First Dive with BP/W...

I just bought a BP/W. Aluminum back-plate. Did my first dive with it last week.

I immediately thought, after jumping in the water, that I would never use a jacket style again. The difference in comfort and mobility was instantly apparent. My arms and chest were unencumbered. It took a lot less effort to move. It was so nice not having a bulky set of pockets or being squished by the bladder when I inflated. It even packs smaller in the dive bag.

I still need more experience with it to test out a few trim solutions, though of the five dives I did with it I did not make any changes from the suggestions made to me by my wing-experienced buddy.

Setting the webbing up for my body size on the boat was pretty easy given that I had some help from a guy who has been using a wing for years. The learning curve in the water was pretty fast too. I found the wing did not dump air as easily as my jacket BC (which has many dump valves) - I had to adjust my angle in the water a bit to get the air to stream out when horizontal - but, the air seemed to go out faster than my jacket BC, especially on the surface when I was still vertical.

During the dive I noticed that I added or released air way less than I did with the Jacket BC. Much less fuddling. It did not ride up as much as the Jacket and felt a lot more stable. The wing has two tank bands too so the tank felt more secure and I did not feel it moving at all.

There are no plastic clips on the wing or giant, plastic integrated weight pockets and there is a lot less fabric. Hence I think the wing is a lot less buoyant than the jacket BC I have.

I bought my current jacket BC in the tropics. When I was back home in Canada diving in the lake with my thick wet-suit I noticed that the jacket BC was a little too tight. I will not suffer this problem now for the wing will adjust easily no mater if naked or dressed for ice.

I did notice that I hang differently when floating on the surface but I just leaned back a bit and felt comfortable.

This is my third BC. The first jacket style BC I grew out of. The second I bought only recently and now regret not trying a wing sooner. Had I made my first BC a wing I could still be using it, I would have saved a lot of money and likely enjoyed my diving even more.

Consequently I can't imagine using a jacket BC anymore.

MT

I'm glad you love it. Welcome to the dark side my friend.

I bought my first wing last year primarily to use with doubles and after a couple of dives bought a smaller travel wing and sold my jacket BCD.

One of the Dive Operators that I dive with teaches all their students using wings and not jacket BCDs

modustollens:

I just bought a BP/W. Aluminum back-plate. Did my first dive with it last week.

Click to expand...

Congratulations on the great choice!

One question about the choice of aluminum. I really like the extra weight in a steel plate - much better for trim IMHO, and less to deal with. I know that some people like aluminum for travel, but I take my steel BP to the Caribbean all the time. No extra weight necessary with a 3 mm shortie, and certainly better for single tank diving at home with a more buoyant exposure suit as well...

Not saying that you are wrong to choose aluminum, just wondering what your decision was based on...

I travel a lot with all my dive gear - so, lots of airplanes. So I was trying to keep the base weight low. Hence I chose the aluminum. Plus I have been mostly diving in the warm tropics so I don't need a lot of weight.

I think I would of selected stainless steel if I was always in cold water using a drysuit or thick wetsuit and only occasionally travelling.

I actually needed one less weight when I stopped using the jacket BC too.

MT

I don't know how much you dive locally but if you do, you'll likely end up with 2 sets of plates and webbing. I used to think that was kind of absurd but it makes sense to me now. My first was steel and then I picked up the AL plate and webbing on eBay from Dolphin Scuba for only $70 so it wasn't too painful.

I've had an Apeks SS backplate sitting beside my desk for 6 months. I don't know why I haven't bought a wing and harness yet. Maybe I subconsciously worry that if I try it I'll like it and then never go back to my other BCDs. Instead of having a $65 SS backplate sitting beside my desk, I'll have $1K worth of BCDs gathering dust. I may give into the Dark Side very soon....

modustollens:

I travel a lot with all my dive gear - so, lots of airplanes. So I was trying to keep the base weight low. Hence I chose the aluminum. Plus I have been mostly diving in the warm tropics so I don't need a lot of weight.

I think I would of selected stainless steel if I was always in cold water using a drysuit or thick wetsuit and only occasionally travelling.

I actually needed one less weight when I stopped using the jacket BC too.

MT

Click to expand...

Yup, that makes sense... maybe you are less buoyant than me, and can dive an aluminum BP and an aluminum 80 with no weight. I'm certainly always frantically repacking to keep my bag under the 50 lb limit...!

Glad you enjoy it. Different strokes for different folks. Personally, I find my BP/W to be too constricting should I ever have to dump it. I greatly prefer a soft harness (ScubaPro's old X-Tek, the equivalent of the original Transpac)and wing... far more comfortable for me. Some claim that the sofdt harness with adjustable straps adds another "failure point." In over 2,500 dives with it that has never happened.

cb5150:

I've had an Apeks SS backplate sitting beside my desk for 6 months. I don't know why I haven't bought a wing and harness yet.

Click to expand...

How strange, are we twins? I used to live in The Woodlands (Alden Bridge) and was in the same boat. In 2005 I bought a used / homemade AL plate ( very long ) and started looking for a wing on eBay. They were like $300 at the time plus the webbing and cam straps and I had a hard time pulling the trigger as I already had gear to dive. I moved to Austin, wife got cancer and I stopped diving. I gave all my gear away in 2008 to a fellow ScubaBoarder to make sure that if I ever dove again I'd force myself to rebuy everything.

I finally started diving again in 2012 and bought a full set of DIR/Hog style gear and I love it. Prices came down also... my whole DRIS BP/W was $299.

So your 6 months was my 7 years! Go figure...