BP/W advice needed

[Zef]

My daughter needs a BC as it is becoming cumbersome to borrow one from the club we are a member of as there is no guarantee she will be able to sign out the same make/model/size from outing to outing. We have discussed this together and are planning to purchase a BP/W setup.

I am having trouble deciding between the DGX Aluminum or Stainless steel option. My daughter is 5'5" and weights between 115 and 120lbs. She dives with a 5mm wetsuit and occasionally (rarely) with a 5mm shorty over it. She normally uses a steel 12L tank that weighs about 2Kg full in the water. With her 5mm suit, booties, gloves, and hood she uses between 3kg and 4kg of lead to comfortably get down and stay down comfortably at the end of dive safety stop....she could probably use less lead but she is not diving frequently enough to mess with it.

If I get her the SS plate, she probably will not need any additional lead.
If I get her the aluminum plate she will need to wear some lead...this is not a problem for her. Additionally, when she is off to university next year, I will be able to use the aluminum plate for travel if/when I go on a dive trip....my current setup is a Dive Rite stainless plate.

Anyone have any thoughts/recommendations on the above?

Can anyone comment on how aluminum plates standup to chlorinated pool water?

The DGX package with hogarthian harness, 25lb lift wing, and tank straps looks like an appealing price. Are there other product packages out there at competitive pricing that anyone recommends I should consider?

Thanks,
-Zef

 

[rongoodman]

If she would like to be able to dump a few pounds of lead in an emergency, it seems like the Al plate would be the way to go. Even the Al plate will weigh a couple of pounds and she might be able to shed a little more weight by eliminating the padding from the BCs she's been using.

 

[zider]

I agree with the previous post. It is very likely that she will shed a decent amount of lead from the conversion to a BP/W setup. I'd try the aluminium plate as it is always easy to add a few lbs on a weight belt or cam band pouches.

 

[decompression]

No brainer, go Al plate.

 

[The dutch guy]

When diving a non balanced setup ( what you always do with a wetsuit thicker than 2 or 3mm) you always want to have some way to ditch weight. So I think the aluminum plate is the way to go for her.

 

[Bowers]

to agree with those before me; aliminum bp would be good since your using heavy steel tank.
in regards to chlorinated pools, i dive with my aluminum plate when im teaching in the pool. lots of hours in the chlorine with no problems.

 

[Zef]

Thanks all for the advice. Just wondering if anyone knows of any packages out there that are competitive with the DGX package on price and quality?

Thanks,
-Z

 

[EireDiver606]

Just get the dgx package

 

[Zef]

Just get the dgx package

Just want to weigh my options. Thanks though.

-Z

 

[decompression]

DRIS has a package, as does deep 6 I believe. Can’t go wrong with any of them.