Interesting.
Firstly, let me thank you for your opinion of experience. I'm new to this whole bp/wing thing... In fact, I'm still just kickin' it around. I've dived with one only twice... Once with a pair of steel 95's (my first doubles experience) in a 3/2 mil at Ginnie Springs last weekend. I was terribly overweighted, and would not want to dive like that again. Feeling that dependent on my wing was not a comforting feeling. Good thing I was only in 30 feet of water, in case of emergency.
The other time I used a bp/wing combo was with an AL80 in a pool, again with my 3/2 miml on. I didn't much care for it at all... The whole rig was very stable, but very uncomfortable (especially the crotch strap), and very much had the tendency to put me face forward in the water. I had a similar experience with a Zeagle back inflate BC that had a whopping 55 lb lift capacity for a single (!). Can you say, "all over the place?"
Anyway, this Thursday or Friday I think I'll probably get the opportunity to try a CORRECTLY ADJUSTED (there were so many opinions that were so very opposite of what my experience was that I decided that I should give this another shot with someone experienced to help me set up) bp/wing. I've got lots of questions that I'm looking to have answered... Plate material was a biggie right off. 50% of my diving is done in freshwater, 50% in salt. For that reason, I thought that an AL plate was out, but come to find out, FredT has some awesome materials that will resist corrosion from salt water... Enough so as to make the corrosion issue pretty much moot. Then there's the "light" vs. "heavy" bp issue, if I go with SS... And if I don't, then Dive Rite is making an ABS plastic backplate that's inexpensive, obviously corrosion free, and supposed to be very easy on the webbing...
Then there's the webbing issue... DIR ("continuous") style, or "standard" style? "Deluxe" style? Chest strap? No chest strap?
I dunno... I just have to get in the water with these things to make a decision.
I'll tell you what I did like, though, out of everything I've tried up to this point...
I liked the Scubapro Classic jacket style BC... Integrated weights, good fit (for me) and it was very balanced under water. Convenient and well made pull dumps (don't laugh) everywhere that I still like, despite everyone's disgust. Actual usable pockets. Built in and integrated backplate. 55 lbs of lift (!) in a design that despite what people say about jacket style BC's, fit very close to my body when deflated and thus was quite streamlined.
The other thing that I liked quite a bit was the Transpac that I dove with... It managed to get all of the "stuff" off my chest, while still retaining the pull dump. I liked the modular design over the jacket style BC's, so that if something broke or I wanted to change/upgrade, it was easy and painless. The crotch strap which I found to be so intrusive with the bp/wing was totally forgettable. Once this rig was balanced, I found it to work very much with me and feel less "in the way" than the jacket style BC's. Unfortunately, I really missed the stability of the backplate that was integrated into the jacket style BC that I liked so much.
...So my "studies" seem to be brining me around to backplates and wings again... Taking everything off of the front of me and putting it behind, simplifying and streamlining. Stability in a backplate. Modular design for repairs and upgrades. And whereas I once thought that bp/wing setups and back inflates were "opinionated" about my trim underwater (and that jacket style BC's weren't), I have found that I can pretty much balance (or unbalance) anything I wear based on weight placement. My mistake was in putting weight in the same place on the Transpac and bp/wing as I did on the jacket style BC... Low and in the front. Predictably, this threw me horizontal even when I didn't want to be, like at the surface or exploring a wall. Moving the weight back toward my center of gravity (different now when the bladder's in back) tuned pretty much all of that out.
So in short, I'm back to bp/wing setups... Which is good, really, apparently, since I really would like to understand what all of the "hubub" is about. Everyone here seems to be in love with them.
But now there are so many choices... Good, right? Well... Yeah... But I need some experience to be able to make some educated decisions. And that's where my dive at the end of this week... And your thought processes (along with other experienced people's) come into play.
So what's your thoughts on the ABS plastic? Junk, or do they last? They're about as negatively buoyant as aluminum, but withing the corrosion in salt water...
Can I use a STA with a Pioneer 27? I'm not too keen on the "integrated STA" design. I think it'd mark up my tanks...
Man, I'm thinking about designing my own solution here... Or rather, asking FredT to make a design for me...
A bp specifically designed for use with singles... You know, like a travel bp/wing. Light, and designed for wetsuit, tropical and subtropical diving... With an emphasis on streamlining, minimizing, and simplifying. The STA-less Pioneer wings don't look all that great to me for a variety of reasons, yet I don't much care for the horseshoe-shaped Dive Rite wings... Maybe I could make a bp designed to work with the Transpac's Travel Wings... Those things were like 10" square... And had 30 lbs of lift!