Question My debate - go with a BP/W or stick with a back-inflate BC?

[Saboteur]

Meant to be constructive. Perhaps you would do better if you assembled or inspected/tested your own gear.

I do inspect it, that’s how I found it. Never had a tank slip.

 

[SoCalDiver1]

BC is so much more comfortable with single tanks IMO

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

I have a Freedom Plate but neither of the pictured plates are Freedom Plates. The left plate is VDH and the right plate is an Oxy Ultralight textile plate. I use my stainless steel Freedom Plate for cooler water when I can take advantage of the extra weight.

Ahh. The oxy is a similar shape to the freedom. Got it

 

[jellycatsdad]

What to you mean sized? A Hog harness is adjustable.

My LDS doesn’t use HOG harnesses. They use the OMS Comfort Harness.

 

[jellycatsdad]

I was in same situation with you. At the end I decided that I dont know enough about equipment to put together a backplate system myself. And I went for scubapro seahawk which is a back inflated bcd but with pockets and convenient stuff a jacket has. Have a loook, maybe you’ll like it.

I’ve dive with a jacket-style BC for my first night of pool dives, I didn’t like how it squeezed me. I used a Hydros Pro for the next few pool sessions. I’m used to back-inflated BCs.

 

[ams511]

My LDS doesn’t use HOG harnesses. They use the OMS Comfort Harness.

There are some strong opinions on harnesses which I don't want to get into. My only comment is to make sure that is what you want. At $295 you can get a DGX setup for only $100 more. I hope you are getting a good discount.

 

[Chavodel8en]

One thing I enjoy about a jacket style are the pockets. I feel like I have a good amount of easy to access storage right at my side.

How do people handle storage with a backplate & wing? Pockets only?

Customize it however you want. If you want a pocket, buy one and attach it where you want.

I like having a pocket on my BC to store things. I dont like using D-Rings, or tech shorts, for very valid reasons.*

Luckily, this is an easy solution - you can use a BP/W and still have "BC pockets." I just bought a $25** utility pocket from DGX and put it on the waist strap. I could have put it on the harness strap if I wanted.



* because I said so.
** Also, Im not paying $100 for some damn tech shorts.

 

[jellycatsdad]

so dove with a BPW today - OMS ,comfort harness. Besides from the shoulder strap slipping off(fixed it underwater, adjusted tighter on the surface), wow. I was much more trim, it felt good. And I was able to drop down to 10lbs of lead with a steel HP80.

I’m sold on them now.

 

[SoCal in MI]

At the risk of getting flamed: I just switched out my single piece harness for one with a quick release buckle .

To me it makes a good backplate system even better - for me. Easier to doff & don by myself in cold water gear (<48 F). And my point? BP&W are just about infinitely customizable. You can fine tune your system to best match your environment and needs.
You like pockets, you can add them. You like to dangle things like a Christmas tree, you can add D-rings to your heart's content. You can get wings to suit the diving you will do. As a modular system you can make the system fit your diving. And you can switch your rig from cold water doubles to a warm water single with very little effort or (relative) cost.

One bit of advice I will re-iterate: Mark your webbing with a sharpie. If you make changes it makes it easy to go back.

 

[Failed captcha]

I’ll need to buy a BC soon, I’m renting currently as a new diver. Used a jacket style BC, didn’t like the feeling of constriction, I used a Hydros Pro by the big blue S for my pool dives(instructor was using his other BC), I really liked it. Rented an Atomic BC2, I was meh about it. I’m used to back-inflate BCs, but I’ve been reading BP/W is the way to go - I don’t see myself getting into tech diving anytime soon but the modularity and the fact I have something I can grow into as a diver is appealing. However, I really like the concept of the Hydros Pro, another LDS said try on the Tusa BB React, which is in a similar vein. I’m in paralysis by analysis mode. Should I rent out a BP/W for my next dive and give it a try? I’m working on my buoyancy and air usage - the former I don’t have too much of a problem with.

I’ve been lucky to rent from an LDS who stocks Scubapro and Atomic in their rental fleet - I‘ve ended up renting the Hydros Pro.

I'm going to answer before reading the other posts. Go BP/W. I had a back inflate BC, also liked it but mostly because I didn't know better. The reason I honeslty went with a BP/W were kind of odd but I don't regret it at all. I got it because I wanted heavier gear. My idea was to get my gear up to a certain weight and use a neutrally buoyant wetsuit so that I wouldn't have to use detachable lead weights anymore. Unfortunately, I still need a kilo but I make it work, I put it on the waist web of my harness and I can dump it quickly if I have to and it's in front at my waist where it actually gives me better stability.

My gear is several kilos heavier than my wife's for example but it doesn't change how I travel and it's still fairly compact. It's custom and fits me perfectly, despite that I have gained some weight in the past few years. It wasn't much more expensive than the Subapro Seahawk I had, which is a back inflate despite that the quality of my BP/W is far superior. I had some help assembling it but as a former paratrooper it's not something I shouldn't be good at, so very good build indeed.

I got the Diverite Travel XT 25lb (lifetime guarantee) a long steel plate since I am tall and wanted the weight but it does scratch up my dump valve though hasn't broken it despite years of heavy use. I still keep spare parts on hand anyway. and I got the cheapest harness I could find, Diverite basic harness which came with everything I needed. I use two XS Scuba cambands with steel buckles. I do use the diverite plate cushion padding thing because why not.

I did pull out my old BCD a couple of years ago and I found that the bladder tended to taco around the tank and actually kept more air in one side that messed with my swim. It always did but I had forgotten and it made me appreciate my BP/W all the more. It is also really comfortable. I also realized again how nice it is having two cambands.

The other thing is, you can apparently remove the donut pretty quickly and use the harness and plate for doubles if you have the right harness but I have been content with single tank diving in warm water for a long time.