BP/W Setup Question - Thinking XDeep

[wetb4igetinthewater]

@Travis S.,

If you are going to go the XDeep route, I'd suggest the latest NX series. Everything I have read has been extremely positive. If you are on Facebook, there are a number of groups that discuss it. If I'm not mistaken Ryan @custureri has standardized on XDeep NX wings for his business. He's a great source of information.

If you are interested in tech, I'd recommend UTD Essentials (I like how they begin in the pool and end in the open water). Here are some instructors in your area if you are interested: Find an Instructor · UTD Scuba Diving

 

[Travis S.]

Thank you, it does have plenty of advantages, but there are downsides too.

Way too many people dive overweighted though, they’ll dive like that their entire lives, I just gave my SS plate to a friend, guess why I had one, it was recommend to me, and unfortunately I didn’t know any better then.
I have 3 DM friends I had them switch from SS to aluminum plates, without any other change in their rig, all 3 were told to get SS when they were ordering the gear, same gear, same price, your choice of metal... someone says, get SS. Wasn’t the same person who made the recommendation to all 4 of us btw, not even same place.

For some reason, divers fear being underweighted (which realistically means either balanced or slightly overweighted) but give no thought about being overweighted, how many even rationalize adding a few extra pounds is a good idea, we see that all the time, after all they have buoyancy COMPENSATING device, press a button and instantly I’m “no longer” overweighted.

Anyway, I might be deviating offtopic here and rambling

I am a bit confused whether to go the SS route. No one wants to be overweighted. How much does a SS plate + weighted STA weigh (typically)?

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I am a bit confused whether to go the SS route. No one wants to be overweighted. How much does a SS plate + weighted STA weigh (typically)?

Usually 6 lbs.

 

[Travis S.]

@Travis S.,

If you are going to go the XDeep route, I'd suggest the latest NX series. Everything I have read has been extremely positive. If you are on Facebook, there are a number of groups that discuss it. If I'm not mistaken Ryan @custureri has standardized on XDeep NX wings for his business. He's a great source of information.

If you are interested in tech, I'd recommend UTD Essentials (I like how they begin in the pool and end in the open water). Here are some instructors in your area if you are interested: Find an Instructor · UTD Scuba Diving

I see a lot of people are suggesting UTD, TDI and GUE. Understood that there are a lot of varying opinions and the pros and cons with each organization, and that a lot depends on the instructor as well. Just for me to make a more even comparison - what would be the best starting class for each, what is the cost associated, and what is the classroom time / number of dives associated with each route?

Here's what I have so far:

GUE - Fundamentals w/ tech endorsement - six days, 30 hours of classroom and six dives - cost unknown
UTD - Essentials - course time / cost unknown
TDI - Advanced Ntirox (w/ Deco) - course time / cost unknown

 

[MichaelMc]

+1 on not defaulting to a solid heavy SS plate. For use in cold water, 6 lb is not much of your weight and having it conveniently in your plate is nice. Less lead that you need to find a home for. If you go to the tropics it locks a lot, or possibly all, of your weight in one place. Some flexibility in where you put that ballast would be nice, for trim or keeping some of it ditchable, if you so choose.

 

[Travis S.]

+1 on not defaulting to a solid heavy SS plate. For use in cold water, 6 lb is not much of your weight and having it conveniently in your plate is nice. Less lead that you need to find a home for. If you go to the tropics it locks a lot, or possibly all, of your weight in one place. Some flexibility in where you put that ballast would be nice, for trim or keeping some of it ditchable, if you so choose.

I really appreciate all the insights here, but how can six pounds make much of a difference? The last time I dove with a 3 mm in warmer weather i wore 10 pounds. The last time I dove in a dry suit, I wore 27 pounds. I'm 6'1'' about 195.

 

[MichaelMc]

I really appreciate all the insights here, but how can six pounds make much of a difference? The last time I dove with a 3 mm in warmer weather i wore 10 pounds. The last time I dove in a dry suit, I wore 27 pounds. I'm 6'1'' about 195.

For your dry suit definitely steel plate.

I'm a fan of having options. In the tropics you might trim out just fine with a steel plate and 4 lb of lead to play with. I've found 4 lb. is plenty to get trimmed if you play with waist to shoulders and everything else made your trim fairly good anyway, such as the rest of your ballast close to and along your back in a steel plate.

But I also like having some weight ditchable just in case for the surface or elsewhere, though some feel otherwise. 4 lb. to play with might not leave much lower down where it is typically accessible for ditching. A cutout steel plate gives me more lead to play with to get both trim and some ditchable. I might mount some of that high on the plate, totally non ditchable just like the heavy plate, but that might mean I could get some lower and ditchable.

ETA: if that 10 lb for the 3mm was with the Zeagle Ranger, it looks to have a little padding in the shoulders which might account for some of the 10lb. Typically moving from jacket or back inflate to BP/W you can loose some lead due to less padding. So your 4lb to play with might get cut down to 3 lb or 2 lb. Were you thinking of different regs? Their contribution to ballast might change. Were you adding a tech typically negative light? Your margin of having some lead to play with may get rather fine or disappear.

 

[Diver below 83]

I’m a Tropic diver so genuinely curious. Are alum plates not liked for cold water diving due to the lighter weight? And you’ll need more for dry suit etc

 

[MichaelMc]

I’m a Tropic diver so genuinely curious. Are alum plates not liked for cold water diving due to the lighter weight? And you’ll need more for dry suit etc

In cold water, you often need lots of ballast. There are only so many good places for it, and along the back is good because it's close to the lungs and your body front/back centerline. Aluminum is close to neutral, specific gravity of 2.7, so makes crappy ballast. Spending two surface pounds and some thickness on plate made of AL is a waste when you could use steel with a specific gravity of 7. A two pound cutout steel plate is better, but you're still wasting thickness with the cutouts, might as well use solid plate.

Locking in 6 lb. in a great spot for trim does not complicate your trim problems if you have 10-20+ pounds of lead still to place. (Or your ditching problems, if you so choose.) So that steel plate has no real downsides.

If you're in warm water, and if that 6 lb is much or all of your ballast, a heavy steel plate leaves you with little or nothing to play with for trim (or ditchable). Weighting is not just how much, but also where. If it's most of your weight, the steel plate covers the how much, but takes away options on the where.

 

[happy-diver]

Other peoples weights are their weights, they're not your weights they're not our weights they are only their weights which even if you find them or they give them to you and you put them on they are still their weights
and they will always be their weights until they are not their weights anymore, certainly even as your weights sometimes aren't yours any more and you're going to have to find some other weights elswhere and not your weights or their weights but some new weights, because your weight has become other people weights


This Zeagle Ranger has served me very very well for almost two decades.

Diving Singles, Doubles, Twins, Triples, Sidemount, Ponies, Slungs, Rebreather carriage, and who knows what else

It's as xdeep as I'm ever going, whilst maintaining my deep pockets full of money I'm actually making a couple of copies of Steve Bogaerts RAZOR type harness on the sewing machine currently albeit for a very very too long time

Weight on your back where it belongs

I have moved the clips for the wing forward so it lifts in a contoured fashion only as much as it is inflated
and that is not very much
harness hugging no taco

When fitted correctly and certainly with a crotch strap an extremely stable platform

a chest mount rebreather gets clipped to the front of it at the moment


Go diving in your ranger man and find that weight and reinforce the freedom


hey look at the stiff string coming out of the bottom dump, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha