First BP/W Options

[Sam757]

Want to get my own gear setup and looking for first BP/W ideas/ opinions...

Winter diving in Roatan 3ish trips between October and April per year. In summer monthly trips to the 1000 Islands (St. Lawrence River). In the future I'd like to dive more in the local area (Minnesota), drysuit, and other dive trips as able. Waaaaay down the line I could see moving towards tech in order to do deeper wrecks in the St. Lawrence/Great Lakes but that's *years* out. AOW, nitrox and 100 dives at the moment.

Ease of travel is the most important thing as 99% of dives in the near future involve flying. I work for an airline and often fly standby/jumpseat so if I can fit everything in a 22inch suitcase with some room to spare that would be ideal. Checking a bag is a last resort.

I've been looking at the X-Deep Ghost, Dive Rite Transplate and similar systems (OMS, Scubapro, DGX) and Halcyon Infinity...

DGX Custom - Dive Rite TransPlate XT Singles Package

A complete, custom-configured backplate and wing package built around the Dive Rite TransPlate harness system.

www.divegearexpress.com

XDEEP Ghost | Scuba Center | An innovative and lightweight single cylinder backplate and harness system.

XDEEP Ghost Deluxe | An innovative and lightweight single cylinder system. | Scuba Center - Eagan and Minneapolis, Minnesota

www.scubacenter.com

Halcyon Dive Systems

Halcyon began as a group of divers who knew exactly what they wanted, but could not find it in any dive store. Our passion for diving led us to designing wings and lights to satisfy ourselves.

halcyon.net

The Ghost looks to be the best option travel wise and my local LDS is an X-Deep dealer so I can probably take it for a spin in the pool before buying. For the diving I do currently and in the *near* future it checks all the boxes. Great for travel and both warm water and cold (5 or 7mm) and can work with a drysuit.

Transplate and similar systems seem very customizable and I could change backplates and wings to fit anything I would want to do down the road but I'm not sure if it will work travel wise in terms of a carryon. Won't be able to see one before buying most likely which I don't love so if anyone can vouch for size with the travel wing that would be great.

Halcyon: Expensive tansplate? Looks nice but...worth it?

I'm leaning towards the Ghost as it works for me now and then down the road if needs change buy something that fits those needs.

Thanks everyone!

 

[Scared Silly]

For light weight travel I would avoid a rigid metal back plate and go with a slightly flexible synthetic. Especially as you want to carry on. You can always have a SS back plate for local/technical diving. That is what we do.

The one thing to consider is the harness - simple one piece or buckles and whistles. I prefer the simple one piece.

 

[iliketopetsharks]

For Xdeep, i'd recommend the Zeos over the Ghost.

 

[Wants2divemore]

I have no problem fitting my SS backplate and all my other dive gear in a 22" carry on plus backpack (personal item) for when I travel. The additional 6lbs that the SS backplate adds isn't much. The rigid backplate doesn't seem to be a problem fitting into the carry on.

 

[Nemrod]

No one BP/wing is really ideal for everything. The Oxy 18# wing with Oxy textile UL Travel plate is packable, light, rugged and expedition grade. And a little expensive, the wing anyways. About 5.5 pounds. My fins (3.6), mask (.6), regulator (3.6) and wing/BP (5-5.5) are probably close to about the same weight as some of these doubles plates and large all around wings being recommended for single tank travel use. And no pinch flats.

 

[twistedt]

You should take the XDeep for a spin. Last summer, I purchased the XDeep Zen. It was the best choice I made after diving with a jacket for 20 years.

 

[Nosmosis]

For light weight travel I would avoid a rigid metal back plate and go with a slightly flexible synthetic. Especially as you want to carry on. You can always have a SS back plate for local/technical diving. That is what we do.

The one thing to consider is the harness - simple one piece or buckles and whistles. I prefer the simple one piece.

I always travel with a 2lb AL backplate with no problems...

 

[happy-diver]

And no pinch flats.

 

[BabyLitigator]

For light weight travel I would avoid a rigid metal back plate and go with a slightly flexible synthetic. Especially as you want to carry on. You can always have a SS back plate for local/technical diving. That is what we do.

The one thing to consider is the harness - simple one piece or buckles and whistles. I prefer the simple one piece.

Just managed an SS Plate + wing, Drysuit, Fins and fixins at 49.5 lbs per the Southwest rep this morning. SS means regs need to be carried on in some circumstances, but that's it.

 

[halocline]

I took a look at that X deep rig, I would never buy that for tropical diving. It’s way too big (37#) and the harness looks really clunky to me.

The most travel-friendly compact set up that I know of would be that oxycheq ultralight ‘plate’ with a standard webbing harness and a tiny wing. A close 2nd, what I have, is a freedom plate (mine is AL, not sure if Eric is even making them anymore) with a softer webbing harness and the oxy 18lb wing. There’s probably a pretty small DGX set up too, with a full size plate. A simple webbing harness with no padding and the smallest wing you can find are the most important things to making it travel friendly AND very fun to dive with in warm water.