So those people that always say. "You should get a back plate and wing other wise you are going to die", finally convinced me to get a back plate and wing! Kind of.....
I have a friend that gave me a backplate and wing. It is a plastic backplate and a double bladder wing.
I calculate the lift at about 60 lbs (water fill method).
The wing is really nicely made, Cordura fabric, looks like next to no wear, and two brand new looking bladders inside. The tank bands have made in the USA on them. There are no other markings on the wing, or the back plate.
I know the current highly technical divers frown on the double bladder setup, I have read their reasoning and agree. (What happens if you end up with gas in the other bladder? The backup one? Then you can do a rocket ride etc....) So I am thinking of just removing one of the bladders and storing it carefully. Does anyone see any issues with that?
I have no idea who made the wing. Like I said it is a really nicely constructed wing. I did take the rubber tubing bands off of it that were on it, to clean it and have a good look at everything, and to make taking the second bladder out.
I don't think I have ever heard of a plastic backplate though, except in the DIY corner of the board. Diving in cold water I think that a SS backplate would be nice, but I may try to dive this once to get an idea of the whole BP/Wing idea.
Other than the BP/W and a weight belt, which I have a ton of around here, is there anything else that I need?
The harness is also not a one piece of continuous webbing like the latest fads, but I think I may use it for the test. It looks like 4 pieces of webbing with one fastex buckle for a release.
Should I put the tubing back on as it was a series of small pieces that go around the wing through the grommit holes, and compress the wing when not inflated. Or is there a better way. (The tubing is in fine shape).
Any advice, or any idea who made the wing or the whole setup would be greatly appreciated!
Guy
:-)
Jeepguy099
April 10th, 2010, 01:03 AM
a quick google search turns up abs plastic backplates that dive rite used to make... not sure if its the same one but i get the vibe that if dive rite made them, they can't be that bad. i have no idea what the wing is
aikiguy
April 10th, 2010, 01:18 AM
I found a photo of one of them on the web after you pointed me in the right direction.. (Ok why didn't I google that?). It is a Dive Rite ABS backplate and single tank adapter. It also seems as though it is a dive rite 60 lb dual bladder wing....
Thank YOU!
Now I have to get the harness straightened out, and give it a shot in the pool for the first time on Monday.
Any tips or advice would be welcome....
If I like it, I am thinking of keeping the wing and getting a Zeagle SS backplate.
Thanks for the help!
Bubbletrubble
April 10th, 2010, 01:37 AM
The plastic backplate looks to be very usable. As Jeepguy099 mentioned, Dive Rite used to sell a plate like that.
I can't be 100% certain about this from the pics you've posted, but it looks like the belt buckle is backwards from the normal setup. The buckle should be mounted on the left waist portion of the harness. The free end that is cinched down by the buckle should come from the right waist portion of the harness. The harness overall looks pretty funky, but I'm sure it would work out for few dives. The take-home message is that the harness/BP/STA/tank cambands are all very usable. Personally, I'd spend a few minutes and re-thread the harness properly. You may have to purchase a single length of harness webbing. You could very easily reuse a lot of the hardware.
When you measured the wing to have 60 lbs. of lift, did you do that by filling up both bladders? If so, does this mean that each bladder provides approx. 30 lbs. of lift?
Where are you diving (warm water vs. cold water)? Perhaps we could recommend a relatively inexpensive single tank wing that's more suitable.
IMHO, I'd rather dive a conventional jacket BCD than use that big horseshoe wing with a single tank. I have no idea what manufacturer originally sold it (possibly Dive Rite?). You can try it out if you like with or without the tubing...but the experience will probably be very different from diving a properly sized single tank wing.
Hope this info helps...
RJP
April 10th, 2010, 01:57 AM
I have a friend that gave me a backplate and wing.
...agreeing with the other posters about the unsuitability of this wing, especially for single tank diving. The way oversized wing will cause lots of air trapping/wrapping around the tank, and lots of excess hydrodynamic drag in the water. Also, IMHO, the wing uses an obsolete 'shape', modern similiar capacity wings are much narrower, with a longer dimension that mimics more the actual shape of a scuba tank, versus having such a broad wingspan...that thing remeinds me of a B-52!
But hey, if it works for you, go for it!
I will add, however, that all too many times, people don't actually take advice and actually need to find things out the hard way, by trying it themselves, in the real world, under different operating conditions, before reality sinks in, I'm betting you're gonna go use this wing regardless of what anyone says, which is fine, just remember what we said here....good luck!
diver 85
April 10th, 2010, 09:26 AM
that's a 'big' looking rig---what/how did your friend dive it??.....
aikiguy
April 10th, 2010, 02:19 PM
I think that he dove a really heavy set of doubles with it. He has a story about not being able to climb out of the water onto the boat with the tanks on. Since they weighed a combined total of something like 120 lbs I don't find it all that surprising that he had issues, or that he had a big wing like this. (I believe they are/were ROTH 15L tanks. Weighing in at 48 lbs a piece empty plus doubling gear etc. http://www.rothmions.fr/web/index.php?id=19)
"Where are you diving (warm water vs. cold water)? Perhaps we could recommend a relatively inexpensive single tank wing that's more suitable." Special thanks to bubbletrubble!
I am diving cold water Monterey Ca at the moment while saving up the cruising kitty to take the house to the south pacific diving again. Currently I am diving a Zeagle Ranger LTD, a two piece 7mm suit, hood, booties, etc. (I really miss diving in a lycra suit in the South Pacific!). I am probably a little over weighted at the moment with about 40 lbs, expect that to come down as I get a little more comfortable with all the cold weather gear stuff.
I appreciate that this may not give me the best experience of a properly sized wing for singles diving, but it is here and free. I have a collection of Zeagle Ranger BCD's at this point due to some gear purchases in package format from Craigslist. So I do have some wings that might work with this backplate, if I could figure out how to modify it to match the Zeagle backplate attachment system. The Zeagle wings that I have are off of Rangers and LTD's and have 44 lbs of lift.
The large wing that is in the photos is 60 lbs per bladder. But you can only inflate one of the bladders at a time however so it is one of the mid sequence Dive Rite 60 lb dual bladder units.
I looked at the dive rite catalog, and the harness matches exactly the dive rite deluxe harness with quick release and the optional crotch strap. I assume that it is routed correctly in the photo on their page? If anyone can confirm that I will reroute it tonight after work.
SCUBA Diving Equipment for Technical, Wreck and Cave Diving: Dive Rite, Inc - Product Catalog - Deluxe Harness QR (http://www.diverite.com/products/catalog/backplates/harnesses/bc1080q)
I am hoping to give the bp and the huge wing a try in a friends pool tomorrow. :D
I am disappointed to learn that this is not going to be a real trial for a back plate and wing... I was kind of hoping that it would be. I have wanted to try one out for several months now. However I am not able at this point to fork over $700 or so to try out a correctly sized, ss Backplate and wing, especially when I already have a Zeagle Ranger, and Ranger LTD. (The Admiral has frozen my scuba line item expenditure in the budget :depressed: :depressed: ) :D
Again any input willing read and accepted!
Thanks to all of you for helping!
Guy
:-)
RJP
April 10th, 2010, 02:35 PM
I appreciate that this may not give me the best experience... but it is here and free.
Hmmm...
That's one of those phrases, after which nothing good can happen.
Sort of the diving equivalent of such famous last words as...
"Dude, hold my beer and watch this..."
"What is that whistling sound?"
"This looks like it can take my weight..."
:shocked2:
Bubbletrubble
April 10th, 2010, 02:47 PM
I am hoping to give the bp and the huge wing a try in a friends pool tomorrow. :D
I am disappointed to learn that this is not going to be a real trial for a back plate and wing... I was kind of hoping that it would be. I have wanted to try one out for several months now. However I am not able at this point to fork over $700 or so to try out a correctly sized, ss Backplate and wing, especially when I already have a Zeagle Ranger, and Ranger LTD. (The Admiral has frozen my scuba line item expenditure in the budget :depressed: :depressed: ) :D
Feel free to try the setup in a pool. I'm not sure how useful that evaluation will be, though.
Probably the best advice I could give you is to widen your circle of dive friends. Make a few posts on the NorCal forum (lots of friendly folks there). Join a dive club. Get in touch with some divers who use BP/W rigs (DIR/GUE/UTD divers). Invariably, someone within that circle will have a spare BP/W rig that you can try out. Most tech divers have multiple wings for various equipment configurations and are pretty generous with loaning out their gear. Depending on how your gear is configured (positioning of weights, buoyancy of exposure protection, type of tank used), for a single tank rig, you'll probably need a wing with 30 - 35 lbs. of lift.
Until you can get a properly sized wing to try out the BP/W setup, I'd stick with diving the Ranger. Get more relaxed using that BCD and work on optimizing your weighting since, by your own admission, 40 lbs. of lead might be a little too much.
Good luck!
diver 85
April 11th, 2010, 02:25 PM
I think that he dove a really heavy set of doubles with it. He has a story about not being able to climb out of the water onto the boat with the tanks on. Since they weighed a combined total of something like 120 lbs I don't find it all that surprising that he had issues, or that he had a big wing like this. (I believe they are/were ROTH 15L tanks. Weighing in at 48 lbs a piece empty plus doubling gear etc. Roth Cylinders - Mions (http://www.rothmions.fr/web/index.php?id=19))
"Where are you diving (warm water vs. cold water)? Perhaps we could recommend a relatively inexpensive single tank wing that's more suitable." Special thanks to bubbletrubble!
I am diving cold water Monterey Ca at the moment while saving up the cruising kitty to take the house to the south pacific diving again. Currently I am diving a Zeagle Ranger LTD, a two piece 7mm suit, hood, booties, etc. (I really miss diving in a lycra suit in the South Pacific!). I am probably a little over weighted at the moment with about 40 lbs, expect that to come down as I get a little more comfortable with all the cold weather gear stuff.
I appreciate that this may not give me the best experience of a properly sized wing for singles diving, but it is here and free. I have a collection of Zeagle Ranger BCD's at this point due to some gear purchases in package format from Craigslist. So I do have some wings that might work with this backplate, if I could figure out how to modify it to match the Zeagle backplate attachment system. The Zeagle wings that I have are off of Rangers and LTD's and have 44 lbs of lift.
The large wing that is in the photos is 60 lbs per bladder. But you can only inflate one of the bladders at a time however so it is one of the mid sequence Dive Rite 60 lb dual bladder units.
I looked at the dive rite catalog, and the harness matches exactly the dive rite deluxe harness with quick release and the optional crotch strap. I assume that it is routed correctly in the photo on their page? If anyone can confirm that I will reroute it tonight after work.
SCUBA Diving Equipment for Technical, Wreck and Cave Diving: Dive Rite, Inc - Product Catalog - Deluxe Harness QR (http://www.diverite.com/products/catalog/backplates/harnesses/bc1080q)
I am hoping to give the bp and the huge wing a try in a friends pool tomorrow. :D
I am disappointed to learn that this is not going to be a real trial for a back plate and wing... I was kind of hoping that it would be. I have wanted to try one out for several months now. However I am not able at this point to fork over $700 or so to try out a correctly sized, ss Backplate and wing, especially when I already have a Zeagle Ranger, and Ranger LTD. (The Admiral has frozen my scuba line item expenditure in the budget :depressed: :depressed: ) :D
Again any input willing read and accepted!
Thanks to all of you for helping!
Guy
:-)
I would sell one of your Rangers & ---you can get a pretty good BP/W system for around 350 US , I think....delta probably what around ?200 bucks..
Click this link, upgrade to a steel plate & you get a 10% discount from being a SB member....
BackPlate and Wing Package reviews and discounts, Dive Rite (http://www.scubatoys.com/store/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=BackPlate_Wing_Package)
sea spartan
April 11th, 2010, 08:47 PM
I took a close look at the wing and due to the fact u have gromets that go around the edge and it's a #60 wing, I beleive u have urself an atpac wing
sea spartan
April 11th, 2010, 09:15 PM
double-bladder-wing.jpg
see how the gromets closests to the wing line up with the "stitching" of an atpac
