Question Which Height [holes] Do You Use With An XDeep NR Wing W/Large Stainless Steel Plate?

[happy-diver]

But what about this compact bakpak beauty with the VDH18

But today the Aliexpress wing on the right beats it hands down

Is it because I have many bakpaks that I need a few more backs

 

[Wallowa]

This isn't me and I'm not going there

View attachment 887862

Not me either

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But when I'm going diving, with my plastic bakpak

The reg is beautifully positioned, I am hunched forward, where the reg will be pressed against my back

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very nicely when diving with it performing perfectly adequately with its lead filled bakpak buddy

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Diving the same double hose regulator since 1976 and open to learning if the information is good

and some others too

All good information and appreciated....diving DH since '55 and have used the molded plastic backpack that Happy shows....agree that you try to position the can over the lungs or at least not up behind the head....distance out from back has never seemed to be an issue for me....just not willing to give up the XDeep designs [they work] and when ice and snow leave I will report how successful it worked or how I failed...seems so alien to me that nowadays all the gear that everyone feels they need to safely dive yet seldom anymore [Tech influence?] do you see a snorkel on mask strap....anyway thanks again for the photos and write up....

 

[Wallowa]

But what about this compact bakpak beauty with the VDH18

View attachment 887871View attachment 887873

But today the Aliexpress wing on the right beats it hands down

Is it because I have many bakpaks that I need a few more backs

Happy..... love the old breaker bar, AquaLung sword that we used to strap on our leg....here with kelp the knife was always on the inside of the leg to prevent catching the kelp...good memories....addendum, with my full on 7mm and diving deep I will need a fair amount of buoyancy from a BCD....what are the lifts of the ones in photo?

 

[happy-diver]

Yeah always so many decisions whenever I am building a new rig

So with your DH diving since 1955 what does that make you 110
don't you just bolt eveything together where it fits and go diving


wings and things

 

[Wallowa]

Yeah always so many decisions whenever I am building a new rig

View attachment 888059

So with your DH diving since 1955 what does that make you 110
don't you just bolt eveything together where it fits and go diving


wings and things

Ha! Happy I bow to you! I thought I kept a lot old dive gear that I could not bear to give up.....obviously I am a novice,,,,your display is awesome....

Naw, not 110 only 82.....grew up in Reno Nevada and at age 12 the Nevada Desert Diver tribe adopted me and taught me how to dive and took me on their dives....I loaded produce that summer to buy my first "aqua-lung" [DA dh/72],....first dive was in Tahoe to 65 feet at First Creek and second to 185 feet in Emerald Bay; we dived regularly to 200-250 FFW at altitude of 6,200+ absl....with at best 1,900psi in a 72.....crash dive to depth, gets harder to breath after a few minutes, pull j-rod and slowly tour during ascent....40 F degree thermocline, Aquala front entry dry suit/w surgical tubing wraps, 1/2 a MaeWest vest with 2x/16g C02, plumber leads in ammo belt, WW2 aviation QR buckle, Squale [sp?] mask and BelAqua snorkel.....good to go and no other stuff needed! I am blown away with how much "stuff" divers now consider essential.

 

[Nemrod]

Whatever thickness of the plate plus the wing that is between the diver's back and the cylinder is that much more water column that must be breathed against. For a flat plate it is the thickness of the metal sheet and the additional added by the wing sandwiched between the plate and the wing. For a bent doubles plate it is the depth of that center channel, plus the wing thickness plus the STA if used. For the blow molded plastic plate it is again the thickness of the plate and the wing. And that is just one aspect of several why the blow molded plastic plates and technical plates with center channels are not optimal for a DH regulator postioning. They are just too thick when assembled.

 

[Wallowa]

Whatever thickness of the plate plus the wing that is between the diver's back and the cylinder is that much more water column that must be breathed against. For a flat plate it is the thickness of the metal sheet and the additional added by the wing sandwiched between the plate and the wing. For a bent doubles plate it is the depth of that center channel, plus the wing thickness plus the STA if used. For the blow molded plastic plate it is again the thickness of the plate and the wing. And that is just one aspect of several why the blow molded plastic plates and technical plates with center channels are not optimal for a DH regulator postioning. They are just too thick when assembled.

Good explanation. Originally only a web harness on bottle....but a lot of folks do dive differing backplates with DH regs....I am guessing the tune of reg, type of reg and height of the reg on the back along with the different sensibilities/expectations of the divers on effort to breath in various positions makes a huge difference....not saying there is not a sweet spot, but I believe there is an acceptable range of positioning of reg and acceptable breathing characteristics...like I said, I will report back when ice and snow are gone and I wish to dive.

Notwithstanding the hype the XDeep NX wings and backpack seem very well made and designed...hopefully I can make them work with DH.

 

[landphil]

Yeah always so many decisions whenever I am building a new rig

View attachment 888059

So with your DH diving since 1955 what does that make you 110
don't you just bolt eveything together where it fits and go diving


wings and things

Awesome! Is that a scuba hatchet in the middle of the table?

Guess this one would probably start to rust after a couple of dives

 

[Nemrod]

Good explanation. Originally only a web harness on bottle....but a lot of folks do dive differing backplates with DH regs....I am guessing the tune of reg, type of reg and height of the reg on the back along with the different sensibilities/expectations of the divers on effort to breath in various positions makes a huge difference....not saying there is not a sweet spot, but I believe there is an acceptable range of positioning of reg and acceptable breathing characteristics...like I said, I will report back when ice and snow are gone and I wish to dive.

Notwithstanding the hype the XDeep NX wings and backpack seem very well made and designed...hopefully I can make them work with DH.

I do not know of any other DH divers who dive DH extensively who use a bent doubles tech plate successfully. I did try for over a year and by lengthening my shoulder straps to the point of being ridiculous and then having the lower edge of my plate (I am 5-11 and shrinking fast) digging into my hip bones and axx and by removing the wing and using my excellent SeaTec horse collar I was still not able to get decent breathing performance. Been there and done all of this.

One thing about any wing with a DH, the wing tends to lift the assembly away from the diver unless well anchored. I find having the crotch strap and by pulling the waist strap snug I can keep the plate against my back well enough not to gap (with any sort of plate with a wing).

As to X-Deep, they look like a quality pieces of equipment that were not very well thought out or were intentionally made different. The center outlet of the wing is just, well, dumb. And the double crotch strap, no thanks. The quality is excellent, the design is poor.

But, I do wish you good luck and if you can be happy with several additional inches of water column above the set cracking effort point. I set my Kraken and Phoenix and RAM regs down around .6 to 1.0. Any less than that and they become jumpy or bypass or free flow due to cracking effort being less than the resistance of the exhaust valve/duckbill.

Which holes? I use the holes that give me best fore/aft trim. If you are going to drop the plate way down by lengthening your shoulder straps to try and center the DH can between your shoulder blades and dropping your tank down until the can runs into the center channel then you will likely need to shift the wing aft/rearward on the plate to try and compensate for being aft (leg) heavy. You may also need to split some of your weight to the top cam band, putting your trim pouches as high/forward as possible. Been there and done this. You may need a chest strap to keep the harness from falling off your shoulders.

Another thing I did and it sort of worked is what I called the Nemrod Mod (done either to the plate or the STA). What happens with standard plates with typical upper cam band position, the shoulder of the tank is lower than the upper cam band. I cut new slots for the cam band lower in the plate or STA to allow me to drop the tank all the way down then only limited by the can running into the center channel.

 

[Wallowa]

I do not know of any other DH divers who dive DH extensively who use a bent doubles tech plate successfully. I did try for over a year and by lengthening my shoulder straps to the point of being ridiculous and then having the lower edge of my plate (I am 5-11 and shrinking fast) digging into my hip bones and axx and by removing the wing and using my excellent SeaTec horse collar I was still not able to get decent breathing performance. Been there and done all of this.

One thing about any wing with a DH, the wing tends to lift the assembly away from the diver unless well anchored. I find having the crotch strap and by pulling the waist strap snug I can keep the plate against my back well enough not to gap (with any sort of plate with a wing).

As to X-Deep, they look like a quality pieces of equipment that were not very well thought out or were intentionally made different. The center outlet of the wing is just, well, dumb. And the double crotch strap, no thanks. The quality is excellent, the design is poor.

But, I do wish you good luck and if you can be happy with several additional inches of water column above the set cracking effort point. I set my Kraken and Phoenix and RAM regs down around .6 to 1.0. Any less than that and they become jumpy or bypass or free flow due to cracking effort being less than the resistance of the exhaust valve/duckbill.

Which holes? I use the holes that give me best fore/aft trim. If you are going to drop the plate way down by lengthening your shoulder straps to try and center the DH can between your shoulder blades and dropping your tank down until the can runs into the center channel then you will likely need to shift the wing aft/rearward on the plate to try and compensate for being aft (leg) heavy. You may also need to split some of your weight to the top cam band, putting your trim pouches as high/forward as possible. Been there and done this. You may need a chest strap to keep the harness from falling off your shoulders.

Another thing I did and it sort of worked is what I called the Nemrod Mod (done either to the plate or the STA). What happens with standard plates with typical upper cam band position, the shoulder of the tank is lower than the upper cam band. I cut new slots for the cam band lower in the plate or STA to allow me to drop the tank all the way down then only limited by the can running into the center channel.

Good down load and appreciated....options for certain, but perhaps not optimal or even viable..of the DH I have the Kraken and "Phoenix Modified" RAM will be what I first try to use.....The XDeep double strap crotch strap which was not to your liking seems to better retain the plate in place in conjunctions with waist band and puts less of focused load on your crotch...only issue will be either placing the wt belt over or under [not to my liking] the double straps....still old school that "first off is last on"...weight belt....even with weight pouches on waist band, dropping the weight belt cleanly is mandatory for me....read some questioning the cut-outs on SS NX plate; at over 8lbs the design to me make sense especially for me with my very full wet suit...contour of plate for me is also very comfortable....

Thanks again....

Oh, just noticed what you referred to as "center outlet"....actually with the longest hose, it provides way to dump top of wing without tilting and for me comes over the shoulder strap rather than binding under it....also the "no wire dump" feature is a bonus for me...have fiddled with too many of those that have leaked or wire disconnected....second nature for me to raise the inflator to dump....