Help the new guy pick a BP/W

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I would personally recommend a halcyon setup. My post will likely get people complaining about the the "H" tax, but I'll take it. Halcyon products are pricey and you will spend more for a halcyon setup than many others. But in my opinion it's worth it. I've sent a an ancient halcyon wing in for a repair and it was done for free. I have many, many friends who have had the same level of service. They stand behind their products years past their warranty date. Try sending your Hog wing that you pinched between the bench and backplate for repair and see how that goes. The other company with almost as good support is Light Monkey, but I'm not a huge fan of their wings.
Many people will say halcyon is way overpriced, but when you consider how long their gear lasts and their level of customer service, it's a no-brainer to me
 
The amount of info here is a little overwhelming.

So here goes - I am 200lbs, 6ft. I currently dive a Mares Prestige/aluminum tank (single) and about 8lbs of lead. I have 100+ dives, boat and shore so not a ton of experiance, but a little.

I will exclusively be diving warm water with it, no wetsuit and want a BP/W for travel (airline). Nothing technical and single tank.

Lighter and easy to pack is better. New/used/open box... Doesn't matter. Suggestions?

With Al plate I did not like 8 lbs on cambands and ended up with the pouches on shoulder straps -- but they do get in the way a little. So I took a look at how much time I spend dragging my stuff through airports vs under water and upgraded to a steel plate. Now a couple of 2-pounders on top camband is all the lead I use, it's out of the way and I don't feel like it's trying to "tip me over" underwater.

I'd buy the VDH #18 wing if I were buying today, though the new DGX one looks not much bulkier and is a bit cheaper. Again, under water it's mostly just drag since you never have more than a couple of puffs of air in it, so less is better.
 
Pick a brand you are sure about, it will stay in businesses unlike DSS. Just in case you decide to upgrade to a twinset. The rest is peanuts.
 
Pick a brand you are sure about, it will stay in businesses unlike DSS. Just in case you decide to upgrade to a twinset. The rest is peanuts.

The brand you pick is irrelevant, as long it's generic, per se, without any proprietarianism.
 
The brand you pick is irrelevant, as long it's generic, per se, without any proprietarianism.

You are contradicting yourself, brand is important.
 
I have a Hog 23 and a DR 36, al plate and a Transpac, and dove them both in warm water. The Transpac is the goto rig in most circumstances.

That being said, I wish my plate was longer. They all seem to be the same size for the most part unless you can find a DSS long plate somewhere. Adjusting the shoulder straps to lowerthe plate just doesn't feel right. Once you're in the water though, it really doesn't matter.

My Hog wing has the hose elbow in the middle of the wing. I hate that. It shortens the hose and hits the reg. Look for a wing that places the elbow on the left shoulder. I assume a middle elbow would be better for doubles...but you aren't going to dive doubles with a 23 pound wing....

Brandwise, it's about what you want to spend. I put 90% of my gear together used as good deals came along.

Good luck,
Jay
 
I have a halycon steel backplate with cinch system.

I was in the market 11 years ago looking at a less expensive brand and happened to go to a dive shop just to shoot the **** with the owner who my friend knew it came up that I was in the market. The owner said here is one a guy came and bought 2 days ago went and did 2 dives on it then his wife freaked at the cost and made him sell it of course since it had been in water it was used..... I got it for 500 dove it for 2 years including taking it in my carry on to the Caribbean with regs, fins, mask, booties, and computers. Carry on was a little heavy but not unmanageable. It dove great with less weight on the belt.

I have out of the water for 8-9 years and am getting back in so the setup has been in extended storage, took it out looks like new works perfect etc...

So I would recommend the H in stainless even for travel.

I'm 6'2" and 180 pounds.
 
I would personally recommend a halcyon setup. My post will likely get people complaining about the the "H" tax, but I'll take it. Halcyon products are pricey and you will spend more for a halcyon setup than many others. But in my opinion it's worth it. I've sent a an ancient halcyon wing in for a repair and it was done for free. I have many, many friends who have had the same level of service. They stand behind their products.
Many people will say halcyon is way overpriced, but when you consider how long their gear lasts and their level of customer service, it's a no-brainer to me

Well... I have four complete Halcyon rigs with wings (20, 30, 40 and 60 lbs).

The 30lbs wing cover was frayed slightly exposing the bladder. It still worked fine, but I was concerned enough to switch to my old 17lbs ‘Bat’ wing.

I loved the bat wing. Over the years, several people tried to get me to sell it because they don’t make them any more. I think it was about 2004 vintage. Then, as happens to all old BCs, the glue gave out on the dump valve.

Both wings were well over 10 years old, so I almost tossed them. But, I really wanted to save the bat wing, so I went to EE to see if there was any possibility of saving it.

Turns out they both had a lifetime warranty...

They replaced the frayed cover on the one wing. It now looks and functions like new. They couldn’t save the bat wing so they replaced it with a new 20lbs wing. And, I mean brand new still in the bag new wing.
I walked out with essentially two brand new wings - gratis!

I actually like the new 20lbs wing better because most of the buoyancy in the bat wing was above the water line and it floated low on the surface.

And... it gets better. My Scubapro jet fins were starting to come apart. (Probably from swimming so fast) I happened mention it while at EE. They tell me those have a lifetime warranty, but have to be shipped to CA. So fast forward 3 weeks and I’m sporting new fins too.

The new wings and fins made the rest of my gear look dated. I then got motivated to do more equipment updates. So if you see me around wearing all new gear, you’ll know what happened...
 

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