Novice diver plunge for Backplate and Wing?

Being a rational person, and reading posts here, I am leaning to the BP & W instead of a traditional jacket type BC. It's like a linux compared to a macbook. A bit difficult but rewarding in many respects.
Is it too radical for someone who just started, and used a rental jacket for his first two dives with an instructor?
(I am not planning on any extreme diving, mostly recreational and in warmer climates.)

ChrisTull:

Is it too radical for someone who just started, and used a rental jacket for his first two dives with an instructor?

Click to expand...

No. But then again, it's just another BCD. All the rhetoric on the internet about the bp/w make them sound like more of a panacea than they really are.

R..

No, it is not "too radical". We start all our private OW students in backplates. The only trick is getting the harness properly adjusted, which is easier if you have someone local who uses such gear and is familiar with how it should be set up. But if you don't, posting pictures here can let us help you get it right.

No it is not too difficult. Plan on it taking several dives to get everything adjusted optimally. After that you will be more stable in the water because you have more of your weight where it should be, and your tank will not shift around.

A BP/W works in most every circumstance, where as a jacket does not. If you want one now, and you got a jacket, you would wind up getting a BP/W at some point. Might just as well start with one.

Have you also thought about using a longer hose for donation on the reg in your mouth, and a bungee backup for yourself? Many of us find it to work better for many reasons.

My partner started in a Hogarthian setup and loves it, especially her bungee backup.

Chris Tull,

No reason at all not to start with BP&W but virtually ANY well fitting BC of any format will work well for anything short of doubles or true technical diving. There is a lot of hype or dogma here and while they are a very nice way to go don't feel like a chump if in your gut you are more comfortable for any reason starting (or staying) in a jacket style.

In the end it's a platform with straps, cam bands, a bladder with an inflater and other dump valve(s).

I will warn you to avoid the slippery slope of making a BP&W into a jacket BC by adding integrated weights, pockets, padding and fuzzy dice.

Here is an old post about features that led me to the BC that shared my first 400+ or so dives with me. I have used it a few times sine moving on and it continues to be pleasurable and effective. Some wear and tear along with being tight in my drysuit drove my change.

Pete

ChrisTull:

Being a rational person, and reading posts here, I am leaning to the BP & W instead of a traditional jacket type BC. It's like a linux compared to a macbook. A bit difficult but rewarding in many respects.
Is it too radical for someone who just started, and used a rental jacket for his first two dives with an instructor?
(I am not planning on any extreme diving, mostly recreational and in warmer climates.)

Click to expand...

There are probably 101 posts floating around that will answer your question from various perspectives.

My personal feeling is that BP and wing, or BP and wing with long hose is not any more difficult to get used to than a 'standard bcd' and shorter donate hose.
It does however require a bit of trial and error until you get it just right.... but 'just right' is something that you are unlikely to find with a bcd, unless your dive centre is king enough to let you try out all their bcds, for several dives... (what fits on dry land will fit very differently under water or floating at the surface).
The webbing of a BP and wing is fitted to you. When you change shape, either adust or change the webbing for a few dollars.

A BP and wing with a longer donate hose would have solved the problems that i repeatedly, repeatedly asked my early diving instructors about. I wish I had dived the configuration sooner. I also wish I had used different instructors.

When I travel to warmer climates for diving I take ALL my equipment in a hiking rucksack. I separate the hoses from the first stage, and the back plate from the wing. Roll the back plate up, and ensure it is packed so that it won't get damaged. Regs go in hand luggage. Nice and easy to travel with. Remember to take a small tool kit.

The BW wing set up is not 'radical' it is very very simple and it will always fit.
My dive club hate them....

a bag is a bag is a bag.....

is not (1) a gear solution to a skill problem, and (2) is not some wonder wiz bang advanced super duper device that does extra and wonderful stuff....

but, it is a "better" bag - for me anyways

I wish, I wish, I wish that I had started out with a BP/W!! Besides the cash saved, I feel I would have been a better diver earlier. I truely beleave that the benefits of getting getting 6lbs of weight right over your back (for a SS BP) is so fundamental to really getting dialed in on your bouyancy. I like the functionality of a BP - you can access the rings, and your profile is cleaner. Of course, to keep this clean profile, you need to go to a weight belt, but I find that this is not a issue at all, and because of he BP weight, you loose 6 lbs in the belt!

The other big benefit is that the BP/W is a modular system. I dont think you would want to reconfigure on a daily basis, but to shift from a weekend of diving singles for fun to diving doubles is a very managable thing.

I LOVE my BP/W! Go for it!!

It should be fine. Be careful not to get the shoulder straps too tight--the crotch strap is what really tightens things down. I'd consider a longer primary and bungeed secondary too.