"Warm water backplate" with a "cold water wing" a bad idea?

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A bit of crafty packing should negate any overweight fears you may have by traveling with a stainless plate. Recently spent a week diving in Croatia and took the following for gear: steel plate/harness, twinset wing, drysuit and undersuit/fake rock boots, turtle fins, 12w light monkey canister light, 2x backup lights, knife, 2x dsmbs, 2x masks, wetnotes, twinset regs, stage regs, suit inflate reg, compass, bottom timer and a mesh bag. Most everything went into my hand luggage. Fins and drysuit + undersuit went into checked luggage (along with some clothes). i also took things like my laptop, power strip, hard drive, etc. My checked luggage came in at around 35 lbs. My hand luggage and backpack probably weighed the same.
 
You should purchase a travel rig. Lugging extra weight around is not fun at all. Also, look into lighter fins. I just came back from Mexico last weekend with a SS setup and heavy fins, and this will be my last time doing so. Save every pound you can when traveling, you will be thankful in the end.

Heavy backpacks and carry-on luggage sucks big time, and should only be done when necessary. What are you going to do when you want to bring home that extra bottle of liquor, or that special gift for someone and your right at the limit, or worst.
 
I dive an Oxycheq Mach V 40lb singles wing in cold water to keep my kit from sinking with the tank full. The same wing is my warm water wing and it works perfectly.

As to carrying a heavy stainless plate...well I found a way. I do remove my lead wedge though. I wouldn't like to go back to a jacket BC unless there were no other options.

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Peter_C, what kind of bag is that that you attached to your Freedom Contour, and how did you attach it. I would imagine you put two grommets on the bag and used wingnuts on the inside?

Have airline/airport authorities ever questioned it? The Freedom Contour is small and almost looks like it could be an integral part of a conventional backpack, but I wonder if a larger conventional steel backplate would catch their attention?
 
Peter_C, what kind of bag is that that you attached to your Freedom Contour, and how did you attach it. I would imagine you put two grommets on the bag and used wingnuts on the inside?
My plate is one of the originals, and is modified with a rail to work with the Mach V wing, so it has two screws with nuts holding it on. The backpack is a recycled...backpack.

Have airline/airport authorities ever questioned it? The Freedom Contour is small and almost looks like it could be an integral part of a conventional backpack, but I wonder if a larger conventional steel backplate would catch their attention?
I always get my bag searched due to electronics, but they have always been nice about it. Owning a conventional backplate for diving doubles, I wouldn't want to use it as a backplate. They are just not comfortable to wear with only a t-shirt.
 
Guys.......Wings don't magically expand when you put them in warm water.

If the wing doesn't taco in cold water with a HP120, Al80, St 72 etc etc, unless you strap a Al 6 on the Bp it won't taco in warm water either.

There's nothing wrong with using the SS Bp and 40# wing. So long as the SS doesn't overweight you.
Having that amount of excess lift is unnecessary, but it doesn't hurt you in anyway unless you use it wrong.
 
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Guys.......Wings don't magically expand when you put them in warm water.

If the wing doesn't taco in cold water with a HP120, Al80, St 72 etc etc, unless you strap a Al 6 on the Bp it won't taco in warm water either.

There's nothing wrong with using the SS Bp and 40# wing. So long as the SS doesn't overweight you.
Having that amount of excess lift is unnecessary, but it doesn't hurt you in anyway unless you use it wrong.
So, two things on this. In colder water, in wetsuits, you need a bigger wing to deal with suit compression. That means that, at depth, the wing will be more inflated and much less likely to taco. Take that to warm water with no exposure suit and the much emptier wing tacos much more. Is that a big deal? Not in my book.

The problem, in my mind, with a big wing for travel is the weight. Now, that's a seriously minimal difference and it wouldn't bother me at all to travel work a wing that's slightly too big. The reason travel wings exist is for people that travel enough to buy a dedicated travel rig. If you're buying a wing anyway, why not make it as small and light add possible? Certainly not worth it for the op, but it's worth it for others.
 
So, two things on this. In colder water, in wetsuits, you need a bigger wing to deal with suit compression. That means that, at depth, the wing will be more inflated and much less likely to taco. Take that to warm water with no exposure suit and the much emptier wing tacos much more. Is that a big deal? Not in my book.

The problem, in my mind, with a big wing for travel is the weight. Now, that's a seriously minimal difference and it wouldn't bother me at all to travel work a wing that's slightly too big. The reason travel wings exist is for people that travel enough to buy a dedicated travel rig. If you're buying a wing anyway, why not make it as small and light add possible? Certainly not worth it for the op, but it's worth it for others.

Only if you're bringing it to an extreme comparison.
Unless your wing is fully inflated, it will still fold where it folds.
If you really want to liken it, dumping air at your cold water safety stop will be the same feeling as dumping air throughout your warm water dive.

A taco prone wing will not taco only if the middle section (on the vertical axis) is plump with air. That does not happen at depth.
A normal wing will taco as well, just not to the extent that makes a problem with trapping or dumping air.
But it will still look taco until you plump up the middle section on the vertical axis of the wing. That does not happen once again till the whole wing is overinflated. And that does not happen till you're surfaced.

For the most part I think the lot of us only refer to extreme taco-ing as taco wings. Otherwise every single wing tacos.

So to the OP's question, it won't taco any more extreme than what it normally does in cold water.
 
Sounds like the OP wants to justify buying new toy.

Buy whatever you want, dude.

Actually the exact opposite. I'm trying to utilize what I already have, and buy the least necessary. However, I don't want to use or buy anything that won't perform appropriately.
 

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