Question What do you guys think of my DIY BP/W setup ?

[Valhalla1775]

Attached is a screenshot of the parts list from Piranha Dive Shop . What do you think i should add to subtract from my list ? price includes free shipping and no sales tax. Setup for warm water with a Steel 100 , only thing im not 100% sure is the lift on the HOG wing.

 

[johndiver999]

Not a good selection for local diving. Unless you are pretty fat, like really fat, in the summer the rig will be way heavier than you need. You don't want a normal steel BP with a 100 cuft steel tank. You will be overweighted with zero extra ballast.

You also do not want a wing that small. If you are going to dive year round locally, you will be diving in a 5 mm full suit with a hood, at a minimum. Possibly even a 7 mm, You are not going to be happy with that little lift capacity. 32- lb or something makes more sense unless again you are really fat and will dive in a dive skin when the air temp is 55 degrees.

I would not buy weight trim pouches and instead would choose an elastic freedive belt, but they are cheap, I guess. In the summer, with a thin suit and NO lead and a 100 ft tank, you will probably need zero extra lead even with the aluminum plate. It is so easy to slip a few pounds on a good belt when you are diving with a thicker suit. No change to the BC rig at all.

Or you could buy the rig I sent you pictures of, for a lot less. LOL.

 

[RIHappyDiver]

Not sure what @johndiver999 sent you a picture of, and he knows A LOT more about FL diving than I do, but here’s an option that will save you some $ and give you some versatility DGX Custom - DGX Gears Singles Harness / Backplate / Wing Package . Add this, or one similar from your LDS, and you’re pretty much all set Freedive Weight Belt (Rubber) . I use a silicone version with a 5mm, and even a 7mm, and love it over weight pockets.

Erik

 

[DANDM]

I won't comment on pricing or brands as I'm in Australia and not familiar with Piranha's products. I will comment on a few items. I think for the most part you are adding way more than you need. Many of these items I would put them in a category of "Do you reeaaally need it?" - but I'm a bit of a purist with my DIR kit, so up to you.

The one item I definitely see no point having is the chest strap. Not once have I ever had the thought of wanting one, whether I'm diving tropical with an ali tank and thin wetsuit, or diving twinset tech with a drysuit in cold water. The BC carrying handle might just fall in that category too.

"Do you reeaaally need it?" ones are:
- BC carrying handle: I had one for a while, but I still defaulted to just using the tank valve to carry and lift. They're okay, but not necessary. It could potentially become an entanglement point.
- velcro holder: what are you holding? A few items that are velcroed on, like line cutters, might already come with a velcro holder specific for their shape, I'd go for that instead. If its for holding your BC hose in place, then a cheap bungee does the job really well, add a couple of rubber bands for extra trim.
- deluxe plastic slide bar: I've tried one similar to piranha and the expensive Halcyon ones. They're okay-ish, but once you set your webbing correctly, there is almost never a need for these. The only exception perhaps is if you have serious shoulder mobility issues and this helps you in and out of your gear. But shoulder straps on a BPW do not need to be tight, so just averagely tight shoulders aren't usually an issue when webbing is set correctly.
- All the neoprene sleeves for shoulder and crotch. Adds more bulk than its worth. I've never had issues with webbing when wearing thin wetsuits to wearing drysuits. I've never dived without anything thinner than a 3mm, so maybe that's relevant to you.
- 3 Assembly screws? Are these long enough to attach wing to BP? I didn't see a bolt kit in your list to attach wing to BP?

Unlike above, I like weight pockets, including trim pockets for travel to tropical diving destinations. I find belts just dont work well for my body type. Purely a matter of personal taste really. If you can try both before buying that would help you make a decision before committing.

I know its not everyone's cup of tea, but I like STAs. Feels nice and balanced to me.

Also, you won't go wrong with a 32lb wing if you are concerned about lift. 32lb wings are still pretty small and trimmed.

 

[landphil]

For warm water diving I’d go with softer webbing with no extra padding instead of stiff with a bunch of pads strapped on. Black D-rings on black webbing may be a bit more stealthy than you’d want for underwater use. And that little wing will likely let your rig plummet into the deep if you ever need to remove it at the surface with all of your attached weights and steel backplate.

 

[Nemrod]

The problem with soft webbing is that it does not hold it's shape. Med-stiff webbing will hold itself open allowing you to sit down into and stand up out of the webbing. Soft webbing hangs limply and catches on everything trying to get in and out and is basically a PITA. So, I would go with the med-stiff webbing and the neoprene shoulder pads.

 

[Valhalla1775]

switched some stuff up per recomendations :

changed wing for the DGX Gears S1 Singles Wing w/K-style inflator $289​

 

[DANDM]

switched some stuff up per recomendations :

Looking much cleaner now. I'm curious why you have 4 straight D rings. Usually you just want the 2 bent style D-rings, like you have listed, and one straight D-ring to have on your left side. Optional (but not DIR usually) a second straight D-ring on your right side. But you have 2 more listed (total 4). Crotch straps usually already have 2 pre-installed. Keep the 6 sliders though, if you decide to not use the slide bars then you will have enough spare sliders to anchor the webbing.

I don't see a single tank adapter in your list (STA), but you did add a bolt kit suitable for an STA. I'm not used to imperial units, but have a look if you can get a shorter kit if you don't plan to use one, so its not digging on your back. It might be ok though, 3/4" just means nothing to me and I'm too lazy to google the conversion

If you don't plan to make your own rubber bands from bike tubes, then I'd get another pack of rubber bands to save on shipping. They're reasonably durable, but annoying when they eventually snap. Won't hurt to have spares.

 

[landphil]

The problem with soft webbing is that it does not hold it's shape. Med-stiff webbing will hold itself open allowing you to sit down into and stand up out of the webbing. Soft webbing hangs limply and catches on everything trying to get in and out and is basically a PITA. So, I would go with the med-stiff webbing and the neoprene shoulder pads.

That's true- but I normally wear a drysuit with some fairly thick undergarments. So, getting into a harness is a mobility challenge every time. When I'm diving in a thin wetsuit or no wetsuit, the straps could be made of wet paper towels and it would still feel easier to get into. But mainly, I've found that if I'm using super stiff webbing without exposure protection it always finds a place to start sawing into my skin. I definitely don't use the softest webbing for my warm water harness. But I also wouldn't choose the stiffest webbing as the OP did.

 

[Valhalla1775]

Looking much cleaner now. I'm curious why you have 4 straight D rings. Usually you just want the 2 bent style D-rings, like you have listed, and one straight D-ring to have on your left side. Optional (but not DIR usually) a second straight D-ring on your right side. But you have 2 more listed (total 4). Crotch straps usually already have 2 pre-installed. Keep the 6 sliders though, if you decide to not use the slide bars then you will have enough spare sliders to anchor the webbing.

I don't see a single tank adapter in your list (STA), but you did add a bolt kit suitable for an STA. I'm not used to imperial units, but have a look if you can get a shorter kit if you don't plan to use one, so its not digging on your back. It might be ok though, 3/4" just means nothing to me and I'm too lazy to google the conversion

If you don't plan to make your own rubber bands from bike tubes, then I'd get another pack of rubber bands to save on shipping. They're reasonably durable, but annoying when they eventually snap. Won't hurt to have spares.

Thank you , I have an STA i picked up cheap , and the other 2 rings were in case i wanted to add them to the belt area. Bolts are about 19mm long