes you add more lead. If the webbing is uncomfortable for your hikes, you can always add shoulder pads.

My wife insisted on one of those nice comfortable looking Transpacs with all the padding years ago. She has now opted for a simple hard plate for cooler water and an Oxycheq UL plate for warm water.

I like the idea of not carrying additional weight on my belt, but if something were to happen to the wing where it wouldn't hold air, would it be a safety issue to NOT be able to ditch any weight? The reason I ask being that my Aqualung BC had a valve stick open twice on different dives after I had it serviced after the first incident. Being buoyant after ditching my weights the first time it happened made a big difference.

 

[tbone1004]

an sta doesn't work well with the Transpacs, they are plenty stable without it, and no adding a hard plate is pointless, you may as well just get a hard plate from the get go and put a transplate on there if you find you need it.

Regarding the ditchable weight, if you're diving a balanced rig you don't need it, but you can still add a few pounds additional. go chat with Tobin if you can get there during business hours, it's worth the trip, seriously. dive with the one piece harness first and if you are one of the few that it doesn't work for, then get another harness but the plate will still work fine.

 

[geoff w]

I shore dive in So Cal almost every weekend. Depending on the spot (almost always in Malibu), there's either a march across the sand or considerable vertical for stairs and/or trails. One of my regular buddies has an AquaLung BC with the complicated i3 contraption that looks like an elevator lever. I have the DiveRite stainless backplate with a TransPlate harness. Neither of us notice any particular problem for the trek to the water or back. My TransPlate harness has padded shoulders, adjustable straps and a sternum strap, very similar to the TransPac but with a rigid steel backplate. I wouldn't trade it for anything for shore diving here. I don't have the backplate padding, but my wife does and says it's more comfortable. In either case, it's easy to add if you want.

Several of my buddies have switched from continuous webbing (mostly from DSS) to the TransPlate harness, mostly due to comfort and adjustability. It seems like it's a pain to switch from wet suit to dry suit configuration because you need to lengthen the straps to accommodate a dry suit with continuous webbing. And I do have the lighter steel DiveRite backplate with continuous webbing for tropical diving (more my wing and STA over)

From what I've seen spending time in a local dive shop that sells a lot of Hollis gear, it's a more expensive lower quality knockoff of the DiveRite. In the past Hollis has had production problems. DiveRite customer service is terrific

You can also do integrated weight pockets with a steel backplate, which can be more comfortable than a weight belt for recreational diving

You'll be amazed at how much lead you can take off with a steel backplate. It's not just the weight of the backplate, but there are fewer places to trap air than your current Aqualung BC

A steel backplate is a steel backplate, except they are all different shapes and bend angles. I find the Dive Rite to be a comfortable shape for my back. Try several to decide for yourself. You can put just about any harness and wing on any backplate

If you're at a beach by me some weekend, we can meet up and you can try on my harness - the TransPlate is easy to adjust and accommodate a huge range of sizes. Let me know

 

[redacted]

I like the idea of not carrying additional weight on my belt, but if something were to happen to the wing where it wouldn't hold air, would it be a safety issue to NOT be able to ditch any weight? The reason I ask being that my Aqualung BC had a valve stick open twice on different dives after I had it serviced after the first incident. Being buoyant after ditching my weights the first time it happened made a big difference.

Some folks like the idea of becoming a cork when they want to but there are dangers involved in that if you can not control your buoyancy. Another standard is to always be able to swim your rig up. That approach does not require that you always have ditchable weight. I often dive with little or no ditchable weight but can always easily swim my rig to the surface. In fresh water, unless I am wearing neoprene, I just don't require any addition weight. I also carry a safety sausage or DSMB which can serve as a backup buoyancy means if needed.

In CA, I would expect you will need some lead even with a SS plate. If you want more ditchable lead, opt for an aluminum plate.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Why is a 6 # SS plate too heavy for warm water? I used mine off Coz last month and still needed roughly 8 # of weight added (wearing a 3/2 full suit). If I were diving in board shorts, would the plate by itself be too heavy? The only way I can imagine the 6# plate being too heavy is in warm FRESH water. But, even then it seems like it would probably be just about right to compensate for a near-empty AL80. Maybe a pound or two heavy, in that scenario? I don't know about anyone else, but being a pound or two heavy would not be enough to make me buy a second plate just for that scenario.

Or am I just totally missing something?

If it's just the issue of carrying the weight when flying somewhere, well, to each his own, but I put mine in my carry-on bag and it's not a problem. I mean, it's only 4 or 5 pounds heavier than the lightest plate you could get anyway, right? Carrying a 4 or 5 pound heavier plate is worth it to me, for the buoyancy/trim benefits when I get where I'm going. In fact, next time, I think I'm going to bolt on the extra weights (my BPW is a DSS) that I got and take them, too, so I don't have to put any weights in the trim pockets.

@akivisuals: tbone knows his stuff! DSS gear is top quality and not that expensive. You can get a complete new single-tank rig for $470. And the DSS BP/W setup has some unique features that I have not seen on any other BP/W. Plus more sizes of back plate, for a more custom fit. It's definitely worth looking into, even if you ultimately decide to go with something different.

Well, my idea of warm water is no wetsuit just board shorts, or possibly a thin shorty.
Anything would work, my point is that a 6# plate isn't really ideal partly for the plane/travel part, and also because it's possible that with no wetsuit, a 6# plate, and a steel tank might mean that's more weight total that a body could float at the surface with no ditchable weight. And before someone jumps on about "That's what a wing is for",.. no not really. A wing is meant to take the edge off at depth not as a surface floatation device. If for some reason the wing was to fail on the surface like an inflator elbow breaking off or something, then not being able to float or ditch some weight means you're going down unless you decide to ditch the whole rig.
I always like to have something to get rid of like at least a couple lbs on a belt, or better yet be able to float on the surface with no air in my wing at all even with a full tank and all my needed weights on me. This would mean in warm water a lighter plate like 2 lb aluminum, or even one of those old plastic packs, those are great and cheap too only $40, they weigh almost nothing, plus you can rig them with a wing if you want.
The 30# wing would work fine, maybe a little big but it would work.

 

[geoff w]

Well, my idea of warm water is no wetsuit just board shorts, or possibly a thin shorty.
Anything would work, my point is that a 6# plate isn't really ideal partly for the plane/travel part, and also because it's possible that with no wetsuit, a 6# plate, and a steel tank might mean that's more weight total that a body could float at the surface with no ditchable weight. And before someone jumps on about "That's what a wing is for",.. no not really. A wing is meant to take the edge off at depth not as a surface floatation device. If for some reason the wing was to fail on the surface like an inflator elbow breaking off or something, then not being able to float or ditch some weight means you're going down unless you decide to ditch the whole rig.
I always like to have something to get rid of like at least a couple lbs on a belt, or better yet be able to float on the surface with no air in my wing at all even with a full tank and all my needed weights on me. This would mean in warm water a lighter plate like 2 lb aluminum, or even one of those old plastic packs, those are great and cheap too only $40, they weigh almost nothing, plus you can rig them with a wing if you want.
The 30# wing would work fine, maybe a little big but it would work.

Yesterday I was in the pool with my old BC, a ScubaPro Classic from when I got certified 20 years ago. It used to be my only BC, and when I used it for warm water travel, I still needed a bunch of weight to descend. When I pick it up now, I realize it weighs just about as much as my backplate/wing setup, but is so vastly inferior for diving (which is why I don't mind subjecting it to regular dunkings in heavily chlorinated water)

To date, I haven't been to any warm water destination that provides steel tanks

For travel, the jacket BC is certainly bulkier and takes up more room in luggage, and for diving, needs a lot more lead weight to get the buoyancy right. I couldn't find the dry weight for the ScubaPro Classic jacket style BC, but for a Zeagle Ranger, the listed dry weight is a whopping 8.4 lbs, which is essentially the same as a steel backplate, wing and harness

We went to Palau last November, and dove with hardly any exposure protection. With the "lite" DiveRite steel backplate (about 2.5 lbs) and our small wings, my wife and I each needed about 4 lbs of lead to trim out (she was in a 3mm full suit and hooded vest, I had a 1mm full suit and tropical hood). Again, this was with Al80 tanks (no steel tanks to be found anywhere). When we go to Hawaii next month (which for us still counts as cold water diving), we're taking our 6 lb steel backplates, not the light ones. Same wings, though. Either way, you will enjoy diving so much more with a backplate setup

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I was unaware that tropical destinations don't have steel tanks, silly me...I don't get out much I guess.
Right, well that changes everything then, by all means use the heavy plate, helps with the 3 lbs positive of the alumi and with a 3 mil there's enough positive floatation to counter the neg 3.
I personally would love the opportunity to dive in warm water with nothing but swim trunks and no BC. I'd use a plain plastic backpack and a AL80. God, wouldn't that be a treat!
We certainly don't get to do that around here.

 

[stuartv]

able to float on the surface with no air in my wing at all even with a full tank and all my needed weights on me.

If you can float with an empty wing and a full tank, how do you hold a safety stop with a near empty tank?

 

[gcarter]

Using a steel plate does not mean you have less weight to hump - if it isn't on your back, it has to go on your waist.

The steel plate will give better support.

Padding is overrated on a harness and likely WILL add at least a pound or two to your burden to compensate for its buoyancy.

If you MUST have padding, you can pad your harness and / or add a pad to the back plate.

I would go with the hard back plate (after 120 dives switched from a BCD (padding) to a BP/W (no padding). After 55 more, I would not go back to the soft BCD given a choice.