Rig Recommendation

[bygolly]

Hi Tobin,

My wife is getting serious about getting into a BP/W rig after completing her 100th dive recently.

Her gear setup:

White's Fusion with Mk2 undies
Aqua Lung i3 BC with integrated weights
Dive Rite Slimline can light
Turtle fins
Aqualung Micra reg

Right now she is using 26 lb for fresh water/steel 72 and 36 lb for salt/Al 80.

She is a single tank diver and will probably never shoulder doubles.

She is 5' 4" tall...somewhat short waisted and curvy.

I thought the medium or small SS plate with Torus 35 and Hog/glide harness would work for her but I wanted to hear your recommendations before I ordered.

Cheers,
Bill

 

[cool_hardware52]

Hi Tobin,

My wife is getting serious about getting into a BP/W rig after completing her 100th dive recently.

Her gear setup:

White's Fusion with Mk2 undies
Aqua Lung i3 BC with integrated weights
Dive Rite Slimline can light
Turtle fins
Aqualung Micra reg

Right now she is using 26 lb for fresh water/steel 72 and 36 lb for salt/Al 80.

She is a single tank diver and will probably never shoulder doubles.

She is 5' 4" tall...somewhat short waisted and curvy.

I thought the medium or small SS plate with Torus 35 and Hog/glide harness would work for her but I wanted to hear your recommendations before I ordered.

Cheers,
Bill

Bill,

Any chance of your wife doing a buoyancy test with just her suit?

Put on her undies and suit only, just into neck deep water with a bag of lead and vent the suit. Remove lead until she just barely sinks when she picks up her feet.

Weigh the bag of lead.

10 lbs from fresh to salt seems like a lot, given the rule of thumb of 1 lbs of ballast for every 40 lbs of diver and gear.

Tobin

 

[bygolly]

Bill,

Any chance of your wife doing a buoyancy test with just her suit?

Put on her undies and suit only, just into neck deep water with a bag of lead and vent the suit. Remove lead until she just barely sinks when she picks up her feet.

Weigh the bag of lead.

10 lbs from fresh to salt seems like a lot, given the rule of thumb of 1 lbs of ballast for every 40 lbs of diver and gear.

Tobin

Sure, we can do that. Might take a day or so to get near some water though.

Some of the 10 lb difference is due to tank differences, steel to aluminum.

As to the size of the plate, where should we measure from and to?

Cheers,
Bill

 

[cool_hardware52]

Sure, we can do that. Might take a day or so to get near some water though.

Some of the 10 lb difference is due to tank differences, steel to aluminum.

As to the size of the plate, where should we measure from and to?

Cheers,
Bill

I missed the al 80 in salt water. 10 lbs makes better sense with different cylinders.

If your wife is 5'4 with longer legs and shorter torso the small plate is a better choice.

Tobin

 

[bygolly]

Hi Tobin,

After a winter of tropical diving we didn't get a chance to do any dry suit stuff till just recently. We finally did the test you recommended to find the buoyancy of our suits. We both came in at 34 lbs to sink the suit and diver.

My wife would like a complete rig. She is still 5' 4" with a shorter torso so we would go with the small plate as recommended. Based on those weights I am assuming a 38 lb wing?

I would like a new plate for myself as the Zeagle plate I have now has a rather high profile and it makes it difficult to reach the valve on a single. I hope your lower profile will make that easier. I am 6'1" and 240. BTW, what is the length dimension you use for your large size plate. My Zeagle is 16"

Cheers,
Bill

 

[cool_hardware52]

Hi Tobin,

After a winter of tropical diving we didn't get a chance to do any dry suit stuff till just recently. We finally did the test you recommended to find the buoyancy of our suits. We both came in at 34 lbs to sink the suit and diver.

My wife would like a complete rig. She is still 5' 4" with a shorter torso so we would go with the small plate as recommended. Based on those weights I am assuming a 38 lb wing?

I would like a new plate for myself as the Zeagle plate I have now has a rather high profile and it makes it difficult to reach the valve on a single. I hope your lower profile will make that easier. I am 6'1" and 240. BTW, what is the length dimension you use for your large size plate. My Zeagle is 16"

Cheers,
Bill

Hi Bill,

If you plan to use this gear for cold water diving only I would suggest for your wife:

Small SS Back Plate
LCD 40 wing
Hogarthian Harness
(cambands and wedge blocks included)
Optional 6.4 per pair bolt on weight plates

For you:

Large SS Back Plate (16" overall)
LCD 40 Wing
Hogarthian Harness
(Cambands and wedge blocks included)
Optional 8.1 per pair bolt on weight plates

Tobin