Organizing my purchase of a BPW system

[jgoodstein]

I am surprised that a photographer with no underwater portfolio has customers for future underwater work. Well done! If you have a link to some of your work I'd be interested to see it.

It's all about who you know, I work mainly for a production company that does science based educational material. Till now ts been mostly production stills, workbook stills, and multimedia stills. My pics get used in workbooks and multimedia discs provided with textbooks. The rest are used in documenting research and other analysis for Undergrad and post grad students at a local university.

The production company is 95% video and I will be tagging along underwater with a film crew. I am very very lucky, and thanks to Scubaboard and all of your input hopefully I'll be skilled and educated enough to continue to be successful. Here's a few images from our latest shoot which was to gather imagery and interviews from experts on the effects of native vs. invasive species in South Florida. Most of my images don't belong to me, s they are the proerty of the production company or publisher, however they let me keep some to play with and use, here are a few from the last shoot.

Yes I was in the water or face to face with all of these animals. There was trained wranglers and biologists nearby for all interactions.

 

[vladimir]

Thanks for posting those--nice photos! I remember meeting a professional photographer who told me it was much easier to teach a model to dive than to teach a diver to model. I'm sure the same is true of photographers (as many of us divers who attempt photography can attest).

 

[rstofer]

I do not believe they produce an aluminum backplate...

You are quite correct, DSS has a Kydex backplate rather than aluminum. Both of our DSS rigs use the SS plate - cold water being what it is.

Richard

 

[knowone]

Thanks for all the links everyone.
Great photo's jgoodstein.

 

[TSandM]

If you are considering GUE training, you will want a reasonably sized singles wing (32 lbs is probably usable, but likely more than you need in warm water) and a simple, one-piece harness.

You might look into whether you actually need a stainless steel backplate. If you are diving only warm water, with minimal exposure protection, you may be better off with an aluminum or Kydex plate, which will allow you to avoid being overweighted by your gear alone. This will depend somewhat on your habitual choice of tank. (With steel tanks in warm water, you don't want a steel plate.) If you are using an aluminum tank, you may want to be able to put some weight on a belt to counteract the tendency of the Al tanks to get butt-light when empty.

There are many of us who have found that one plate does not rule them all )) but that, for singles and doubles and warm and cold water, one may need more than one.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Steel Backplate (Dive rite knock off) ($75 at CA)
Dive Rite Transplate Harness ($99 @ leisure Pro)
Dive Rite Cam Straps (set of 2) ($41 @ Leisure Pro)
Dive Rite Rec wing (50lbs lift used for single or double tanks) ($205 @ Leisure Pro)

That is exactly the rig I started out with, and I loved it ... until I tried a smaller, donut-style wing that was made specifically for singles. I quickly sold the Rec wing, because that's when I realized I had been struggling more than I needed to with my trim.

When I signed up for Fundies I swapped out the Transplate harness for a standard hog harness, and quickly realized that I'd been spending a lot more money for the comfort and streamlining I wanted than I had needed to.

I would recommend you save yourself some money and skip those middle steps ... get a decent wing in the 30-40 lb range and go with a standard hog harness from the outset ... they're cheaper and will suit your needs more appropriately.

I personally use the DSS Torus wing as well as the Halcyon Eclipse. Oxycheq makes a great wing (Mach V), as does Hog-Edge.

Any of these, as well as several others would suit your needs far better than the Rec wing ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[tflaris]

I am a new NAUI OW diver. I am registered for my AOW ( or whatever they call it) and am working towards rescue diver for some work assignments I have coming up (photographer). I have read the GUE DIR Fundamentals book as advised by my instructor and feel that a back plate wing config would be the best option for me and my goals.

I'm looking at getting it from Cave Adventurers and Leisurepro as they seem to have great prices on this stuff. Here's what I think I need:

Steel Backplate (Dive rite knock off) ($75 at CA)
Dive Rite Transplate Harness ($99 @ leisure Pro)
Dive Rite Cam Straps (set of 2) ($41 @ Leisure Pro)
Dive Rite Rec wing (50lbs lift used for single or double tanks) ($205 @ Leisure Pro)

Do i need any other important pieces? I was thinking about a back pad but not quite sure yet. I also thought of weight to reduce the weight in my weight belt would be a good idea, the one that goes into the channel on the backplate but could not find it on either site.

I just want to make sure that I don't forget any necessary parts or pieces as I don't think the wife will let me back into the coffers for a while after this purchase

Would suggest the basic one piece harness. Also a crotch strap.

I prefer Edd at Cave Adventures over LP.

Good Luck


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[Crush]

Would suggest the basic one piece harness. Also a crotch strap.

+1 for the crotch strap. Mine came with two D-rings - the rear D-ring is an excellent place (for OW divers) to position your deployable SMB with finger spool. Mine are bent D-rings, which makes them easier to find and clip things on to.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

I would recommend the simple HOG harness and a 30-40 lb. single-tank wing.

1+ on the simple, bacic HOG harness. I started with a "Deluxe" harness thinking it would be more comfortable.... it was not.

When it it comes to scuba equipment, simpler is (almost) always better.

Best wishes.