Transpac or bp/w

[gbray]

I know this is an age old question but here goes anyway.

I have 40 dives under my belt (almost ready to be an instructor) and am currently diving an omega back inflate bc. It is not really a bc per say but more like a transpac with a permanent wing. I recently acquired two lp72 tanks and one day may double them up. I would like to buy a rig that will accept doubles. I would like to use it now to get acquainted with it by diving it with a single tank. i have read what has been written about how good bp/w is and am mostly convinced. Is a transpac as good or am I better off not considering a transpac? Please help. I really don't know what to do. I mostly dive quarries but really love to dive and may one day like to expand my horizons and really love acquiring new equipment (I think I have caught some sort of a disease)

(just kidding about almost an instructor)
Thanks in advance to others with this same disease.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

My only experience with the Transpac is diving with my buddy who owned one. He always refered to his as a Trash Pack. He later sold it on Ebay and bought a backplate.

 

[pensacolaracer]

I started off with a Knighthawk for my fisrt 100 dives or so. I switched over to a Dive Rite SS blackplate with a rec wing and a deluxe harness. I thought about the Transpac but the reason I went with a harness was to streamline myself a little better and to be fully adjustable for ME.

Some say the rec wing is a bit big for a single, but I love it. It is great to be able to fully adjust everything.

I recently doubled up my AL-80's for my first doubles dive. I am sold on that setup!!! The rec wing did a great job with the doubles and does a great job with a single.

 

[ucfdiver]

I owned a transpac, my favorite part of owning it was the day I sold it.

 

[Jeff Toorish]

I like Diverite geat --a lot. I prefer their plates and wings (in fact I have three plates, ABS Plastic, steel and aluminum with a variety of wings depending on my diving needs). My only experience with a Transpac was the Nomad sidemount BC which is based on the transpac platform, I believe.

The Nomad worked well enough, but I eventually sold it for a different sidemount set up.

Remember, it is important to ask yourself, what kind of diving are you going to be doing? What are your objectives? The great think about a BP/W setup is its versitility and, of cousre, it's far more streamlined in the water. A transpac is essentially a kind of BCD with some interchangable parts.

My perspective is that a BP/W can do pretty much everything a transpac can do but a Transpac can never be as streamlined as a BP/W. The Transpac is an excellent piece of gear, of course --but in the end it works pretty much like a back inflate BCD. There is a place for that.

Jeff

 

[bill22]

I know this is an age old question but here goes anyway.

I have 40 dives under my belt (almost ready to be an instructor) and am currently diving an omega back inflate bc. It is not really a bc per say but more like a transpac with a permanent wing. I recently acquired two lp72 tanks and one day may double them up. I would like to buy a rig that will accept doubles. I would like to use it now to get acquainted with it by diving it with a single tank. i have read what has been written about how good bp/w is and am mostly convinced. Is a transpac as good or am I better off not considering a transpac? Please help. I really don't know what to do. I mostly dive quarries but really love to dive and may one day like to expand my horizons and really love acquiring new equipment (I think I have caught some sort of a disease)

(just kidding about almost an instructor)
Thanks in advance to others with this same disease.

A little about my own background. I have around 400 dives. I made my first dives in the late 70's. My first BCD was a Dacor "Horse Collar" that I inflated orally I later went to a stab jacket and thought it was the coolest thing since sliced bread I took a long break from diving (about 14 years) and just started diving again a couple of years ago. I've made just over 200 dives in the last 2 years.

I went from a jacket style BC (TUSA Passage) to BP/W setup (DiveRite SS and AL Plates/Oxycheq Mach V Extreme 30# Wing [AL plate for travel]) with a hog harness earlier this year. I've made about 50 dives in this setup. Just be aware that there will be an "adjustment" period.

Adjusting the harness was a pain. It's definetly harder to adjust. Once it's set, it's okay. Since with a hog harness it's all one piece, when you have to adjust one area, you're adjusting the whole thing. I did a lot of tweaking getting it set.

You'll have to figure out how to get out of it if you're boat diving and you remove it in the water, as you sometimes do (you don't just unsnap a strap). Don't put to much air in it (just enough to float the tank). Unwind your long hose (I dive with a 7' hose) and hook it to your right D-Ring. Free your back up second stage from your neck (mine is on a Manta Necklace, so I just pull it free). Unbuckle your waist buckle and while holding onto the crotch strap with your right hand, move your left hand inside your left shoulder harness and shrug it off (one of the places adjustment is so important... to tight and you have a hard time getting it off, to loose and everything moves around to much while you're diving). Then I just swim out of it similar to a BCJ. With a BCJ setup though, you just put air in the BC, undo the buckles and swim out.

You have to be paying attention when you setup your tank so that it's positioned properly too. That means that you have to pay attention to where you're positioning the BP/W and that it's straight. With a BCJ you just hang it from the positioning strap and it pretty much lines itself up.

I was quite happy I was wearing this setup when I was wreck diving during my recent trip to the Philippines. Some areas were quite constricted. You are definitely more streamlined in the water. I had wreck diving in mind when I went with this setup. I'm already Wreck and Cavern certified and am planning on continuing with advanced training in those areas. It made sense to start gathering the gear and getting some experience with it (I'm a big believer that nothing takes the place of time in the water)

In response to your questions... in one sense I'm in the same boat... just more dives I also like equipment. I'm also planning on getting advanced training. I also felt that getting some experience in a rig that I will be required to use in advance training was a good idea.

I've also looked at the arguments about wing size. My conclusion was to get a wing that was appropriate to the type of diving that I was doing. A single wing for a single tank. I can add a wing for doubles later. No doubt that you can use a wing designed for doubles to dive singles. But my question would be, "why"?

As far as a transpac... I never used the transpac myself. I have one friend who has one and loves it. I looked at it, but I didn't buy one on the advice of others that a hog harness and plate was the better way to go. I don't think I would have been unhappy with one, and I can see the advantages in the adjustment process. Do you absolutely need one... no, I wouldn't think so. Thats a personal choice. I have a feeling, though that you might run into some instructors who will insist on a hog harness and plate. A transpac harness, strictly speaking, probably doesn't fall into the DIR philosophy because of the buckles and it's not all one piece.

Don't know how much that helps...Just my two yen's worth... an opinion based on my limited experience....some may agree, some may not As I gain more experience, I may change my mind.

 

[ivobj]

I had a transpack once (please don't tell anyboby...), finnaly I saw the light and changed to BP

 

[peterbj7]

I have both (Transpac and backplate) and use both. If I have a really heavy load I use the backplate. If I just have twin Al 80's I prefer the Transpac. The very rigidity that people cite as the reason for using the backplate is the thing I don't like about it - feels a bit like a straitjacket.

Backplates come in a variety of materials. People who advocate stainless steel ones (the most common) say that you get a more even spread of weight on your back and it is easier to find correct body posture. That may be so, though a decent diver can develop good body posture pretty well regardless of the equipment he's using. But do remember that this very considerable weight is non-ditchable. It's also a lot of weight if you need to fly with it.

But it really comes down to personal preference. The vociferous minority (or maybe majority, I don't know) will shout that you must use a backplate and that a soft harness is rubbish. Hey, some people have said that here already. Beware of just hearing the noisiest people though. There are a lot of Transpacs out there with people diving them very happily. Try both systems and decide for yourself.

My credentials? - about 5000 dives, with eight or nine years teaching (and doing) technical diving.

 

[cool_hardware52]

I have both (Transpac and backplate) and use both. If I have a really heavy load I use the backplate. If I just have twin Al 80's I prefer the Transpac. The very rigidity that people cite as the reason for using the backplate is the thing I don't like about it - feels a bit like a straitjacket.

If that's the case I'd suggest you might not have a well fitting plate. All plates are not created equal.

Backplates come in a variety of materials. People who advocate stainless steel ones (the most common) say that you get a more even spread of weight on your back and it is easier to find correct body posture. That may be so, though a decent diver can develop good body posture pretty well regardless of the equipment he's using. But do remember that this very considerable weight is non-ditchable.

A typical SS back plate is 5 lbs. If the diver is properly weighted, with a balanced rig, 5 lbs is should not be a problem. Ditchable weight? Sometimes it's an important consideration and sometimes not, depends on the application.

It's also a lot of weight if you need to fly with it.

Often a BP&W, including a SS plate, will weight about the same or even less that the typical "tech BC"

Tobin

 

[freshwater]

So... it seems the consensus is transpac bad, back plate good. So... how about this diverite transplate?