Backplate comfort

[fjpatrum]

Disclaimer: I have never used a BP/W. I know next to nothing about BP/W, other than what I have read on here.

Having said that, I will say that it just doesn't look right to me. I can see the simplicity and the adjustability. The reasonable costs of purchase and upgrades.

What I cannot see is the comfort. How in the Hell can a metal plate strapped across your back, with a heavy metal tank strapped to it, be the least bit comfy? I have read enough posts from most of you guys to trust your opinions...but I just cannot comprehend it.

I am getting ready to get a new BCD, but I think I will skip the BP/W setup. One of these days, I would love to try one out just to see what all the fuss is about. But I will have to try before I buy. My mind says you guys have to be right, with all of your experience...but my eyes say it looks like a torture device.

Here's my take on it. I only notice the plate if I have a fair distance to walk to the water. Even then I only barely notice it with any sort of exposure protection. In a tshirt and shorts (which I will never dive in) it's far more noticeable while walking around. In the water, it's completely transparent (feeling) to me other than the fact that my tank doesn't move in the slightest.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Is Eric's plate the same one that is for sale on Scuba Toys?

They used to be for sale at Scubatoys, I sell them direct now.
They still have the ad up but for what reason I don't know

PM me if interested.

 

[fisheater]

They're great singles plates.

 

[Peter_C]

The design of the Freedom Plate is such that it has been shaped and designed to fit the contours of the human back.

Everybody who uses one in warm water with only a T-shirt or no shirt raves about the comfort. There is no need for added padding with the Freedom Plate.

You can ask anybody here who has one and has dove it in warm water with no wetsuit.

My Freedom Plate is the only back plate I use for single tank diving, with an Oxycheq Mach V wing. I dive an HP130 locally, and obviously AL80's in the tropics. For doubles I use an aluminum Dive Rite since it was...well FREE. I have also owned a Halcyon stainless plate and the only one I would wear against my bare skin is the Freedom Plate, and have done so for a week of diving in Roatan. I won't be getting rid of my Freedom Plate ever!

One of the many reasons I switched from a Scubapro Knighthawk BC to a BP/W was the comfort on land when hiking to a dive site. After a few minutes my shoulders would hurt with the Knighthawk. I do not have that problem even with double HP100's on my back, using a BP/W. The fact that the tank is more solid on my back makes the underwater experience much more pleasurable. I am also a believer in crotch straps although many people do not use one. I use my crotch strap to pull my rig down tight onto my body.

 

[Blackwood]

I prefer a one-plate-for-all-applications solution, but I will admit the freedom plate is pretty slick.

 

[Peter_C]

I prefer a one-plate-for-all-applications solution, but I will admit the freedom plate is pretty slick.

Except I had a stainless Dive Rite plate for doubles that put me head down, so I switched to an aluminum plate that helped.

I wouldn't dive an aluminum plate when I want a heavier plate for single tank diving. Yes I could make a 1/4" thick stainless STA filled as much as possible with lead, but then I would be using a plate that I do not like as much as my first choice, the Freedom Plate. At least for me there is no one plate does it all. Of course if all I did was single tank diving then my Freedom Plate would be it Otherwise Dive Rite for price, Halcyon for quality, and DSS fits somewhere in there with an excellent product. DSS weight plates are really nice, although expensive. <Cold water diving only.