What to wear, what to wear---when your 6'8" and 325lbs?

[BlueWaterMariner]

Big guy looking to buy my first BCD, and looking to get the most bang for my buck. I'm wondering what setup you guys would recommend for someone of my stature. 6'8", 44" waist, 52" chest, 29" shoulder to waist. I'm leaning towards a BP/W but I am willing to consider anything. I'll be doing recreational diving, but I'm signed up to take the advanced class so I'll be hopefully getting some more complex dives in down the road. Mostly warmer water dives, probably nothing colder my 3mm wetsuit(custom made by liquidfit.com, which I highly recommend) could handle for now. Any advice is greatly appreciated!!!!!!

 

[spectrum]

You can;t go wrong in a harness based system (BP&W). It will let you tailor all of your feature placements to your comfort. There may be a jacket out there that will do the trick but it will be much less of a sure thing.

Having a weight history in what I assume were rental BCs will make sizing a wing easy. If you keep that nice and tidy for warm water travel you may need to interchange just the wing if you decide to enjoy colder waters.

Pete

 

[Outlaw13]

Yep I'd say go for a Backplate and Wing. Have a look at some of the comfort type harnesses first though. The Apeks one is good. It comes in XL which should fit. You will probably have to move the D rings though. Your size will mean they will be further up your chest than you would want. The comfort harness will come with chest clips similar to what you're used to with a BCD. You can also add integrated weight pockets with the Surelock system which is really secure. The weight of the BP and with weights in your pockets will probably mean you can get away with using a weight belt. Combine it with a SS backplate and the Apeks WTX3 wing and you've got a very good setup for less than the cost of most BCDs.

 

[TSandM]

Is money a big object? If not, I'd say that you should look at the Halcyon Infinity system. It gives you a little padding and an easy in and out of a harness, without the complications of comfort harness systems.

Otherwise, I'd still recommend a backplate/harness. I did a Rescue class with a guy who was about 6'5" and your weight, and he was diving a backplate system just because it was the only thing he could find that fit.

 

[cool_hardware52]

I'm wondering what setup you guys would recommend for someone of my stature. 6'8", 44" waist, 52" chest, 29" shoulder to waist. I'm leaning towards a BP/W but I am willing to consider anything.

At 6'8" tall you are a candidate for a longer back plate.

If your plate is too short the "waist strap" will ride on the lower portion of your rib cage.

Tobin

 

[Stujiro]

You're really going to want to try on a bunch of different set ups, both in the dive shop and in the water.

If you're thinking BP/W then get into the dive shop and practice putting it on and gearing up with a full rig. (you might find the crotch strap to be a real pain). Same goes for any BC.

Whatever you go with you should be thinking back inflate. The squeeze that a jacket can apply will probably make you uncomfortable at the surface.

 

[vshearer]

One thing for sure, you can find lots of LP120, HP130 tanks out there cheap that us little guys bought thinking we could carry anything.

 

[Jim Baldwin]

I had firefighter come in a take an OW class. He was close to your size. No jacket in the shop would fit including a XXX. I put him in one of my BP/Wings I had stored in the shop. Had to add a weight belt to the belt to make the waist fit but the rig worked fine. He used it in the pool as well as on his checkout dives and never missed a lick. As Tobin recommended a longer backplate will definitely make for a much better fit. And after adjusting the crotch strap for proper clearance you won 't even know it's there.

 

[tbone1004]

Get some sort of extra long backplate. I'm 6'4" with 28 inch shoulder to waist. Transpac XL-tall and my DSS X-long
Backplate and Wings - Backplates - Stainless Steel Backplates - DSS Pro-Fit Long Pattern Stainless Steel Backplate - Northeast Scuba Supply
They're pricey, but well worth it. Standard SS plates dig into my back when I'm standing up, and like Tobin said, the waist strap goes over my belly button, which is a smidge on the high side...

Good call on the LP120's, they are real cheap since they are so long. Be wary when buying tanks, I have problems sitting with a lot of tanks because they are too short. Just something else to be mindful of

 

[Couv]

What to wear, what to wear---when your 6'8" and 325bls?

....anything you want.

But I concur-the BP and wing setup...very flexible design.