BP/wings comfortable?

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Yeah, I was there!
The car right in front of Jon’s Toyota P/U is where the slashing started.
Come to think of it, it was Maciek who was there and somebody else, I can’t remember, could have been Ross.
Susan and I were there. I think Frank O'Donnell may have been as well.
 
If I was going to do a long walk while wearing a tank, I would definitely prefer a BC with nice padded shoulders and a comfortable waist strap. No way I would want a metal plate on my back and zero padding around my waist.

To carry a heavy "pack" you want to have as much weight placed low on your hips and relatively little on your shoulder straps digging into your shoulders. Do you see hiking back packs designed to carry weight with metal on your back and straight belts over your shoulders?
 
If I was going to do a long walk while wearing a tank, I would definitely prefer a BC with nice padded shoulders and a comfortable waist strap. No way I would want a metal plate on my back and zero padding around my waist.

To carry a heavy "pack" you want to have as much weight placed low on your hips and relatively little on your shoulder straps digging into your shoulders. Do you see hiking back packs designed to carry weight with metal on your back and straight belts over your shoulders?
Have you carried tanks with both setups?

With a BP, you have a 2" wide waist strap to distribute the weight which is actually quite a bit larger than the belts on most hiking packs. The same 2" webbing on the shoulders spreads the load nicely. Finally, and most importantly for comfort and safety, the plate locks the load in place. This is like the internal or external frames on a large hiking backpack and unlike a jacket BC where the tank is only connected to the load-bearing straps by fabric and thus wobbles around with every movement. Those weight shifts are fatiguing and make keeping upright much more difficult when footing is unstable.
 
yep, break a stitched in buckle on a jacket, what do you do?

Buy a Scubapro, you won't have to worry about this issue. Their BC's are as solid and high quality as can be for sure. I have owned SP BC's for years and years without any issues at all. The only BC's that had issues in my dive school's equipment fleet were other brands not SP's.
 
I have been researching and saving for 2 years to buy a BP/wings setup.
Went to my LDS this AM to buy one and the owner talked me out of it. Said they were uncomfortable. his comment was 'look at it. It would be like sleeping on a steel pillow'.
Should I be worried about this? I usually dive with a 3 or 5 ML wetsuit so I would have some padding but I also often do beach dives that require a long walk prior to entering the water. Any help would be appreciated.

Can you rent or borrow a bp/w from a friend for a day and try for yourself?
The answer to your question depends also on the weight of course; how big is your tank, how much lead to you carry. Probably not much in a beach dive with a small tank and a 3mm wetsuit. But then, why spend a lot of money on a new bp/w or jacket. As long as you don't dive doubles or a drysuit or a very thick wetsuit, your choice of BCD won't make much of a difference anyway and you will hardly notice it under water.
 
I would have some padding but I also often do beach dives that require a long walk prior to entering the water.

Unless your walk will be under 32 km, you should be fine! LOL. Seriously, for most dives, most of the time, you will love the BP/W once you are properly sized and configured.

The more difficult decision is "which one for me?"!!! Good luck.

GJS
 
Should I be worried about this?

No, the owner is BSing you.

Im from Vero but it would be worth the trip to Lauderdale to check out that shop.

Aqui Watersports also rents them. You could just come down for a couple weekend dives and try it out.
 
If I was going to do a long walk while wearing a tank, I would definitely prefer a BC with nice padded shoulders and a comfortable waist strap. No way I would want a metal plate on my back and zero padding around my waist.

To carry a heavy "pack" you want to have as much weight placed low on your hips and relatively little on your shoulder straps digging into your shoulders. Do you see hiking back packs designed to carry weight with metal on your back and straight belts over your shoulders?

if I was having to hike regularly with doubles, then I'd use a transpac. That is literally what it was designed for, in conjunction with backpacking engineers way back when.
For single tanks? I've never had an issue with a standard harness
 

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