New to Diving..Looking For BCD

[Tiro_Afila]

Hi guys. Im new to diving (Finished my Open Water Cert this year) and I am now looking to buy my own equipement. I have read alot in the last few months and have decided on a BP/W from DSS. I will give you the information that I know about my current setup, and if I have missed anything, please let me know.
1.)I dive cold water only.
2.)I use a Northern Divers Neo Dry Suit.
3.)I currently use a rented SeaQuest Latitude XLT BCD and 22LBS of weight.
4.)I dive with AL80 tanks @ 3000PSI
5.)I am 180lbs 5'8"

My questions are as follows.
1.)What size backplate will I need large or medium?
2.)What is the best wing DSS sells for my application and how much lift do I need. (mostly open water for the next few years, not alot of caves and wrecks in my area)?
3.)I have dove up till now with quick release weight pockets, and I am wondering if I should go with weight plates on a BP/W or if I should change to a belt (and why)?
4.)Also, what is the difference between the Hog and the Pro fit harness?

Thanks in advance for your help. I hope my questions are not to "noobish"

Happy Diving!!

 

[The Chad]

Try a 55 to 65 lb wing, I'd say large and somewhere down the road you can look into dbls. If you go with steel bp and steel tanks and all the other goodies you end up hanging off the plate ie Argon bottle, can light you can probally ditch all your weight. Don't get into the hog/dir blah blah, take something out of it but figure out what works best for you

 

[Tiro_Afila]

Actually, just to make it clear, I dont use AL80 TankS, but 1 AL80 tank. sorry for any confusion.

Also with reguards to

"Don't get into the hog/dir blah blah, take something out of it but figure out what works best for you"

I dont even know enough to know what your telling me not to get into. I really did just want to know what the actuall differences where

 

[cool_hardware52]

Hi guys. Im new to diving (Finished my Open Water Cert this year) and I am now looking to buy my own equipement. I have read alot in the last few months and have decided on a BP/W from DSS. I will give you the information that I know about my current setup, and if I have missed anything, please let me know.
1.)I dive cold water only.
2.)I use a Northern Divers Neo Dry Suit.
3.)I currently use a rented SeaQuest Latitude XLT BCD and 22LBS of weight.
4.)I dive with AL80 tanks @ 3000PSI
5.)I am 180lbs 5'8"

My questions are as follows.
1.)What size backplate will I need large or medium?

At 5'8" you are a medium (I'm 5'9" and use a medium)

2.)What is the best wing DSS sells for my application and how much lift do I need.

You are currently carry about 24 lbs of total ballast, 22 lead, 2 in your reg. Your tank is about +3 at 500 psi and your jacket BC is likely 2-4 lbs positive with an empty bladder. 24 lbs of total ballast - 3 for your buoyant tank, -~3 for your buoyant BC leaves about 18 lbs required to sink your exposure suit. That means even in theevent of a total drysuit failure you canot loose more than 18 lbs of buoyancy. If you have at least 18 lbs of wing lift you could deal with a total DS failure.

You also need to be able to float your rig at the surface without you in it. What's the maximum negative buoyancy of your rig?

A medium SS plate and Harness is about -6, a reg is -2 and a full al 80 is about -2. Your rig will be about -10 with a full tank, and offers about 4 lbs of ballast with an empty tank.

If you need 18 lbs of total ballast to sink your exposure suit, and your rig provides 4, you will either need 14 lbs in a weight belt, or you need to add some ballast to your rig so you can reduce your weight belt. If we assume that you choose to use our 8.1 lbs bolt on weight plates, then the maximum negative buoyancy of your rig could be as much as -18 lbs (10 + * = 18)

You may or may not use the weight plates, but at this stage I want to make sure you have enough wing to allow you that option. Using a steel tank instead of an al 80 will have much the same effect as most steel tanks are about -2 empty, not +4.

Coincidentally your rig could be -18, and your suit can loose 18 lbs. Often one or other is larger, and the large number dictates the minumum size of your wing.

I'd recommend either a Torus 26 or LCD 30. The LCD 20 is just a little too close, in case our estimates are off a tad.

When would a 26 lbs wing be inadequate? If you changed to a more buoyant undergarment. That means that your suit could potentially loose more buoyancy, and it also means that your would need more ballast to start with.

If you anticipate heavier undergarments you may want to use the 30.

3.)I have dove up till now with quick release weight pockets, and I am wondering if I should go with weight plates on a BP/W or if I should change to a belt (and why)?

Even if you use the weight plates you will still need about 6 lbs in a belt. That's a good split. You do not want all you ballast on your rig, and a 6 lbs weight belt is normally easily donned and tolerated.

4.)Also, what is the difference between the Hog and the Pro fit harness?

The Pro-Fit is an "adjustable" harness with Qr's, the Hogarthian Harness is the single piece webbing harness. I'd recommend the hogarthian harness, simple, cheaper, and accepted by all training agencies.


Tobin

 

[cool_hardware52]

Try a 55 to 65 lb wing, I'd say large and somewhere down the road you can look into dbls. If you go with steel bp and steel tanks and all the other goodies you end up hanging off the plate ie Argon bottle, can light you can probally ditch all your weight. Don't get into the hog/dir blah blah, take something out of it but figure out what works best for you

Chad,

Do dive single al 80's with a 65 lbs wing? Do you know anybody that does? How exactly did you arrive at this figure for lift?

Tobin

 

[The Chad]

lol no, I dive 2 al80s sometimes with a 85# dbl bladder wing, but thats just because I don't want a garage full of wings and choose to dive the same set-up (minus tanks depending where I'm at) I was just looking toward the future for him....figured he could use the money saved on trading out gear on actually diving. Unfortunatlly that takes money out of your pocket, so my bad. Good number running on your part though

 

[Tiro_Afila]

Maybe I shouldn't ask this, cause it might make me look dumb, but here goes anyways.
Is there any way to hook weight pockets onto this unit, or is that a no no for this type of BC? The only reason I ask, is because I dont find weight belts to comfortable. It could be because wearing 18lbs on a belt absolutely sucked, and if I follow your advice and only end up having to wear 6lbs it would be much better. Either way..theres the question..

Thanks again for the very good information.

 

[cool_hardware52]

Maybe I shouldn't ask this, cause it might make me look dumb, but here goes anyways.
Is there any way to hook weight pockets onto this unit, or is that a no no for this type of BC? The only reason I ask, is because I dont find weight belts to comfortable. It could be because wearing 18lbs on a belt absolutely sucked, and if I follow your advice and only end up having to wear 6lbs it would be much better. Either way..theres the question..

Thanks again for the very good information.

It is possible to add weight pouches, but I do no recommend them.

Weight pouches take up room on the waist belt that you may need for other items like a canister light.

Having all your ballast on the rig can require a larger wing. (remember you need enough wing to float your back plate, harness, regulator, full tank, and any other ballast you choose to attach to your rig.) If you ditch your rig your wing need not support any ballast you have in a belt, but must support any ballast attached to the rig.

Having all your ballast on your rig can make it very heavy to move around

Having all your ballast on your rig can make in water donning more difficult, as you will be more or less pinned to the surface in your exposure suit.

6 lbs weight belts are no big deal, 18-20 lbs weight belts are a misery.

Tobin

 

[cool_hardware52]

lol no, I dive 2 al80s sometimes with a 85# dbl bladder wing, but thats just because I don't want a garage full of wings and choose to dive the same set-up (minus tanks depending where I'm at) I was just looking toward the future for him....figured he could use the money saved on trading out gear on actually diving. Unfortunatlly that takes money out of your pocket, so my bad. Good number running on your part though

Chad,

This thread is not really the place to engage in discussion of required wing lift for doubles, but I'd be happy to do so if you are interested in a new thread. I will say that a 85 lbs wing for tanks with only a 160 cuft is very possibly 2x as large as it need be.

The largest wing we offer is a 70 lbs wing, and there are very few applications for a 70.

We routinely sell 38 lbs wings for use with doubled al 80's in warm(er) water. That should not be interpreted as meaning that there are no applications for larger wings for doubled al 80's. The buoyancy of the divers exposure is a major player here too.

All things being equal, a smaller wing will be easier to dive, less drag, and much easier venting.

Tobin

 

[Tiro_Afila]

I really like the narrow design of the Tourus 26, and the Oxycheq MachV 30. The Tourus would be my first choice, but I am just not sure if it will have enough lift to work for me in the cold water outfit. Are there any tests I can do to insure that the 26lbs of lift would be enough, without having the BP/W here with me. Thanks!