Blue Sparkle
Contributor
Hi all,
I'm new here (posted a bit about me in the Introductions forum, plus a question in the Exposure Suits sub-forum).
As a quick preamble, I've loved the water all my life, and am always happiest in and around it. Grew up swimming in the lake, boating, etc.
About ten years ago, I got into snorkeling because I was in the tropics for some months on a sailboat. Wow, where was that all my life! I *loved* it. In that clear water, with all the coral and fish (I'm from the Great Lakes)... amazing.
The thing is, I *felt* like a fish! Just a thin dive skin (okay, too thin, I did freeze), mask, snorkel, and fins. Everything was mine, it all fit, and I was in my element. We spent whole days in the water, and except for wishing I'd had a 3mm suit, nothing could have been finer. Except maybe diving....
So in 2005, I took an OW class in Minnesota. The class went fine, except none of the gear fit me. But oh well, I was there to learn how to use it, and hoped it would be better when I actually went diving (this was in a lake with no vis).
Since then I've been on two diving trips, both to Florida. But you know what? It just didn't have the magic of snorkeling. I could see it had the potential, but I just felt like a big, bloated, stuffed, Michelin Woman. Nothing fit, it all shifted around, the tank was so high it kept me from being able to turn my head (even though it was as low as it could go without falling out from behind the top strap and even when they gave me a short tank), and... just... ugh. I was *not* a fish anymore.
I know I can solve the horrible wetsuit problem by getting a custom suit, but the main problem (to me) was that BC. I'm *really* short-waisted, and of course the BC wasn't, but even when I stopped at a Dive Shop (in the Keys) on my way home and tried on a women's BC (small fit me), it still seemed awful. I think because I'm so short waisted. There was just all this *fabric* and stuff jammed up under my armpits. Heck, it has no place else to go. Measuring, btw, there is about 9" between my waist and my armpit.
So okay, not to whine, but if I'm going to love diving (and I want to), I need to get my inner fish back
In searching and reading on this forum, I came across the BP/W set-up. And have subsequently read approximately 3,927 threads on it :cool2:
What I'd like to get some input on in this thread, is whether my hunch is correct in that a BP/W could help me. Here's what I'm thinking:
1) It looks like the backplates come in short sizes (small is for people under 5'3" - and even though I'm 5'5" I'm only measuring 14" from that very top neck "knob" to my waist). I'm thinking that this would help with overall fit, but also perhaps help me to get the tank down off my head?
2) I don't see all that Michelin Woman bulk that I felt with even the women's small BC.
3) If I need to tweak sizing on any of the components I won't have to start from scratch but can just tweak modularly.
4) This one I'm not sure on, but... adding weight? (In the dive class, where I had to add more weight than would fit in the BC pockets (58º so lots of neoprene), the weight belt just made it worse. There was just no place to put it except under the BC.) Now I know my projected dive situations will not have me using THAT MUCH weight, but I would like to know where I would put the weight with the BP/W set up, since there is no available "real estate" below the waist strap (anything below that just gets shoved up to my waist).
In boating I lean towards things that are basic and sturdy, and repairable with common parts. I do like good design, but just not "overdesign." I think this is another reason the BP/W is appealing to me.
For the near future, I see myself doing warm water diving, single tank, probably under 60'. Then if I "get my fish back".... who knows Otherwise, I know I'm going to want to go back to exclusively snorkeling :depressed:
Thanks ahead,
B.
PS: I should add that I am going to the Keys again in a few weeks, and unless I buy at least some of my own gear, I think I will "just" snorkel. OTOH, if I can get a wetsuit (leaning toward Liquid Fit custom suit) and a BC, I think I can be happy with the rest of the SCUBA-specific gear being rented. But... will a dive shop's regulator, hoses, and etc work if I own/bring my own BP/W setup?
I'm new here (posted a bit about me in the Introductions forum, plus a question in the Exposure Suits sub-forum).
As a quick preamble, I've loved the water all my life, and am always happiest in and around it. Grew up swimming in the lake, boating, etc.
About ten years ago, I got into snorkeling because I was in the tropics for some months on a sailboat. Wow, where was that all my life! I *loved* it. In that clear water, with all the coral and fish (I'm from the Great Lakes)... amazing.
The thing is, I *felt* like a fish! Just a thin dive skin (okay, too thin, I did freeze), mask, snorkel, and fins. Everything was mine, it all fit, and I was in my element. We spent whole days in the water, and except for wishing I'd had a 3mm suit, nothing could have been finer. Except maybe diving....
So in 2005, I took an OW class in Minnesota. The class went fine, except none of the gear fit me. But oh well, I was there to learn how to use it, and hoped it would be better when I actually went diving (this was in a lake with no vis).
Since then I've been on two diving trips, both to Florida. But you know what? It just didn't have the magic of snorkeling. I could see it had the potential, but I just felt like a big, bloated, stuffed, Michelin Woman. Nothing fit, it all shifted around, the tank was so high it kept me from being able to turn my head (even though it was as low as it could go without falling out from behind the top strap and even when they gave me a short tank), and... just... ugh. I was *not* a fish anymore.
I know I can solve the horrible wetsuit problem by getting a custom suit, but the main problem (to me) was that BC. I'm *really* short-waisted, and of course the BC wasn't, but even when I stopped at a Dive Shop (in the Keys) on my way home and tried on a women's BC (small fit me), it still seemed awful. I think because I'm so short waisted. There was just all this *fabric* and stuff jammed up under my armpits. Heck, it has no place else to go. Measuring, btw, there is about 9" between my waist and my armpit.
So okay, not to whine, but if I'm going to love diving (and I want to), I need to get my inner fish back
In searching and reading on this forum, I came across the BP/W set-up. And have subsequently read approximately 3,927 threads on it :cool2:
What I'd like to get some input on in this thread, is whether my hunch is correct in that a BP/W could help me. Here's what I'm thinking:
1) It looks like the backplates come in short sizes (small is for people under 5'3" - and even though I'm 5'5" I'm only measuring 14" from that very top neck "knob" to my waist). I'm thinking that this would help with overall fit, but also perhaps help me to get the tank down off my head?
2) I don't see all that Michelin Woman bulk that I felt with even the women's small BC.
3) If I need to tweak sizing on any of the components I won't have to start from scratch but can just tweak modularly.
4) This one I'm not sure on, but... adding weight? (In the dive class, where I had to add more weight than would fit in the BC pockets (58º so lots of neoprene), the weight belt just made it worse. There was just no place to put it except under the BC.) Now I know my projected dive situations will not have me using THAT MUCH weight, but I would like to know where I would put the weight with the BP/W set up, since there is no available "real estate" below the waist strap (anything below that just gets shoved up to my waist).
In boating I lean towards things that are basic and sturdy, and repairable with common parts. I do like good design, but just not "overdesign." I think this is another reason the BP/W is appealing to me.
For the near future, I see myself doing warm water diving, single tank, probably under 60'. Then if I "get my fish back".... who knows Otherwise, I know I'm going to want to go back to exclusively snorkeling :depressed:
Thanks ahead,
B.
PS: I should add that I am going to the Keys again in a few weeks, and unless I buy at least some of my own gear, I think I will "just" snorkel. OTOH, if I can get a wetsuit (leaning toward Liquid Fit custom suit) and a BC, I think I can be happy with the rest of the SCUBA-specific gear being rented. But... will a dive shop's regulator, hoses, and etc work if I own/bring my own BP/W setup?
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