AL or SS backplate for warm water dives?

scubawun · May 30, 2011

Hi all

Need some advice.

I dive only in warm water, wear a 3mm full wetsuit and have no need for doubles or cave diving or drysuits for now and in the future.

Shall i choose AL or SS for my backplate?

Will a AL backplate screw up trim badly with AL tanks?

I like the idea of a lighter backplate for air travel but am afraid that it may mess up the trim too much with a AL tank.

Would just wearing a little bit more weights fix the floaty tank issue? (provided it is a big issue?)

Comments?

Thanks in advance!

rongoodman · May 30, 2011

Between the aluminum rental tanks and the salt water, I always take my SS plate for warm water dives. The lightest exposure protection I own is a 3mm full suit.

ajduplessis · May 30, 2011

I use SS purely to reduce the amount of weight I carry (lead). Weight is not a primary consideration when I travel; generally dive trips/groups are allowed more weight. At the end of the day it’s about having a setup that works well, either will do fine.

If I had to choose, I would take a SS with a AL cylinder setup.

halocline · May 30, 2011

A steel plate does offset the buoyancy of the AL tank very well. You can approximate this with an AL plate by putting weights on the cambands, but IME this is not quite the same as having the weight directly against your back and spread out evenly. Still, it works well enough and for most people would be perfectly acceptable. You can buy camband pockets and try to get them positioned close to the plate, kind of tucked in near where the tank and plate meet. How much weight do you usually use in a standard BC, with your wetsuit and an AL80?

Tortuga68 · May 30, 2011

Unless you really need to save 3# for travel - in which case there are probably other ways to do it - I would stick with SS; just easier overall

scubawun · May 30, 2011

Hi halocline

I use about 5 pieces of lead. So that's 10lbs.

Thanks for your advice.

halocline:
A steel plate does offset the buoyancy of the AL tank very well. You can approximate this with an AL plate by putting weights on the cambands, but IME this is not quite the same as having the weight directly against your back and spread out evenly. Still, it works well enough and for most people would be perfectly acceptable. You can buy camband pockets and try to get them positioned close to the plate, kind of tucked in near where the tank and plate meet. How much weight do you usually use in a standard BC, with your wetsuit and an AL80?

gianster · May 30, 2011

I was going through the same thing. I chose an ali backplate and glad I did because it turned out I only needed 2 more pounds to sink. Had I gone with the ss plate I would of been too heavy. Some conventional bcs have a ton of ballast. Just switching to an ali plate and wing will allow you to shed a lot of weight.

craracer · May 31, 2011

As said, if you can afford the extra baggage weight, by all means go steel. 10# really isn't that much weight. If I may be so bold as to suggest; I would imagine that, with some work, you could get that down to close to nothing. I dive aluminum with a full 3mil, a 3mil shortie, a 5mil full hood, and no weights (thanks to some fantastic training from a wonderful DM).

Bubbletrubble · May 31, 2011

Eh. Either choice would be fine. I like saving the 3-4 lbs. on dry carry weight by taking an AL BP on warm water trips. I position XS Scuba weight pockets on my tank cambands (one on the top camband and one on the bottom one). No big deal.

Pullmyfinger · May 31, 2011

Aluminum 80, 3mm wetsuit, and stainless steel back plate make up a balanced rig for me.

-Mitch

AL or SS backplate for warm water dives?

Please register or login

scubawun

Registered

rongoodman

ScubaBoard Supporter

ajduplessis

Contributor

halocline

Contributor

Tortuga68

Contributor

scubawun

Registered

gianster

Contributor

craracer

Contributor

Bubbletrubble

Contributor

Pullmyfinger

Contributor

Similar threads