I find that my backplate at 4 pounds, is still not really any heavier than my old BC. But, certainly, there are nice travel options of lighter backplates. The wonderful things about BP/wings is the modularity. Most backplates and harnesses are not that expensive, the wing being the more expensive part of the system. You may eventually find it nice to have two backplates and harnesses set up and its quite easy to swap wings from either the steel or aluminum/kydex plate. Either way, its good to divide the weight up, as Jim Lapenta was saying, especially when diving with the heavier weights needed with thicker exposure suits. This is one of my complaints that I have with integrated weight BCs used in many classes nowadays. All the weight is placed into two weight pockets. This has a few different drawbacks. One, a weight pocket is lost, it makes it difficult to stay down, because you've lost a great deal of weight. Two, with all the ballast in your BC, when you doff/don your BC midwater, its very difficult to remain attached to your BC. Much easier to do this if weight is split up between a weight belt on you and and your BC. Finally, if all the weight is on the BC, and the BC is not capable of the amount of lift that you are asking it to hold, then if you need to remove the BC on the surface, it will not be able to stay afloat. I'm not sure many recreational divers really figure out if they have enough lift when they buy their first BC and this can be a problem.
My 4 pound, short steel plate is nearly the perfect weight for me when diving in warm water with a 3 ml. I add just a little bit of trim weight, which comes from my lights,and I'm good to go.
In colder water, I obviously need more weight, when diving a drysuit.
But,OP hasn't even had his OW class yet and doesn't think he wants to dive in cold water. I do hope that he changes his mind, as I think many new divers make a snap decision about not diving cold water, based on what they hear at the dive store or what they hear from other vacation divers. I hope that more divers will begin to cold water dive locally, and dive often, near home, to improve skills and enjoyment. This is,in my opinion, the best way to become a better diver and a diver who will enjoy vacation dives more, because you won't be just pulling the dive gear out for the once a year dive vacation.
Most classes that I've seen require that you purchase your own fins, mask and snorkel. Op, do you know what you're required to purchase?
