"Warm water backplate" with a "cold water wing" a bad idea?

[victorzamora]

The biggest thing is a stainless steel backplate in your checked luggage is sometimes the difference between less than and greater than 50#. I bought an alu backplate for that exact reason.....it's 4# lighter when flying with it.

 

[TN-Steve]

The biggest thing is a stainless steel backplate in your checked luggage is sometimes the difference between less than and greater than 50#. I bought an alu backplate for that exact reason.....it's 4# lighter when flying with it.

I can understand that... but I think the OP said that he had an older jacket BCD that he packed when he traveled to the land of brightly colored fishes. Not having to carry that should just about be a wash in terms of weight, so maybe no diff there, and a plus might be more room left in the bag for other stuff.

Steve

 

[Malpaso]

Not to be overly simplistic here but why not just add "D" rings to the BC you normally take. If you're just missing "D" rings on your existing BC, probably with a little effort (a sewing awl) and a couple of bucks for "D" rings and some webbing, can't you add them to your existing BC? Just add them while watching the tube some evening.

I might as well be doing quantum physics. That type of modification is not in my skill set

How much weight do you normally wear when down in the warm water? The BP/W will take off 6 or so, plus now you're not fighting the natural bouyancy of the vest BCD.
Might rethink on that one, steel SHOULD be your friend, unless you're one of those lean, muscled and dense individuals that just sink like a rock with empty 80's on your back.

In warm water, I use a 1m jump suit, just for exposure protection. I usually use 14# of lead. The issue isn't too much weight from the plate on the dive, it's too much weigh in the luggage.

The biggest thing is a stainless steel backplate in your checked luggage is sometimes the difference between less than and greater than 50#. I bought an alu backplate for that exact reason.....it's 4# lighter when flying with it.

Exactly.

---------- Post added August 26th, 2014 at 04:51 PM ----------

I can understand that... but I think the OP said that he had an older jacket BCD that he packed when he traveled to the land of brightly colored fishes. Not having to carry that should just about be a wash in terms of weight, so maybe no diff there, and a plus might be more room left in the bag for other stuff.

The jacket BC is actually quite light. It's an older model that I got as a leftover a couple years back, and is in the category of today's "travel BC".

 

[PfcAJ]

Score an el cheapo aluminum plate and harness, and throw a few weight pouches on the cam bands. The wing will be fine.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I've always traveled with a steel plate. But never checked. It always is in the carryon.

 

[Lorenzoid]

The biggest thing is a stainless steel backplate in your checked luggage is sometimes the difference between less than and greater than 50#. I bought an alu backplate for that exact reason.....it's 4# lighter when flying with it.

For just a week in the Caribbean, where you don't need to take much in the way of clothes, and flying major airlines that give you the full 50 lb. limit, it shouldn't be TOO difficult to keep under 50 lbs. while taking along the steel plate. As someone else said above, the combination of a thin suit, Al80 and a steel plate is just right for tropical diving, as it enables you to use less lead. I chose a steel plate specifically for tropical diving at the suggestion of SB folks as well as Tobin at DSS. I suppose if I were traveling for several weeks or, more realistically, lugging along a bunch of other gear (e.g., camera equipment), I might seek out an aluminum or Kydex travel plate to save those precious 4 pounds. But if you can get away with it, the steel plate seems to be the way to go for tropical resort type diving.

 

[eelnoraa]

Luggage wise, I really don't think AL vs SS makes difference at all. 2lb vs 6lb. 4lb difference is quite small. Since I only use 6lb of lead with AL plate in 3mm suit AL80 tank. I need all the 6lb on upper cambands for trim. A SS plate won't allow me to do that..

Like AJ said, use AL plate is very cheap, webbing d-rings are cheap too. I don't see why not.

 

[Super Noob 1258]

I'd get a different wing before a different plate. A 25-30 Lb. singles wing would be plenty for that kind of diving. I doubt the 6lb plate would be a weight issue, unless you're skinny like me and dive with an aluminum plate and heavy backup lights. Just carry the plate in your backpack/carryon bag...or do like I do and just skimp on clothes and shampoo .

 

[Landlocked123]

Dove my OMS 40lb wing and backplate in warm waters and had no issue. As stated I just added 4 lbs in lead in my integrated OMS pockets and the rest was history. Yes it taco's som even with the STA but I have absolutely no issue attaining good trim and that is with a 19 pony bottle backmounted…. The only real drawback is traveling with it' airport etc.

“We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training.” - Archilochos

 

[PhatD1ver]

I could be wrong, but I think the weight he is talking about is the actual weight of the back plate in his luggage allowance.