BP/W for beginners?

[lowwall]

• Some courses (rescue diver) require removing casualty's harness on the surface as one of the exercises. It's a completely pointless skill because in a real world scenario, you would just cut the harness. Removing the harness requires some skill and few hints from a good instructor - e.g. deflating the wing and drysuit a bit. If you take the course in a tropical destination, you might need to loosen the harness to cheat as local instructors might not have a clue how to help you.

I did my rescue course in a BP/W as was my "victim". Removing it was no problem. Just pass the first hand and arm under the shoulder strap at belly height. My instructor was surprised at how easy it was. He had an extra BCD sitting in his truck in case we couldn't manage it with the backplates.

The key is that backplate shoulder straps are not meant to be tight. The usual guidance is to leave a fist worth of clearance between the strap and your body. The waist and crotch straps keep everything on place.

Edit: this was in warm water with 3mm wetsuits.

 

[Still Kicking]

why wouldn't beginners use them as well?

One reason jacket style BCDs prevail in rental fleets is because they provide almost 360 degree flotation at the surface. When you're wearing a jacket and you inflate it fully, you tend to ride higher out of the water (assuming it is properly fitted and it doesn't rise up off your shoulders).

For new divers, especially those who are very nervous about floating in deep water, having a ton of buoyancy and stability is a great confidence booster and helps them get through what might be a deal-breaking part of the class.

Back inflation BCDs, including backplate & wings, do not act the same way. When you fully inflate a wing, all that buoyancy behind you will tend to destabilize the diver and even may push them forward (hence tthe myth that the BPW "will try to drown you"). To some extent, the weight of the plate and tank tend to counteract this tendency and with appropriate inflation it is stable, but you don't get the same feeling of "riding high" in the water that you get with a jacket.

The trick with a back-inflate style BCD, is to use an appropriate sized wing for the rig you are diving and to not over inflate the wing. This will allow the weight behind you (tank and plate) to counteract the wing and let you float vertically. However, depending on how much buoyancy your exposure suit provides, you might be around chin or neck level with the surface, which can be a little disconcerting for nervous new divers.

When you swim on your back on the surface with a backplate, you lean into the wing and your upper body will ride a little higher out of the water, which is very comfortable and natural.

 

[Ez E]

People assume skill levels based on mental shortcuts and it's very subconscious. Brand new gear, snorkel attached to a mask? Probably a newbie, watch out. Drysuit, backplate & wing, maybe even in decent trim? Probably someone who thinks about their diving a bit more, maybe I don't need to explain everything. It's really deceiving.

So it’s not cool to have your snorkel on your mask? Uggggg… Ive been wearing it that way since getting back in the water. I was trained in 01 to have it on your mask and to use that for surface breathing.

 

[jcwalsh]

My 12YO did her OW and AOW in a BP/W and had no issues at all. If I knew then what I know now I would have bought this setup from Dive Gear Express.
DGX Custom - DGX Gears Singles Harness / Backplate / Wing Package

 

[rx7diver]

So it’s not cool to have your snorkel on your mask? Uggggg… Ive been wearing it that way since getting back in the water. I was trained in 01 to have it on your mask and to use that for surface breathing.

Many of us here still wear our snorkels on our mask strap when doing recreational diving--for exactly the reason you've stated (for either resting on the surface or swimming/kicking prone on the surface). Looking/being cool has less importance to many of us here.

ETA: I use a simple J snorkel (Standard J Snorkel).

rx7diver

 

[DiveLikeAMuppet]

So it’s not cool to have your snorkel on your mask? Uggggg… Ive been wearing it that way since getting back in the water. I was trained in 01 to have it on your mask and to use that for surface breathing.

Many of us here still wear our snorkels on our mask strap when doing recreational diving--for exactly the reason you've stated (for either resting on the surface or swimming/kicking prone on the surface). Looking/being cool has less importance to many of us here.

ETA: I use a simple J snorkel (Standard J Snorkel).

rx7diver

Context-dependent example . Let's not go off-topic on snorkels but here's an explanation. In the UK and I presume in cold water European diving in general it's mostly the beginners who keep snorkels attached to their masks, big overpriced tubes with gimmicks. Few people keep a snorkel in their pocket or pretend to keep it in their pocket when teaching anything but OWD.

In the local context, it's unsafe to switch to a snorkel on the surface - boats have dive lifts and might be picking you up in serious swell if the weather turned. You need to be breathing from something that works underwater, which is a regulator - so you jump in with a regulator in your mouth and get back on the boat with a regulator in your mouth. In this context, you see people with a snorkel only on very shallow dives and usually only once, as they ditch it pretty quickly .

 

[drrich2]

If bp/w is highly recommended for drysuit diving in colder waters, which we do have here, why wouldn't beginners use them as well?

Others noted the lack of pockets and tendency to sit lower in the water at the surface, and pitch forward if you try to compensate by inflating the wing more. Doesn't sound like a big deal, till you're getting hit with waves...then riding high in the water starts to sound pretty good.

When I bought my rig, I bought it through a dive shop, not mail order direct, as I wanted a shop staffer to thread the hardness and get it together for me. Watching that ordeal convinced me I made a wise choice. Even then, I was told I'd likely be find-tuning adjustments later. By comparison, jacket BCDs are pretty much off-the-rack, preassembled, 'plug and play.'

Rental gear at popular dive destinations is usually a jacket BCD, it's what most divers seem to train with, and such setups don't confront the diver with a lot of choices.

If you think you're likely to pursue a GUE Fundamentals course, be aware they have specific gear requirements from what I'm told, specifically about the harness. Some people on SB prefer the single piece webbing approach; I use a deluxe harness. If I wanted to take a GUE Fundamentals course, I don't think my harness would pass muster (and I'd be highly upset if anybody tried to remove my current harness).

So if you have a vision for your path forward in training, maybe check out what those requirements are.

I've never used a dry suit and don't always wear a wet suit, or the same wet suit, so for my pocket needs I use a strap-on Dive Rite thigh pocket. The lack of a pocket is important, because you'll want to stow an SMB and finger spool (likely) and somewhere on your rig at least one cutting tool.

 

[lowwall]

I've never used a dry suit and don't always wear a wet suit, or the same wet suit, so for my pocket needs I use a strap-on Dive Rite thigh pocket. The lack of a pocket is important, because you'll want to stow an SMB and finger spool (likely) and somewhere on your rig at least one cutting tool.

I don't have any pockets on my wetsuit or backplate. If I'm bringing an SMB, I clip it pre-assembled with its spool to my right hip D-ring at the start of the dive. Once everything is sorted on the bottom (and after checking that it hasn't unrolled), I move it to one of the holes on the edge of the backplate. Some people use the butt d-ring instead or add a mesh pouch to the backplate and stow it there.

I don't think it's a good idea to keep your cutting tool in a pocket. Have it in a sheath somewhere directly accessible. I use a pair of shears in a sheath on the waist belt, but there's a bunch of other options.

This is for rec diving. Tech divers need pockets to carry stuff like an extra mask and wet notes and reels and line markers and snacks to share with the mermaids. But you can cross that bridge if and when you come to it.

 

[Still Kicking]

I have been using one of these Tempest pockets on my waist strap. I store an SMB, light, whistle and Nautilus in case I need them. It sits out of the way, far back on the right, next to the plate. If I need to deploy anything, I slide it forward so I can more easily open the zipper and access the contents. Everything inside is clipped to a bungee loop so I can't lose anything.

But if deploying an SMB is part of the plan, I will do as lowwall says and clip it prerigged to a D ring as it's so much easier to access than unzipping the pocket, getting it out and then putting everything else away.

 

[drrich2]

(and after checking that it hasn't unrolled)

What do you do to prevent your SMB unrolling. I've tried and tried, and nothing I've done but stowing it in a pocket worked consistently. I need to get a new one before my (hoped for someday) next trip, and I plan to get one of those mesh pockets you mentioned to deal with the problem.

I'm what you might call motor skills and mechanical intuition challenged.

I don't think it's a good idea to keep your cutting tool in a pocket. Have it in a sheath somewhere directly accessible.

Good point. I follow the SDI Solo Diver recommendation when solo diving to carry 2 cutting tools. My Trilobyte in on the horizontal webbing strap across my chest; my Spyderco H1 steel knife is often in a pocket. They recommend they not be together so if entangled there's a decent change of being able to reach at least one.