Help to Spec

[PeterB]

Relatively new diver, but got the bug. Done OW, AOW, Nitrox, Rescue, S&R and have about 25 logged dives in Sydney (live in NYC, was down here for 3 months). Got sold on BP/W by LDS in Oz who recommended Halcyon. Reviews in this and other forums suggested DSS would do as well if not better for my needs.

Requirement is a BP/W for a single. To start with it'll all be rec diving with various sizes and types of rental tanks. Almost all of my diving will be holiday diving, so weight is key. With Halcyon I was looking at Aluminium BP and Eclipse wing and using the tank weight pockets for decent trim when I need some weight. The issue is that when I travel UK to US I need to take suits, laptop, bunch of other stuff PLUS diving gear for side trips to Caribbean or Red Sea or Med, so I have to shed as much weight as possible.

I am 6' and weight 175lbs. With a rental BCD, 5mm wettie and 12 liter aluminium tanks, I take about 15lbs in salt water although I started at 18 and am hoping to shave another couple of pounds off. I'd be at least a couple of pounds lighter with a SS tank.

My diving will be equally split between tropical (probably just rashie and shorts) and warm which will probably be a 5mm wetsuit.

I'm more interested in quality and comfort than price, find that I don't usually need that much lift in my BCD and have NO idea what to order! I'm looking for a complete rig.

I think the Kydex hybrid is lighter than the SS. If so, I'm guessing I'd want that. I believe I'd need a medium given my height. The pro-fit harness sounds about right although I'm not absolutely clear on the difference between that and the hogarthian. I also have no idea what wing to get. Ideally light, but consistent with enough lift to 5mm wettie, and if it wasn't a crazy amount of extra weight, I will be doing some diving in a drysuit (how much is yet to be determined as I've not tried it yet), so I'd be open to a little more weight for a wing with more lift if that'd cover a wider range of conditions.

Please let me know what else you need to know and the best way to go from my requirements to me getting sorted out! Only one other small concern. It looks like a but of a process to initially rig the equipment. I'm completely new to a BP/W. Should I take this to a LDS to get it fitted or will watching the videos give me enough info to get it set up right (not knowing how it should feel/look). Did I mention I was never very good at DIY?! To be fair, the process may be easier than I expect - was just a little worried at the instructions for putting it all together!

 

[cool_hardware52]

Relatively new diver, but got the bug. Done OW, AOW, Nitrox, Rescue, S&R and have about 25 logged dives in Sydney (live in NYC, was down here for 3 months). Got sold on BP/W by LDS in Oz who recommended Halcyon. Reviews in this and other forums suggested DSS would do as well if not better for my needs.

Peter,

You have detailed quite a range of applications, from a rash guard and al80's in tropical conditions to a as yet not purchased drysuit with some unspecified tank.

This analogous to asking me to spec one vehicle to use for weekend SCCA racing, and towing the sports car to the track.

I can of course make a recommendation for that range, but it will be a compromise. Wings need to be sized for the most buoyant exposure suit. How buoyant is your not yet purchased Drysuit? Who knows? If I have to guess I will error on the side of conservatism, but this will result in a wing much larger than you need for warm water travel diving in a rash guard.

Keep in mind that while the lightweight plates will save you about 3 lbs in dry travel weight, in most cases you will be better served in the water with a SS plate. Even in tropical conditions. A thin suit and a buoyant tank can often be used with just a SS plate and regulator for buoyancy. If you elect to use a lightweight plate that's almost neutral, and a buoyant tank, and compensate with a weight belt, you may have trouble achieving horizontal trim.

Lets look at only your 5mm suit and lighter exposure suits, and assume that you will be using al 80's.

You are diving now with about 17 lbs total ballast, 15 lead and 2 for your reg. Your current BC is very likely inherently positive by 2-4 lbs, and an empty al 80 is +4 lbs.

17 -3 (BC) _4 (tank) leaves about 10 lbs of buoyancy for your 5mm suit. That's about what I'd expect.

Your suit cannot loose more buoyancy than it starts with, so you need ~10 of wing lift to offset the max buoyancy change of your suit.

A medium SS plate and harness is about -6 lbs, a reg is -2 and a full 80 is -2. With a full tank your rig will be about -10. With an empty tank it will provide about 4 lbs of ballast. You will need 4-6 lbs in a belt. If you use the Kydex Plate you will need another ~5 lbs in the belt.

For this application you can use a very small wing. Our Torus 17 is enough. Remember also that smaller wings are a bit lighter, and pack smaller.

Is the 17 enough for your not yet purchased drysuit? Almost certainly not. How much wing do you need? If I had to guess I'd say a 26-30 would probably do the job, but you'd be much better served to get the suit and determine the buoyancy before buying the wing.

I'd recommend the Hogarthian Harness. Simpler and packs up smaller. As far as DIY, we include instructions that most have found to be sufficient to assemble a harness. There are various site on the net for fitting info. If you current are using a BP&W you should be familiar with the initial harness adjustment.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Tobin

 

[Plug]

Peter,

If your still in Sydney I will be very happy to show you some DSS stuff. Tobin's service is first rate.

Brendan

 

[PeterB]

Hi Brendan, If there was any way we could arrange the logistics on that I'd really appreciate it. I'm flying off on Thursday afternoon, but I'd be willing to meet you anywhere public transport goes on Tuesday or Wednesday evenings if that happened to be convenient. I fully get it's last minute, appreciate the offer and understand if we can't work out the timing, but if we could, it'd be much appreciated!

I'm staying in Manly but can easily take the ferry into town and then a bus or train to wherever would be easiest for you. Just let me know!

 

[PeterB]

Hi Tobin,

Many thanks for your patience and detailed response. Now you've worked me through a sample calculation let me work up a couple of calculations based on specific wetsuits and drysuits and I'll get back to you with any final questions just before I make the purchase.

Unfortunately I've never even worn a BP/W - it's been all school BCD's to date, but I'm sure I'll be able to find someone to give me a hand when I get to New York to figure out how to put it all together.

Thanks again for the help, and now that I've done a little more digging on DIR and the like I actually understand what a hogarthian rig is.

 

[Plug]

Peter,

sorry but if you fly out this week its probably not possible. if you come back to OZ feel free to PM me and we can arrange something.

I would highly recommend Tobin's gear and his customer service is excellent, I haven't seen anything like it here in OZ. And if the prices haven't changed since the last time I was down at Manly Tobin's gear would be about half the price.

Brendan