DSS BP/W First Dive Review

[ScubaSteve858]

I wanted to take a moment to review my new DSS SS BP/W Rig with Glide Harness Adapter.

I read the forums for days looking for tips and pointers for my specific situation. I will be a providing all the info I was looking for in one spot!

Per my previous post my rig showed up the day after placing my order and took about an hour to put together. Not bad for my first run! Everything in the box screamed quality.

So on to the dive.
Location: La Jolla Shores, San Diego
Conditions: Sunset/Night dive , Air 68° Surface 58° Temp at 82 FSW 53°
Exposure: 7mm Henderson Titanium One piece full suit with gloves and booties

Equipment: DSS Rig large SS BP and Torus 26, Steel HP 100, Primary DGX 800 and back up UK SL4 LED, SMB, Hollis F1 fins.

Weight: Top cam band DGX trim pockets tucked all the way in on both sides of tank with 2 lbs hard weight in each. Weight belt with 2 Soft 2 lbs weights. Total of 8 lbs additional ballast.

Me: 6'3" 195lbs

The dive: Surface kick about 150 yards. Felt well balanced and no where near face forward as some experience. Right shoulder strap slid off my shoulder a couple of times, I'm guessing I just need to adjust it a little shorter. Not a big deal. Initial buoyancy check performed as Tobin advised. Full breath drained wing sank me to just below eye level. So I might be able to shed another pound or 2. However when I exhaled I did feel neutral on the descent. So will probably keep 8 lbs for the next as well until I'm sure I can lose the weight. The short inflater hose was different for me but still accessible and after a few trys felt great. I do need to work on not breaking trim and using rear dump. Started on sand flat at 40 FSW and got situated added a couple puffs to the wing and dropped into the canyon to between 70 and 82 FSW. It did take a few minutes to find the right body position to maintain trim but once dialed in I was amazed at the difference from my jacket bcd. Stability of tank and body is best way to describe it. On the ascent to the flats burped some air from the wing and returned to the flats for the swim in. This is where I could really see how much my trim improved. I felt completely satisfied with my purchase and my buddy immediately complimented the rig and how I looked during the dive. He mentioned he would be buying one as his next rig.

Hope this was helpful to anyone considering a DSS Rig. I'm so glad I took everyone's advice and called Tobin. Thank you Tobin and all of my fellow divers! DSS for life!

 

[halocline]

Stability of tank and body is best way to describe it.

This is the beauty of a rigid backplate, it couples the tank to your back.

 

[Neilwood]

This is the beauty of a rigid backplate, it couples the tank to your back.

Agreed - once you have your harness properly adjusted, the plate & tank feel a part of you instead of something distant as they can in a jacket.

 

[cool_hardware52]

I wanted to take a moment to review my new DSS SS BP/W Rig with Glide Harness Adapter.

I read the forums for days looking for tips and pointers for my specific situation. I will be a providing all the info I was looking for in one spot!

Per my previous post my rig showed up the day after placing my order and took about an hour to put together. Not bad for my first run! Everything in the box screamed quality.

So on to the dive.
Location: La Jolla Shores, San Diego
Conditions: Sunset/Night dive , Air 68° Surface 58° Temp at 82 FSW 53°
Exposure: 7mm Henderson Titanium One piece full suit with gloves and booties

Equipment: DSS Rig large SS BP and Torus 26, Steel HP 100, Primary DGX 800 and back up UK SL4 LED, SMB, Hollis F1 fins.

Weight: Top cam band DGX trim pockets tucked all the way in on both sides of tank with 2 lbs hard weight in each. Weight belt with 2 Soft 2 lbs weights. Total of 8 lbs additional ballast.

Me: 6'3" 195lbs

The dive: Surface kick about 150 yards. Felt well balanced and no where near face forward as some experience. Right shoulder strap slid off my shoulder a couple of times, I'm guessing I just need to adjust it a little shorter. Not a big deal. Initial buoyancy check performed as Tobin advised. Full breath drained wing sank me to just below eye level. So I might be able to shed another pound or 2. However when I exhaled I did feel neutral on the descent. So will probably keep 8 lbs for the next as well until I'm sure I can lose the weight. The short inflater hose was different for me but still accessible and after a few trys felt great. I do need to work on not breaking trim and using rear dump. Started on sand flat at 40 FSW and got situated added a couple puffs to the wing and dropped into the canyon to between 70 and 82 FSW. It did take a few minutes to find the right body position to maintain trim but once dialed in I was amazed at the difference from my jacket bcd. Stability of tank and body is best way to describe it. On the ascent to the flats burped some air from the wing and returned to the flats for the swim in. This is where I could really see how much my trim improved. I felt completely satisfied with my purchase and my buddy immediately complimented the rig and how I looked during the dive. He mentioned he would be buying one as his next rig.

Hope this was helpful to anyone considering a DSS Rig. I'm so glad I took everyone's advice and called Tobin. Thank you Tobin and all of my fellow divers! DSS for life!

Glad to hear the goods are meeting your expectations.

Minor point: I'm not a huge fan of ballast on cambands for a couple reasons: They largely defeat the ability to easily remove the wing from the plate. Keeping the plate away from the wing for travel, clean up and storage greatly reduces the chances of a pinch flat from dropping the plate on the corner of the wing. Camband mounted weights can also "slap" the wing against the plate when no tank is fitted and potentially pinch flat the bladder. Small 2 lbs tight to the plate in pockets are likely a small risk, but keep an eye on them.

As an alternative a couple unrolled ankle weights zip tied to the edge of the plate can provide the ballast you want, where you need it and avoid the potential issues with camband mounted ballast.

A third choice is to slide your cylinder up a little and leave all of your extra ballast on your belt.

Good luck, and thanks for the kind words.

Tobin