First BP wing experience

[Grajan]

I did my first couple of dives with my Pioneer 27 + hogarthian harness this weekend and I LOVE it. Even with the harness too loose on the first dive it felt totally stable and even better on the second dive after some tweaking.

I did not get deep enough to check out the trim with significant air in the bladder but it felt great. I could assume pretty much any position in the water with no sense of load and the tank never moved on my back.

I was expecting to be troubled by the minimal harness and lack of chest strap but far from it. I was completely comfortable and it was a real relief to be rid of all the straps and clutter. There were no problems getting in and out of the rig.

Couple of lessons. 1. You cannot use a standard knife with this rig - bend over and it does you a real mischief... :11: ... 2. I am not convinced about the Halcyon SMB pocket on the backplate. It is really hard to stow so that the valve and dump ball do not stick into your back. I will probably change this for a diverite tube on the bottom of the plate.

All in all a great experience. Thank you all for the guidance and advice I recieved making the move and thanks to Art at Discover Scuba for spending an age showing me how to set it up properly.

 

[loquat149]

2. I am not convinced about the Halcyon SMB pocket on the backplate. It is really hard to stow so that the valve and dump ball do not stick into your back. I will probably change this for a diverite tube on the bottom of the plate.


Don't know if this will help your comfort situation, but you may want to consider removing the 2 bottom sex-bolts that hold the backplate pad/pocket to the backplate...this will make it easier to insert/remove SMB's etc. from the pocket.

Dave

 

[cool_hardware52]

Couple thoughts on bag stowage. I prefer to stow a bag in two bungee loops that pass through the holes in the lower edge of the plate. Primarily because, on a good day, I can restow the bag myself. (I'm due for a good day soon)
Kinda handy if doing drills.

Having said that, if you are trying to stow the bag in the channel of the plate, make sure the OPV isn't on top of the lower tank bolt / wing nut if using doubles.

Keep in mind that the plate fits you differently when wearing doubles than single tanks. With doubles the tanks tend to hit you in the butt, and the lower edge of the plate is not as tight to your back. With single tanks the lower edge of the plate is against your lower back, as the tank is projected away from your butt by the center channel / sta.

It's also possible to fold / roll etc the bag so that the portion of the bag with the OPV actually hangs out the bottom of the sleeve, i.e. just below the plate. Now it's not trapped between you and the plate, but it is slightly exposed.

Good Luck,



Tobin

 

[mikkilj]

Couple of lessons. 1. You cannot use a standard knife with this rig - bend over and it does you a real mischief... :11: ... 2. I am not convinced about the Halcyon SMB pocket on the backplate. It is really hard to stow so that the valve and dump ball do not stick into your back. I will probably change this for a diverite tube on the bottom of the plate.

All in all a great experience. Thank you all for the guidance and advice I recieved making the move and thanks to Art at Discover Scuba for spending an age showing me how to set it up properly.

My husband and I love our Halcyon Eclipse BCs, as well as Art at DS .

For the pocket on the back, make sure that at least one of the connectors is not connected (which Art should have done - he was the one who taught us not to do both of them). It makes it a lot easier to remove the wing from the backplate...

We fold our safety sausages instead of rolling them up. When folded, they are about a foot long, and we stuff it into the pocket, and making sure the inflator isn't sticking into our backs. We leave a little "tail" of the SMB dangling (about 1" or so) to grab onto if we need to pull it out.

Art showed us a really neat knife/razor when we were there a week or two ago. It has a loop on the back that the belt strap or a wrist strap can fit through to hold it on and it can be quickly deployed and uses good velcro to keep in in place when not in use. The blade is replaceable as well. It's on our wish list now .

 

[Grajan]

Thanks for the ideas. I will fiddle around with it and come up with something more comfortable. It is a very minor issue in the overall scheme of things. This is a huge step forward in usability.

 

[IslandHopper]

I don't like the Halcyon Backplate pocket either ... I got a "belt pocket" that slides on in place of the canister light (i don't use one) ... and put the bouy in there... easy to get to/restow ... Would have to reconsider if I get into diving that requires a light though.