BP/W: I officially don't get it

[Adobo]

I refused to believe there was any other system that could give me better performance...

Why was that?

 

[mikeguerrero]

Why was that?

My first vehicle at age 16 was a Honda CRX, I was sold as a teenager, and never purchased anything other than Honda, yes I owned others cars as a college student on a budget, but I kept comming back to Honda...

Then, at age 39 I fly to visit my mom in Florida for some diving and she lends me her Toyota 4runner... I now want to sell my Honda CRV...

Long story short, I locked myself into a world of BCD's and nothing else appealed to me until someone let me test dive their rig...

You need to try before you buy in this hobby... Only then can you make an educated guess as to what is best for your type of diving....

 

[shoturtle]

Because in general, people prefer BP/W to jacket/back inflate BCs. Obviously not everyone prefers it but the majority of people I know tend to prefer a BP/W over a jacket/back inflate BC after trying them out. For various reasons mentioned in this thread already

Or maybe I am misunderstanding your question? Are you asking why do people start in a jacket BC rather than a BP/W?

That is kinda slighting the truth, to say in general people prefer BP/W to a jacket. The number show that jacket sell the best, back inflate second. Their sales out number bp/w by a huge number.

I have do demo with bp/w, thought I would give it a try. Did not care for it. If you want streamline, get rid of the rubber hose, and go with miflex lp and hp hose. It will bring everything closer to the body.

And I look at the pictures of the bp/w and bc. To me the hoses is what need to be stream line, as the width of both pics are about the same, and close to the body.

 

[TSandM]

Overall, to a great degree, I agree with mudhole. The most important thing in a BC is fit. Right now, I'm diving a jacket BC in the pool with students (yes -- gasp -- the Borg Queen in a poodle jacket!). It fits me quite well, and I find it comfortable, although it's not as easy to put on in the water as my backplate is, because the cummerbund straps want to Velcro to one another behind my back and are a PITA to get free.

For folks diving in cold water with thick exposure protection, I think a BP/W has a huge advantage. It keeps the tank (and we tend to dive with heavy steels) stable on your back, AND is part of your ballast (rather than requiring more to sink it), AND puts weight up on your shoulders, where you need it to trim out.

For folks diving in warm water with minimal exposure protection and a minimal weight requirement, the big advantage of a backplate system is the ability to put on a minimal wing and make diving beautifully streamlined. (And to replace the wing when it eventually wears out, at lower cost than buying a whole new BC.)

The average diver who does two or three dives on vacation each year isn't going to buy his gear, so he's going to dive whatever he can rent, and hope it fits. The backplate recommendations here ARE going to people who, by buying their own equipment, have already indicated more than an average interest in the sport.

 

[CompuDude]

That is kinda slighting the truth, to say in general people prefer BP/W to a jacket. The number show that jacket sell the best, back inflate second. Their sales out number bp/w by a huge number.

I have do demo with bp/w, thought I would give it a try. Did not care for it. If you want streamline, get rid of the rubber hose, and go with miflex lp and hp hose. It will bring everything closer to the body.

And I look at the pictures of the bp/w and bc. To me the hoses is what need to be stream line, as the width of both pics are about the same, and close to the body.

In general, I think people DO prefer bp/w to jacket. Problem is, very few shops sell bp/w compared to regular BC's (be they jacket or back inflate), and even fewer have staff that are educated on the merits of each system. Add in the fact that the "big" manufacturers (ScubaPro, Mares, AquaLung, etc.) don't really sell backplates (possible exception of Apecks, owned by AquaLung), and it's pretty clear why bp/w's aren't making up as many sales as the other varieties.

For those that DO actually get a chance to try bp/w's, however, especially an in-water test, I would guess that Saspotato is correct and a majority of them would prefer a bp/w over a jacket BC.

 

[Gombessa]

Why was that?

One of the things that helped me tremendously as I was starting out was the decision to not purchase any gear for the first year. Like just about everyone who gets into diving, I wanted to buy my BC, regs, computer and wetsuit after the first day of OW class, and I wanted different stuff 3 months after getting certified and again after diving for 6 months or so.

During all this time, I just rented and borrowed gear. This gave me the chance to try out a few different setups, and not just fixate on one item that I thought would be the end-all, be-all [insert gear category here] for me. By the time a year had rolled around, I had the occasion to try several types of jacket BCs, back-inflate BCs and bp/w setups. For me, the bp/w was clearly the right choice, but I probably wouldn't have found this out if I only tried one or two variants prior to purchase.

 

[shoturtle]

In general, I think people DO prefer bp/w to jacket. Problem is, very few shops sell bp/w compared to regular BC's (be they jacket or back inflate), and even fewer have staff that are educated on the merits of each system. Add in the fact that the "big" manufacturers (ScubaPro, Mares, AquaLung, etc.) don't really sell backplates (possible exception of Apecks, owned by AquaLung), and it's pretty clear why bp/w's aren't making up as many sales as the other varieties.

For those that DO actually get a chance to try bp/w's, however, especially an in-water test, I would guess that Saspotato is correct and a majority of them would prefer a bp/w over a jacket BC.

I tend to disagree, more and more people log on everyday to the internet, the info is out there at a click of a button. And availability at stores is really not an issue anymore, as e-commerce's is where allot of people get gear now. LP, Divesports, Scubatoys and other big online retailer sell bp/w. And it really has not made much of a dent in the number of jacket sales. When a friend from out of town visited and want to get some gear so we went to LP, and I spoke with the guys there, and the BC is still king, bp/w has not made much of a dent in their sales.

When giving advice on a recent post. I suggest the a new diver try out the 3 different style before asking for suggestions on what bc style he should get. As I am a firm believer that if you are not comfortable in the gear, no matter what inherent advantages one style has over the other. It will perform like crap if the user is not comfortable with it.

So when I did my demo of the BP/W, I went away with this is nothing special, no oh wow moment underwater, it perform like a regular bc in my opinion. Actually, I was not liking the way it perform on the surface at all.

 

[Sas]

One of the things that helped me tremendously as I was starting out was the decision to not purchase any gear for the first year. Like just about everyone who gets into diving, I wanted to buy my BC, regs, computer and wetsuit after the first day of OW class, and I wanted different stuff 3 months after getting certified and again after diving for 6 months or so.

During all this time, I just rented and borrowed gear. This gave me the chance to try out a few different setups, and not just fixate on one item that I thought would be the end-all, be-all [insert gear category here] for me. By the time a year had rolled around, I had the occasion to try several types of jacket BCs, back-inflate BCs and bp/w setups. For me, the bp/w was clearly the right choice, but I probably wouldn't have found this out if I only tried one or two variants prior to purchase.

It is ideal to wait but some times it becomes a choice between buying early and diving a lot or relying on others to loan or rent you gear and diving less as a result as you have to work to others' schedule. I picked the former as I had no one to borrow gear off at that stage and the shops rented similar gear. I could have done better with my first lot of gear for sure even with the resources I had then but I don't regret my first gear too much as it got me in the water a lot more than borrowed gear would have. And now I have a top quality back inflate BC to loan friends who do not want to get their own gear



Posted via Mobile Device

 

[Adobo]

My first vehicle at age 16 was a Honda CRX, I was sold as a teenager, and never purchased anything other than Honda, yes I owned others cars as a college student on a budget, but I kept comming back to Honda...

Then, at age 39 I fly to visit my mom in Florida for some diving and she lends me her Toyota 4runner... I now want to sell my Honda CRV...

Long story short, I locked myself into a world of BCD's and nothing else appealed to me until someone let me test dive their rig...

You need to try before you buy in this hobby... Only then can you make an educated guess as to what is best for your type of diving....

It's unfortunate that you did not connect with some of the divers in Mocal who regularly dive these systems. I know quite a few who are more than happy to share information, lend out gear (for trial) and even dive with newer divers who have an open mind and sincere desire to learn.

 

[Gombessa]

the BC is still king, bp/w has not made much of a dent in their sales.

While the above is probably true, I think this has more to do with the fact that relatively few divers have tried out a bp/w even if it is hanging in a corner at their local LDS.

The implication that wider availability means people have tried a bp/w and rejected it just doesn't seem to hold true. There's a bunch of unfamiliar gear at my LDS that I have no idea how to use, but my first inclination is to ignore those and focus on what I do recognize. And what's recognized is typically the gear I was shown and used in OW class.