Can your jacket do this?

[fnfalman]

The harness system can be adjusted to fit a small person, a large man or anything in between.

The harness system can be adjusted to fit any person of any body type, but the back plate can't be adjusted. If one size were to fit all, then various BPW manufacturers wouldn't have put out shorter and longer plates.

The wing helps facilitate horizontal trim.

Sure, but that's just one factor out of many.

Good trim and buoyancy control do not take 75 dives to master.

Depends on the quality of the instruction and zero on the quality of the BC.

 

[*dave*]

Well, my OP wasn't about trim or buoyancy control, it was about flexibility and fit. For $12 in webbing and a $7 buckle, we converted a BCD that fits a 180# diver perfectly to accommodate a 6'5"(he corrected me last night), 400# guy.

I have always used a jacket for pool sessions and I test every different style jacket that comes into the shop in the pool. Yes, I can trim out and control any of them, but with jackets, there is always some degree of compensation being made to work with them. If I relax and let the rig have its way with me, I end up turtled. Easy to compensate for, but that's typically not required when I dive my BP/W.

Thing is, it takes time to learn the skills used to compensate. What I saw in the video and in the pool was a guy that was not fighting to discover how to control the rig. On the other hand, it's not that difficult if a person has the right information and the ability to follow instruction:

 

[fnfalman]

Well, my OP wasn't about trim or buoyancy control, it was about flexibility and fit. For $12 in webbing and a $7 buckle, we converted a BCD that fits a 180# diver perfectly to accommodate a 6'5"(he corrected me last night), 400# guy.

If your next student were to be a 4ft11 woman, can she still use the same backplate? Probably not, unless you want that backplate to wedge itself between her neck and her butt. So, it would cost more than just the $12 price in webbing and $7 in buckle, wouldn't it?

I have always used a jacket for pool sessions and I test every different style jacket that comes into the shop in the pool. Yes, I can trim out and control any of them, but with jackets, there is always some degree of compensation being made to work with them. If I relax and let the rig have its way with me, I end up turtled. Easy to compensate for, but that's typically not required when I dive my BP/W.

It works for you and it works for me, it doesn't necessarily work for everybody and their brothers.

Thing is, it takes time to learn the skills used to compensate. What I saw in the video and in the pool was a guy that was not fighting to discover how to control the rig. On the other hand, it's not that difficult if a person has the right information and the ability to follow instruction:

And I maintain that the instructor's teaching skills is more important than any BC.

 

[*dave*]

Could we please give it a rest? It gets tiresome. Too tiresome.

You should rest.

 

[Diver0001]

It's not the 7th day yet. j/k

I'm I correct in understanding that you improvised a back-inflate from a jacket style BCD and some webbing? If so that's pretty darned clever.

R..

 

[*dave*]

No, it was an Apeks BP/W. I just re-webbed it for the big guy and added a buckle to the left shoulder strap. This left me without my singles rig, so I dived my pool rig in OW today. My pool rig is a jacket and while the guy I dived with said I looked great, I was all too aware of the corrections I was making in order to trim out.

 

[Diver0001]

It's because of those monstrous split fins you use.

R..