Why is a Jacket BC better than a BP/W?

[StefinSB]

... when you go to some tropical locale where the dive op employees are required to set your equipment up for you, they will at least have some familiarity with your gear ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I am bored and read the whole thread again. The above argument I buy.

 

[flots am]

I wonder how many people would stick with a jacket after trying bp/w. If it works for you great but I find jackets confining, limiting, and bulky.

Me, for one . . . I currently dive with two tanks and two regs.

Why would I want two tanks, two regs and a heavy steel plate? The plate doesn't bring anything to the party except another 6 pounds and less back flexibility.

 

[Lost down under]

Me, for one . . . I currently dive with two tanks and two regs.

Why would I want two tanks, two regs and a heavy steel plate? The plate doesn't bring anything to the party except another 6 pounds and less back flexibility.

I'm assuming your using your side mount rig for this, which isnt really answering StefinSB's question.

 

[sphyrnidus]

Me, for one . . . I currently dive with two tanks and two regs.

Why would I want two tanks, two regs and a heavy steel plate? The plate doesn't bring anything to the party except another 6 pounds and less back flexibility.

Never heard of aluminium backplates? They weigh next to nothing..

 

[bubbly noob]

Me, for one . . . I currently dive with two tanks and two regs.

Why would I want two tanks, two regs and a heavy steel plate? The plate doesn't bring anything to the party except another 6 pounds and less back flexibility.

An aluminium back plate 6pds???
I was in a store last week, this plate was less than a pound.

The only serious worry is those two Fly Screws that seams to stick right into your back.... unless i didn't undertand what the guy was telling me in Chinese lol

 

[mrdre]

Me, for one . . . I currently dive with two tanks and two regs.

Why would I want two tanks, two regs and a heavy steel plate? The plate doesn't bring anything to the party except another 6 pounds and less back flexibility.

That SS backplate 6 pounds you remove from your weights. Remove the SS backplate and add 6 pounds to your weights. What are you winning? Unless you are diving with two steel tanks and you are overweight.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Normally I value your posts quite highly, but... come on, really? "If you want to get rid of the weight belt," how is that a generalization? I don't know how many times I've posted that now. If you don't like WI and/or prefer a belt, then please use it. If you're OK with diving only with non-ditchable weight, please go for it. But many of us need or want ditchable weight, hate the belt and want WI. Jacket BCDs have that problem solved. Obviously you'd get one with WI if you're part of that group, derp. BP/W doesn't have that problem solved, only other stuff you add on to it solves it.

... it's a generalization because it's not always a valid argument!

FACT: Many people who wear BCDs wear a weight belt ... either because their BCD is not weight-integrated, or because the weight pockets don't hold all of the weight they need.
FACT: Many people who wear BP/W do not wear a weight belt ... the person I dive with most often wears a BP/W with weight-integrated pockets.
FACT: Many people who wear BP/W also wear some form of ditchable weight, whether it's in pockets, weight belt, or harness.

I get the impression that your experience is rather limited to warm-water diving, and that's the perspective you're coming from. So while your statements generally hold true (though not always, and not necessarily) for the warm-water diver, they are not generally applicable to scuba diving in places where people require more thermal protection, and therefore more weight.

My own tropical rig includes a backplate that weighs just two lbs. I use with it 10 lbs of ditchable weight ... in weight pockets attached to the waist harness.

Your arguments are not always valid ... they only apply to your particular diving choices and preferences and for those who share them.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

---------- Post added August 26th, 2014 at 05:24 AM ----------

Me, for one . . . I currently dive with two tanks and two regs.

Why would I want two tanks, two regs and a heavy steel plate? The plate doesn't bring anything to the party except another 6 pounds and less back flexibility.

... that's why God created aluminum ... I know some divers locally who dive an AL plate because a steel one makes them too heavy.

Once again ... as usual ... it boils down to choices. Some of you guys seem to think that backplates only come in one "flavor". Such is not the case.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Lorenzoid]

Na, jacket BC's used to come with them standard. Now all the new Velcro, buckles, and stuff, the jackets grab you hard enough that it is no longer needed, most of the time.

Bob

I bet if the major jacket BC manufacturers were still including them in today's jacket BCs, their marketing teams would come up with some more inviting term than "crotch strap."

With plates, harnesses and wings increasingly available in colors, it seems that the BP/W manufacturers are indeed starting to think about the image of what they're selling. In my local dive shop the other day, I noticed that the HOG backplates in a choice of red or black were neatly arrayed on the rack next to jacket BCs.

 

[dmoore19]

The nerve of those people. Adding color. It is just another marketing scheme for the LDS to get into your pocket. Perhaps you should go to another shop.

 

[dfx]

I get the impression that your experience is rather limited to warm-water diving, and that's the perspective you're coming from. So while your statements generally hold true (though not always, and not necessarily) for the warm-water diver, they are not generally applicable to scuba diving in places where people require more thermal protection, and therefore more weight.
...
Your arguments are not always valid ... they only apply to your particular diving choices and preferences and for those who share them.

Yes, and I have even said so myself. You really could have saved yourself the effort of typing that up.