Halcyon Carbon Plate

[Jcp2]

CF is engineered into products when they need to be some combination of incredibly stiff, thin, and/or light weight. None of that applies to literally anything we do in scuba diving.

Except for fins.

 

[tbone1004]

Oh, I don't think it's the right tool for the job, however, one could, in an exercise of overdoing it, design a backplate that took advantage of the material properties to the best of their ability. It'd be nice and light and a complete waste of time and effort. But at least you could milk it for everything it is worth.

the problem is that if you designed it by the material properties of CF based on the loading that it sees for a backplate, it would be so thin and brittle that it would either cut through the webbing, or shatter. Even cheap carbon fiber has a tensile strength of 300ish KSI, so 300,000pounds force/square inch. Since doubles plus all the misc bs only weigh like 200lbs max, you can pick it all up with a single tow used in one layer. Same reason the webbing we use is spec'd for comfort, ignoring the fact that the two pieces of webbing we use on the backplates are rated for over 2 tons of breaking strength EACH. If you can make the backplate out of ABS plastic, making it out of carbon fiber is not something you could ever actually engineer for practical applications. All of the layers required to make it thick enough to be durable and not destroy the webbing defeat the purpose of using carbon in the first place, and frankly even using composite for anything except the sex appeal.

@Jcp2 even fins. The carbon fiber fins are not doing much that we can't do with high end fiber glass that is much cheaper. They use carbon fiber for the appeal and marketing. S-glass or basalt are much better engineering choices for fins, and MUCH better for the environment, fun fact carbon fiber is quite horrific to manufacture, but they don't have the sex appeal, so they aren't used for consumer type applications.

 

[lowwall]

Helium Dive Gear makes a really nice titanium backplate (I own one) Helium Dive - Оборудование для дайвинга из Титана

I was going to post this. Titanium is the superior material for a lightweight BP. But it's looks too normal to break into the poseur market. They should do a version with a titanium nitride coating and a doubled price

 

[saxman242]

But it's looks too normal to break into the poseur market.

That can easily be solved with a quick anodize

 

[lowwall]

That can easily be solved with a quick anodize

I was editing my post as you wrote this. For some reason I often trigger the post button prematurely when writing on my cell phone.

 

[Joneill]

i was just asking on the carbon plate...

i dive with a 2 lb plate and a 1 lb sta. no weights. tropical.

I found out the Halcyon carbon plate is 1.1 lb with a 2 lb STA.... i thought this was the same thing hahhaah..

titanium on the other hand.. is expensive =( unless... somebody made titanium plates aside from halcyon?

My Halcycon CF plate only weighs a bit more than 1/2 lb and does not require an STA. I love it for travel and not needing an STA gets the tank closer to my back which I prefer as well.

 

[STIDVC]

My Halcycon CF plate only weighs a bit more than 1/2 lb and does not require an STA. I love it for travel and not needing an STA gets the tank closer to my back which I prefer as well.

any issues with salt water?

 

[saxman242]

I was editing my post as you wrote this. For some reason I often trigger the post button prematurely when writing on my cell phone.

Funny thing is, titanium is incredibly cheap and easy to anodized. Not quite the crazy colors of a TiN coating, but far cheaper.

 

[LanceRiley]

i went over to helium dive website . everything is russian! but im interested in the titanium hardware. i got a freedom plate comming and its a bit heavy, i duno if using titanium hardware will lighten it. my fp in my estimate is just 0.3 lbs over my ideal weight

with everyone’s opinion on carbon. i just lost taste lol.

dive helium doesnt have STA?

 

[Joneill]

any issues with salt water?

Not at all - it doesn’t sit in salt water for extended periods. It gets rinsed off after each day of diving. Crazy light and compact so great for travel as a rec diver.