Any disadvantages of soft backplate for tropical diving?

[ronscuba]

Yes it worked fine. The vest I got has a one way valve for inflation on the left shoulder (oral but no more difficuly than a SMB) and has a dump valve on the right shoulder.

What brand/model ?

 

[dberry]

It seems odd that your Oxycheq wing would have 10.5" spacing, since the 'standard' is 11", and the manufacturers that I am familiar with all use 11" - more or less depending on manufacturing variance. My Oxycheq wings have 11" OC grommets.

I measured center-to-center on the grommets (both sets) and got 10.5". Maybe my plate has 10.5" spacing on the holes and the flexible wing is scrunched by 0.5"? I'll check when I get home.

 

[stuartv]

I really like my Hog 23# wing for single tank, warm water diving.

I fly with my SS BP. But, if I were really trying to get the travel weight down, I would take my DSS Kydex BP. It's really light and it's only about 1/2 pound negative in the water. And it is stable even with doubles (which is all I normally use it for - steel doubles in warm water).

 

[AdivingBel]

I modified three of our harness/plate set-ups to use the Zegle "Split Saddle" crotch strap for our trip last week.

I've adapted the "saddle strap" to my ET. I attached the quick releases it came with to the triglides of my waist d-rings which I moved slightly forward for better positioning. It had the added benefit of adding a bit more shoulder adjustment room for donning & doffing my rig. As long as you don't need a dpv ring it works great. You can snug it up very comfortably (more so than with a standard crotch strap, IMHO) and really makes the soft plate/rig conform to my body and very stable. All IMHO, YMMV.

 

[Kharon]

What brand/model ?

Here is a link to the one I got: https://www.swimoutlet.com/p/ist-adult-snorkeling-vest-19895/

 

[uncfnp]

I've adapted the "saddle strap" to my ET. I attached the quick releases it came with to the triglides of my waist d-rings which I moved slightly forward for better positioning. It had the added benefit of adding a bit more shoulder adjustment room for donning & doffing my rig. As long as you don't need a dpv ring it works great. You can snug it up very comfortably (more so than with a standard crotch strap, IMHO) and really makes the soft plate/rig conform to my body and very stable. All IMHO, YMMV.

Saddle straps are new to me. Trying to picture it and did a google search. Not sure I understand the advantage. At the risk of being indelicate, is it related to comfort and the male anatomy in that region? Or is it more about the two point connection?

 

[AdivingBel]

At the risk of being indelicate, is it related to comfort and the male anatomy in that region? Or is it more about the two point connection?

Well...speaking for me and my "region" (though I think it would extrapolate to most other's "region")...I find that "region avoidance" due to the 2 pt. front connection allows me to really "snug up" the strap while remaining comfortable more so than I was comfortable with a regular strap. By doing so it made my rig more stable, almost form-fitting when combined with my soft plate. YMMV.

 

[tbone1004]

Saddle straps are new to me. Trying to picture it and did a google search. Not sure I understand the advantage. At the risk of being indelicate, is it related to comfort and the male anatomy in that region? Or is it more about the two point connection?

definitely comfort. I find them more annoying than my padded dive rite crotch strap during normal use, but when you are on the trigger for 2 hours, the split crotch strap is quite nice

 

[uncfnp]

Well...speaking for me and my "region" (though I think it would extrapolate to most other's "region")...I find that "region avoidance" due to the 2 pt. front connection allows me to really "snug up" the strap while remaining comfortable more so than I was comfortable with a regular strap. By doing so it made my rig more stable, almost form-fitting when combined with my soft plate. YMMV.

definitely comfort. I find them more annoying than my padded dive rite crotch strap during normal use, but when you are on the trigger for 2 hours, the split crotch strap is quite nice

Ok good to know. I think that's an upgrade I can safely mark off my list.

 

[teknitroxdiver]

Here is a link to the one I got: https://www.swimoutlet.com/p/ist-adult-snorkeling-vest-19895/

Why not just use a small wing? That seems like a solution searching for a problem.