Backplate and regs for a travelling photographer

[Pyndle]

Hi everyone,

I am finally considering getting my own kit as I'm about to do a lot of dives this year, mostly in Indo/Philippines.

I've never looked into buying my own gear and couldn't find any recent purchase guide (any link is welcomed!).
I'd like to spend no more than 1500 usd for Regs+BCD, but happy to spend way less if not necessary.

I will be doing mostly single tank diving, but sidemount from time to time and considering starting my tech training soon too (TDI advanced nitrox and deco).
I've got roughly 300 dives and I systematically dive with my camera rig (with strobes). Most of my dives are and in warm water and I will keep it that way

If diving in warm water, what should I be looking for in a set of Regulators?
For the backplate, if I get a large bladder for doubles, I assume it is necessarily compatible with single tank diving?
Apart from that, I look at the price / reliability (based on reviews) / weight. Anything else I should be considering? Any models you would recommend?

Another factor would be the ability to sell it easily without too much discount, but that's secondary (just in case there's a "famous" BCD that is sold/purchased very often second hand).

Many thanks,
Pyndle

 

[MichaelMc]

1. Wings for doubles, sidemount, and single tank are generally separate. Trying to have one that does all three, or even two, is not as satisfactory for any of them.
2. Singles and doubles can share a plate and harness. Sidemount is best with a dedicated system.

Dive gear express has some decent plate/harness/wing systems. I just got a dive rite wing and plate that I am happy with.

Deep six has nice regs, I have ScubaPro (Mk25/S600s/156) and Deep6 Signatures and like all of them fairly equally on performance. Between a BP/W setup and a set of Deep six regs, you can get setup well within your budget, for one of singles or doubles.

Sidemount could use the same turret reg set as doubles, with an extra SPG and likely a longer short hose. For a sidemount BC, the xDeep Stealth BC seems well regarded. I have it and like it.

ETA: you might get by with a warm water only reg, but sealed is nice in keeping salt and grit out, it just makes one fewer thing to worry about. The Deep6 are sealed diaphragm.

 

[Pyndle]

Many thanks for the detailed answer. I think I'll go for a harness + plate + bladder for a single tank first, and then buy more if needed as most of my dives are just recreational dives. I guess I'll rent the gear for tech dive courses if needed.

Do I need a specific plate that is compatible with single and twin tank or will any plate do?
What actual difference (apart from servicing) is there between regs? I was contemplating the deep6 and the diverite (and the apeks as well but way too expensive). Is it just about how they breathe and reliability of the brand? Or is there some kind of performance metrics I can compare?

Last question, a bit more general but if I get a sidemount setup, I can still use it to dive on a single tank, right? Are dive shops around the world generally OK with this? Is it practical to do so (bearing in mind I also have a big dive rig)? Because if it is I can just get that setup and do my tech courses in sidemount instead of twins, and never have to rent again basically.

Again many thanks for the help, any kind of thoughts/feedback is welcomed

 

[Marie13]

Any plate will do. But some wings don’t have slots for cam bands, which means you would need to use a STA for single tank.

And if a dive shop/charter op has problems with diving a BP/W, tell them to pound sand and go elsewhere.

I wouldn’t count on tech gear being available when you want it. It’s scarce in some locales, which you have to research before you go.

 

[Marie13]

Oh just saw SM rig for single tank set up. You do what you want. As long as you know how to use it and don’t kill yourself, have at!

 

[MichaelMc]

Read Beginners Guide To BP/W for BP/W basics.

Regs: how they breath, how they handle cold/sand/silt, if you service at shop or mail in, heavy/light, turret/not, routing of the hoses, color. Specs include a) cracking effort to start a breath (affected by design and tuning), and b) work of breathing over breath cycle (which might stay fairly constant or get very bad as breathing rate/volume increases from exertion or sharing air); but most top performing regs are fairly similar and small differences may not be meaningful.

Sidemount: google single tank sidemount for some pictures and videos. Sidemount could be a great travel rec/photo/tech rig. It is a bit more involved than back mount. Lots of tanks (2 main + stage(s) + deco(s)) may be easier with backmount, just depends on what you want to do. Recreational boats are more accustomed to single tank backmount than sidemount. I'd search the forum for sidemount boats for discussion of that.

 

[Pyndle]

Thanks again for the replies guys. Just one last question, MichaelMc you said that twins and singles can share a plate and harness, why not a wing? If it is big enough to lift 2 tanks it will lift one no? What makes it not so ideal to use a twin BP/W with a single tank?

Thanks

 

[MichaelMc]

Singles wings are designed to fit around something about 8" across, doubles wings ~16" across. Singles have maybe up to 35 lb lift, doubles 40-60 lb. The excess will flap in the 'breeze', create extra drag, let all your air shift to the top or bottom (making trim harder), trap air in folds or the other side(making dumping air harder).

Your could use a cargo van to move or get groceries. But for groceries, its harder to park, uses more gas, the bags rattle around inside, and it takes more care driving than a sedan (singles 30lb wing) or a two seater (singles 18 lb. tropics wing). But you can do it.

ETA: I dive a DiveRite Rec 45 lb. wing for my tiny doubles. It is designed to handle up to about 2x LP85s, which are on the slim side, and also to cinch down its sides to fit better around a single tank. I like it for my doubles. It is apparently suited for small or tiny doubles, but apparently not as satisfactory for single tank. I have not dove it with a single tank, as I have a nice OxyCheq for that. If you had to use one wing for small ish double and single tank this might be an option.

ETA2: Actually, a sidemount rig handles one or two tanks rather well, possibly with a bit of L/R ballast shift for the single tank case. So if you had to have one wing that might be better, and they travel well. Doubles sidemount has acceptance issues on rec. boats and it is two tanks at once. But singles sidemount should be more accepted. It does not have the redundancy of doubles sidemount, but it is rather close to what all the other single tank divers on the boat are doing. I do not have boat sidemount experience though to address those tradeoffs more.

 

[Scubatude]

Michael is correct, however a little more on wings for single tank vs. double tanks:
A double tank sized wing will "taco" or wrap around your single take making it very difficult to manage the gas bubble, vent gas, etc. It is more than just being more than you need. It is actually problematic at best.

 

[DavidFL]

Just to add a little in response to "travelling photographer", based in France, mostly Indo/PI travel. While you won't find tech gear anywhere, anyplace that supports divers will have weights. But assuming you plan to get from France to Indo by air, and considering you will definitely be carrying your own camera rig, you will be trying to minimize weight. So, given all the other information you've had, I recommend you consider an aluminum plate, minimum Hogarthian rig/harness, and cam bands with plastic buckles. I have tried a softplate to minimize the weight even further, and that works, but my current configuration is a very lightweight aluminum freedom plate.