BACKGROUND: Newly certified diver that dislikes jacket style BC's and looking for a back-inflate BC.
Took a Halcyon Pioneer 36# w/ SS BP out today and either I've learned better buoyancy control or the BP/wing setup really does work well. It seems to be a mix of the two as I do feel much more comfortable underwater, but this BP/wings setup is pretty good. I suspect I would have fared just as well with another back-inflate BC, but I like the backplate for the extra weight it offers as well as the stability of the tank - which was definitely NOT the case with the jacket-style BC when it was completely deflated. As far as trim - I barely had to adjust the air in the MC and adjusted my buoyancy with my lungs mostly - I stayed neutral throughout the dives and felt completely stable without moving/adjusting weights other than what I already had. My buddy commented on how streamlined I was and was pretty impressed (has Dacor Rig II). I also dropped 10 lbs in weight - I'm not sure if that's a result of being more comfortable in the water (much more relaxed) or the BP/wings versus the crappy rental jacket-style BC, but I like having only 14 lbs on my belt and 6 lbs on the BP. I plan on a heavy BP/STA to remove even more weight of my belt (unless there is a reason not to do so??).
It seems that all the talk here about DIR and BP/wings has made a huge impact (+/-) on the forum members, which I took with a grain of salt, but a lot of the philosophies of DIR and the simple effectiveness of the BP/wings seems founded on solid foundations (IMHO). I really like the octo-necklace idea - its a much simpler and better solution than searching for the octo. My buddy surprised me with an OOA drill and I had my octo in a "scum pocket" (or something like that - he gave it to me before the dive) and pulling the octo out removed the mouthpiece! (DOH!). I was handing him my primary when he signalled it was just a drill and he was okay - but it really opened my eyes to the simple effectiveness of handing the primary and using the octo (backup) on a necklace - its just a great idea IMO.
Anyway, there's tons of posts regarding BP/wings here already so this is nothing new except that I don't really post much here - I just wanted to tell those considering BP/wings to give it a try, its the only way you'll find out if its for you or not. I found it to be a simple solution that works great for me and I love not feeling like I've got everything and the kitchen sink hanging off me
Many thanks to all the folks that have contributed to this site, its a great source of information and it is all the more useful information due to the arguments/discussions (including the flame wars) I also wanted to thank SPEEDSTER for offering to let me use his rig and meet me to setup it up properly and helping via PM with silly questions.
Took a Halcyon Pioneer 36# w/ SS BP out today and either I've learned better buoyancy control or the BP/wing setup really does work well. It seems to be a mix of the two as I do feel much more comfortable underwater, but this BP/wings setup is pretty good. I suspect I would have fared just as well with another back-inflate BC, but I like the backplate for the extra weight it offers as well as the stability of the tank - which was definitely NOT the case with the jacket-style BC when it was completely deflated. As far as trim - I barely had to adjust the air in the MC and adjusted my buoyancy with my lungs mostly - I stayed neutral throughout the dives and felt completely stable without moving/adjusting weights other than what I already had. My buddy commented on how streamlined I was and was pretty impressed (has Dacor Rig II). I also dropped 10 lbs in weight - I'm not sure if that's a result of being more comfortable in the water (much more relaxed) or the BP/wings versus the crappy rental jacket-style BC, but I like having only 14 lbs on my belt and 6 lbs on the BP. I plan on a heavy BP/STA to remove even more weight of my belt (unless there is a reason not to do so??).
It seems that all the talk here about DIR and BP/wings has made a huge impact (+/-) on the forum members, which I took with a grain of salt, but a lot of the philosophies of DIR and the simple effectiveness of the BP/wings seems founded on solid foundations (IMHO). I really like the octo-necklace idea - its a much simpler and better solution than searching for the octo. My buddy surprised me with an OOA drill and I had my octo in a "scum pocket" (or something like that - he gave it to me before the dive) and pulling the octo out removed the mouthpiece! (DOH!). I was handing him my primary when he signalled it was just a drill and he was okay - but it really opened my eyes to the simple effectiveness of handing the primary and using the octo (backup) on a necklace - its just a great idea IMO.
Anyway, there's tons of posts regarding BP/wings here already so this is nothing new except that I don't really post much here - I just wanted to tell those considering BP/wings to give it a try, its the only way you'll find out if its for you or not. I found it to be a simple solution that works great for me and I love not feeling like I've got everything and the kitchen sink hanging off me
Many thanks to all the folks that have contributed to this site, its a great source of information and it is all the more useful information due to the arguments/discussions (including the flame wars
) I also wanted to thank SPEEDSTER for offering to let me use his rig and meet me to setup it up properly and helping via PM with silly questions.
