First BP/W. steel tanks and al tanks

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Kasey Kohler

Registered
Messages
52
Reaction score
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Location
Pompano beach FL
# of dives
50 - 99
Hey guys, iv been considering buying a DSS BP/W after reading a lot of threads on here and all the good reviews.

My equipment is I have Faber hp100s that I use when I'm home here in south FL. I also use a scuba pro knighthaw, 3mm SP wetsuit, usually carry a flashlight, small knife, safety sausage. With this setup I use no weights, at the end of the dive I can be a bit underweighted but not a problem for me with good breathing.

I travel a lot for diving, bringing my gear minus the tanks. So I have to use AL tanks. I usually add around 8# of weight.

If I buy a BP/W SS then I'm probably going to be way over weight when I'm home using my steel 100's, but it would be perfect for when I travel and have to use AL tanks. So I guess my best bet is to buy the Kydex BP, but I hate using weight belt. Is there a better way to have ditchable weight with a BP/W set up?

Also I'm 5'8" 130lb. A medium BP with 17# Taurus wing would be ideal?

Kasey.

Thanks for any help!
 
Hey guys, iv been considering buying a DSS BP/W after reading a lot of threads on here and all the good reviews.

My equipment is I have Faber hp100s that I use when I'm home here in south FL. I also use a scuba pro knighthaw, 3mm SP wetsuit, usually carry a flashlight, small knife, safety sausage. With this setup I use no weights, at the end of the dive I can be a bit underweighted but not a problem for me with good breathing.

I travel a lot for diving, bringing my gear minus the tanks. So I have to use AL tanks. I usually add around 8# of weight.

If I buy a BP/W SS then I'm probably going to be way over weight when I'm home using my steel 100's, but it would be perfect for when I travel and have to use AL tanks. So I guess my best bet is to buy the Kydex BP, but I hate using weight belt. Is there a better way to have ditchable weight with a BP/W set up?

Also I'm 5'8" 130lb. A medium BP with 17# Taurus wing would be ideal?

Kasey.

Thanks for any help!

Physics is physics.

Being over weighted is a bad idea. That means you have to select the plate material based on your most negative components / exposure suit. That's going to be your "Home" setup of HP100 and 3 mil. Even then you are likely to be slightly over weighted.

Reg, ~2 lbs, Kydex plate and Harness ~2 lbs, HP 100 at 500 psi ~-3lbs. That's 7 lbs of ballast to sink a neutral human and 3-4 lbs of 3mm wetsuit.

I assume you are neutral based on the your height and weight and your statement that you now dive with 3mm, Knighthawk, hp 100 and no extra ballast. The Knighthawk is very likely 3-5 lbs inherently buoyant. If the Knighthawk is +4 and your suit is +4 and your reg and tank and misc gear are -6 you would be slightly under weighted as you describe.

I'd be considering a less negative tank like a faber lp 85 or lp 120. If you want to keep using your HP 100 I'd consider a bit more suit, hooded vest etc.

For use with buoyant al 80's you will need to add ~4 lbs of ballast. You can do via Stainless Plate or 4 lbs on a belt. Virtually all divers can tolerate a 4 lbs weight belt. Belts also have the benefit of being widely available from dive ops.

With Kydex and HP100 your rig will be ~-14 lbs when the cylinder is full

With a Kydex and full al 80 your rig will be ~-6, or -10 if you add ballast to the rig

With a Stainless plate and al 80 your rig will be ~-10lbs

Any of those will allow the use of a Torus 17 or LCD 20.

Tobin
 
. . . If you want to keep using your HP 100 I'd consider a bit more suit, hooded vest etc. . . .

If it were me, that's what I would do. I dive mostly Al 80s in 3 mm suits, and a steel plate is perfect for that--a couple of pounds of weight for trim, at most. Occasionally, I will dive a steel 100 or 120--even in the tropics, such as Cozumel--and for that I simply use a 5 mm suit with the steel plate. It's not a perfect solution, and a 5 mm can a bit warm topside in FL or the tropics, but it works for me.

I use a Torus 26.
 
Physics is physics.

Being over weighted is a bad idea. That means you have to select the plate material based on your most negative components / exposure suit. That's going to be your "Home" setup of HP100 and 3 mil. Even then you are likely to be slightly over weighted.

Reg, ~2 lbs, Kydex plate and Harness ~2 lbs, HP 100 at 500 psi ~-3lbs. That's 7 lbs of ballast to sink a neutral human and 3-4 lbs of 3mm wetsuit.

I assume you are neutral based on the your height and weight and your statement that you now dive with 3mm, Knighthawk, hp 100 and no extra ballast. The Knighthawk is very likely 3-5 lbs inherently buoyant. If the Knighthawk is +4 and your suit is +4 and your reg and tank and misc gear are -6 you would be slightly under weighted as you describe.

I'd be considering a less negative tank like a faber lp 85 or lp 120. If you want to keep using your HP 100 I'd consider a bit more suit, hooded vest etc.

For use with buoyant al 80's you will need to add ~4 lbs of ballast. You can do via Stainless Plate or 4 lbs on a belt. Virtually all divers can tolerate a 4 lbs weight belt. Belts also have the benefit of being widely available from dive ops.

With Kydex and HP100 your rig will be ~-14 lbs when the cylinder is full

With a Kydex and full al 80 your rig will be ~-6, or -10 if you add ballast to the rig

With a Stainless plate and al 80 your rig will be ~-10lbs

Any of those will allow the use of a Torus 17 or LCD 20.

Tobin
Thanks for the fast reply Tobin

So it looks like my problem are the HP100s there just so negative. I might just buy 2 Al 80s for home use. This way I won't have to change anything when I travel, seems way more simple.

With AL80 full, Regs, SS BP you say I'll be -10lb add the +3lb 3mm and by the end of the dive I'm what +~2 with the Al tank?. That would put me around -~5 at the end of the dive. Still seems like a Kydex is better, I would be almost neutral at the end of the dive?

Sorry I'm not very good at the calculations. Thanks for your help.
 
For the cost of two AL80s you could get the additional plate, a harness kit, and cam bands. That way you could easily change your wing between a lightweight (i.e. Kydex) and the SS rig depending on your exposure protection and the tank you are diving.

Or you could get a hooded vest but then you need to consider the buoyancy swings in both exposure protection and tank.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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