Wing and backplate...Can someone please explain?

[giles45shop]

Great explanations so far, a couple other considerations which have not come up yet:

1. A BP&W system does not have pockets for storage of items. There are a couple ways to address this. One is that you have pockets on either your drysuit or wetsuit, another is a thigh pocket, which has a loop that threads on your harness waist strap and another strap which goes around your thigh to hold it in place. Another option are stretchy shorts that are worn over your wetsuit which have built-in pockets. Yet another option is a pocket that threads onto the waist strap. This type of pocket sits at waist level, as opposed to the thigh pocket which is situated in the thigh area.

2. For ballast weights, you have a couple options. One is to wear a weight belt, which is a popular way to solve the problem of how to carry weights. The other way is to have weight pockets on the waist strap of the harness. This works as well, issue may be limited space on your waist if you have combined wight pockets along with other storage pockets.

Depending on your combination of exposure protection, tanks, plate (Al or stainless), etc., you may find that you have to wear little to no weight. when I dive in freshwater, w/ a HP 100 steel tank, stainless plate and 5mm wetsuit, I don't wear any weight. For cold salt water diving, w/ a 7mm wetsuit, same HP100 tank and stainless plate, I have to wear ~ 18 lbs on a weight belt.

Obviously, this can very greatly from person to person, but just something to think about.

Dive safe,

John

 

[scubafire]

If I put together a simple rig....I am 5'8" and about 180lbs (but trying to slim down ) I will only be diving in and around Alabama, Florida, and the Caribbean. Would I need weights?

Also, are their covers for the metal wings? Or do most of you just leave the metal exposed?

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

If I put together a simple rig....I am 5'8" and about 180lbs (but trying to slim down ) I will only be diving in and around Alabama, Florida, and the Caribbean. Would I need weights?

Also, are their covers for the metal wings? Or do most of you just leave the metal exposed?

The metal is the backplate. The wing is the air bladder. There are backplate covers, but most people just leave the metal exposed ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[scubafire]

If I put together a simple rig....I am 5'8" and about 180lbs (but trying to slim down ) I will only be diving in and around Alabama, Florida, and the Caribbean. Would I need weights?

Also, are their covers for the metal wings? Or do most of you just leave the metal exposed?

Ha! I am an idiot. I know the wings arent metal...

Man, I am an idiot sometimes...

 

[cool_hardware52]

If I put together a simple rig....I am 5'8" and about 180lbs (but trying to slim down ) I will only be diving in and around Alabama, Florida, and the Caribbean. Would I need weights?

Also, are their covers for the metal wings? Or do most of you just leave the metal exposed?

Total ballast (everything you bring that does not float) is a function primarily of the buoyancy of your exposure suit.

Without know how buoyant your suit is, plate material used and what cylinders you use it's not possible to even *guess* at what you might need for additional ballast.

Having said that many divers using 3mm suits and al 80's find they need only a SS plate, harness and regular for ballast.

Tobin

 

[scubafire]

Total ballast (everything you bring that does not float) is a function primarily of the buoyancy of your exposure suit.

Without know how buoyant your suit is, plate material used and what cylinders you use it's not possible to even *guess* at what you might need for additional ballast.

Having said that many divers using 3mm suits and al 80's find they need only a SS plate, harness and regular for ballast.

Tobin

So how do I figure out how much weight I will or wont need without....

A. Drowning myself or
B. Purchasing too much weight.

 

[cool_hardware52]

So how do I figure out how much weight I will or wont need without....

A. Drowning myself or
B. Purchasing too much weight.

Buoyancy checks are pretty hard to do online. There's no substitute for getting in the water.

Having said that if you have accurate numbers for what you are diving now it's possible to estimate your requirements.

With a given exposure suit and cylinder what do you use for:

your BC?

Total lead?

Tobin

 

[scubafire]

Buoyancy checks are pretty hard to do online. There's no substitute for getting in the water.

Having said that if you have accurate numbers for what you are diving now it's possible to estimate your requirements.

With a given exposure suit and cylinder what do you use for:

your BC?

Total lead?

Tobin

I dont have any of my scuba gear yet. I was trying to be well-informed before making the purchase. I guess I will just cross that bridge when I come to it.

Another question: Will any harness work with any backplate? Are all backplates created equal? (Looks like a piece of metal to me...)

 

[cool_hardware52]

I dont have any of my scuba gear yet. I was trying to be well-informed before making the purchase. I guess I will just cross that bridge when I come to it.

It starts with your exposure suit. You should do a little research to see what people are using for exposure protection in the areas you want to dive. You will get quite a range. Where you fall in that range will be based on your tolerance for cold. If your the guy wearing a hoodie and knit cap in August plan on thicker suits, if your the guy turning down the thermostat you will probably use suits on the thinner end of the range.

I routinely recommend buying your exposure suit first, before your BC.

Another question: Will any harness work with any backplate? Are all backplates created equal? (Looks like a piece of metal to me...)

While many components (wings plates and harnesses ) from various brands can be used with parts and pieces from other brands my recommendation is to stick with one brand, at least for your first setup.

It's kinda like buying a PC. You can pick out your special motherboard, processor, power supply, video card, etc. etc. and you will probably spend more and have more grief than buying a preconfigured package.

Many vendors including DSS offers discounts on complete packages.

Tobin

 

[DwayneJ]

Also, are their covers for the metal wings? Or do most of you just leave the metal exposed?

Back Plate Pads

Some back plates can be fitted with an additional back pad but I would not bother. With a wetsuit or drysuit on, I could not tell the difference. Also, back pads can hide the wing nuts for single tank adapter or doubles and its a good idea to have these exposed so you can easily check these for tightness when rinsing you rig in fresh water.

OMS Backplate Pad discounts on sale OMS

Transpac/IQ-Pack

As an alternative to threading webbing through the back plate, you can purchase a harness that you can use with or without an internal backplate - You insert the back plate into the IQ-Pack and its held inside with velcro and bolts from Single Tank Adapter or Doubles. I used a IQ-Pack with back plate and wing for some time before replacing the IQ-Pack with webbing only - always had to open the IQ-Pack to access the plate to ensure it got a good fresh water rinse - Just as easy not to have the IQ-Pack.

Check out the OMS link which shows 6 ways of configuring a back plate...

http://www.omsdive.com/backplate.html

Dwayne