First Dive with BP/W...

[Hatul]

I think there are a few special circumstances where the steel plate has an overwhelming advantage: doubles, drysuit diving, and for those that really require a lot of lead to dive. For others it's a tradeoff and personal preference.

 

[cb5150]

How strange, are we twins? I used to live in The Woodlands (Alden Bridge) and was in the same boat. In 2005 I bought a used / homemade AL plate ( very long ) and started looking for a wing on eBay. They were like $300 at the time plus the webbing and cam straps and I had a hard time pulling the trigger as I already had gear to dive. I moved to Austin, wife got cancer and I stopped diving. I gave all my gear away in 2008 to a fellow ScubaBoarder to make sure that if I ever dove again I'd force myself to rebuy everything.

I finally started diving again in 2012 and bought a full set of DIR/Hog style gear and I love it. Prices came down also... my whole DRIS BP/W was $299.

So your 6 months was my 7 years! Go figure...

Holy Crap, I live in Alden Bridge. PM sent.

 

[doctormike]

I think there are a few special circumstances where the steel plate has an overwhelming advantage: doubles

Do you mean with aluminum doubles because of the buoyancy when empty? Or because of the steel plate's greater resistance to deformation under weight?

 

[chrpai]

Just to be clear; my wife is in remission.

 

[Peter_C]

I think there are a few special circumstances where the steel plate has an overwhelming advantage: doubles, drysuit diving, and for those that really require a lot of lead to dive. For others it's a tradeoff and personal preference.

I sold my stainless plate for diving doubles and switched to an aluminum since I was severely head heavy. For singles I have a hand made stainless plate that works perfectly. It is also my travel plate, but I carry it onto the plane as/attached to my backpack.

 

[USFpsychDiver]

No comparison between a jacket and BP/W is there? Once in the water the BP/W almost feels like nothing's there. I have a SS BP that I use with doubles and put an STA on it for diving singles. With the STA, wearing a 3mm shorty or less, I need no additional weight in fresh and in salt I put 2 2lb weights in cam band pockets. I did get a Zeagle Express Tech for travel but found that the BP fits nicely at the bottom of my roll on so I put it in there with my other heavy stuff (regs, lights) and fill the checked bags with my lighter, bulkier gear, and usually leave the Express Tech at home (or let my daughter use it).

 

[diverrex]

I use a Halcyon BP/W with steel plate for cold water diving and also have a Halcyon travel BP/W for the tropics. I didn't like traveling with the weight of my SS back plate plus in areas of Florida using a 100 steel tank using both a SS plate and a steel tank was too heavy in a 3 mm suit.

While I really like my Halcyon rigs and will agree they are better I do not find them a huge difference between my former BC a Seaquest Balance rear inflate with no cumberbund. Definitely better but not night and day better.

 

[Tessunderwater]

Yep nothing beats the mobility and freedom a BP/W give you. I've been diving mine for about two years now. Not to mention the weight you get to dump when you switch.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ayisha]

I went with an AL bp a couple of years ago because the ST bp alone weighed more than the amount of weight I need with a HP steel 80 in cold fresh water: 4 lbs or warm salt water: 2 lbs. A ST bp does not necessarily make sense for everyone, especially smaller people.

I found the bp & w to be very similar to the women's back-inflated jacket-style BC that I loved and found little to no learning curve. It was just as simple. I found that my trim was suddenly less than optimal with the bp & w, though, with my head a little higher. I couldn't seem to be able to move the harness on the Halcyon Infinity. I got trim weights on the top cam band and all seems fine now.

 

[al248005]

Man this was the post I have been looking for. I'm in the process of replacing my jacket style BC and am considering a BP/W. I was kind of worried the transition was going to be a big learning curve but from what I'm hearing its not.