All around usage travel bc

[rongoodman]

It isn't rocket surgery. There are a ton of videos out there showing how to set one up. I got mine immediately following my OW class 10 years ago and put it together on my own without issue. The only tweaks that were made later by a local GUE instructor involved re-positioning the front D-rings. The most common mistake seems to be people making the shoulder straps too tight, and then having to struggle to get into or out of the rig.

 

[Cyborg Pirate]

With the AL BP. U won’t have a big weight reduction if any. U can offset that with a 3lb SS BP vs the AL or 6lb SS. With the thinner 3lb BP. I would start with 18lbs of lead vs your 22lbs u are using now. Steven Martin does a really good video on weighting. It’s on YouTube. Look it up. I am
Betting honestly you are too heavy now.

As for rongoodman post he is right very easy and very streamline. However the shoulder comment I am not sure how that could be struggling to get out.... it’s a 1 piece continuous harness. (Aside from crotch strap) So the shoulder straps get roomier when you release the waist belt buckle and allow the waist belt through the BP. Now one thing I have found and like are the derlin triglide as it allows for this action of loosening up straps easier. LeisurePro sells the derlin triglide.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I’ll add to the BP/W suggestion. Rugged, very low maintenance, simple, not much that can go wrong.
I would get the stainless plate. You’re a pretty big dude and the extra weight on your back would really help you. Even in a 3 mil wetsuit, you have a lot more neoprene wrapped around you, and if you use sn aluminum 80 on vacation, the heavier plate will help offset the lighter tank.

 

[msinc]

I use a ScubaPro Go vest for travel. It is very lightweight and very comfortable to dive in. Zero complaints. You mention the tanks you use. Unless you intend to take them with you it probably wont matter what tank you normally dive with. Pretty much where ever you go there is a very high probability you will be using an aluminum 80. This can be an issue. I use more air than average and my personal tank is a steel 100. Everything changes when I go on a trip and have to dive an aluminum 80. Not just the tank either...nothing to do with which bcd to use but when I dive local with my dive buddy and my tank I swim kinda fast and have air when I am done. On a trip with an Al 80 now I have to swim as slow as the slowest person in the group. I am sometimes swimming in circles to stay back on a boat dive and using even more air. I am not the only one with this issue. On a recent trip we got stuck with a particularly very slow dive master....I never had to surface and go to the boat, but others did. If they had their tank it wouldn't have happened this way. Not many dive destinations I have been to offered steel 100 tanks. If you are diving steel tanks now it wont matter which bcd style you get you will be adding weight. If the BP/W is so heavy that you don't need more weight then it wont be much good for travel. When you have to dive aluminum tanks especially in salt water you need to know that the weight you set up with wont be enough if it just gets you underwater...AL 80 tanks get buoyant when they near empty and if you don't have some extra weight you will float up and not be able to stay down towards the end of the dive as the tank empties. This is a common problem/mistake {not enough weight} for many new travelers.
Get a BP/W if you gotta look tech, it's the current rage. The biggest advantage is that since everyone thinks they gotta have one it will be easy to sell.

 

[OMANDIVER]

So I'm in the market for a bcd. I'm 6'6" 255 with under 50 dives. I'm located in Pennsylvania so I do some cold freshwater diving, 8mm Hollis neotek hooded semidry with 22lbs weight in traditional jacket bcd. I also do 2 or 3 warmer saltwater trips a year, 3mm short or full suit with 14 lbs of weight in the traditional jacket bcd. Both setups I place 2lbs of that on a tank weight. I'm looking for a bcd that I can travel with that will meet my needs for both types of diving. I'm looking at scubapro hydros, cressi travellight, aqualung rogue. Any personal experience with these particular bcds in both of these applications? Recommendations? Thanks in advance.

I tried a few different BCD’s and ended up with Zeagle Stilletto. Lots of adjustment for height, weight, dry, wet. I love it. Lots of videos on YouTube. Personally I wouldn’t dive a back plate and wing with a single tank. I dive doubles with it because it serves a purpose rather than a pose.

 

[Streydog]

I went to a BPW from a Zeagle Brigade. I bought an aluminum plate because I often dive steel 120's in warm water. Weighting was very close, I had to add a couple pounds with BPW. I was very intimidated with the setup as well. There are some very good videos explaining the set up on You Tube as well as many threads on here. I took it to Cozumel to try for the first time, did a shore dive to test it out and was good to go without any adjustments to the webbing.

 

[rongoodman]

As for rongoodman post he is right very easy and very streamline. However the shoulder comment I am not sure how that could be struggling to get out.... it’s a 1 piece continuous harness. (Aside from crotch strap) So the shoulder straps get roomier when you release the waist belt buckle and allow the waist belt through the BP. Now one thing I have found and like are the derlin triglide as it allows for this action of loosening up straps easier. LeisurePro sells the derlin triglide.

With the standard harness set-up, the shoulder straps don't get roomier when you release the waist belt because there are SS triglides locking them into place. Halcyon, DSS, and perhaps some others do have add-on hardware that allows for quicker adjustment.

 

[Cyborg Pirate]

With the standard harness set-up, the shoulder straps don't get roomier when you release the waist belt because there are SS triglides locking them into place. Halcyon, DSS, and perhaps some others do have add-on hardware that allows for quicker adjustment.

This is why I recommended the derlin slider triglide to him. I am 6’ 240lbs lean muscular build. So I have very broad shoulders and narrower waist. Once I learned to get in and out of the harness it was pretty simple.... once I discovered the derlin slider. Getting in and out was unbelievably simple. The OP is 6’6” 255lbs. My guess is he probably has a similar build based on those numbers he gave. That’s also why I am estimating he is over weighted with lead. I have multiple BP/wings and the derlin slider works seamlessly with all of them.

The only down side to the “Sub gravity derlin slider”. Is it’s cost 16.50. Only 1 is needed for the harness as loosen one side to get that shoulder out easily and the other now just rotate out of harness. Not sure is GUE would like them or not. Don’t care either. My harness and my shoulder likes it. I honestly recommend anyone using a BP/Wing to invest in one.

 

[MrBigfins]

Thanks for the input everyone, keep it coming please. Msinc, should have specified that the steel I use in cold water. As you stated most warm water dive locations are al80s, although i had luck getting a 100 in SC when I drove there in July. But those weight amounts for warm water are with an al80, cold water steel 80 and when I do the stell 100 I use 2lb less.

Ron Goodman, you are probably right that I'm slightly overweight and. I've been trimming it down slowly and adjusting placement to find my best trim. However as someone else posted, there is ALOT of neoprene to cover my large self. I have a slimmer build with a decent amount of muscle and a larger belly than I would prefer lol. My build and suit coupled with floatier fins, does mean I am comfortable with a bit more weight. As I gain experience my goal is to dial in exactly what I need and where. Again depending on types of dives that will vary.

As I look I to the bpw more, I think I will hold off going that route until I have someone that can walk me through the choices and I can take one for a test run. So currently still going between the hydros, rogue, and interested in the cressi carbon now as well.

 

[DogDiver]

Stick with a brand name well fitting BCD either jacket or back inflate. Leave the bpw Tec wannabees to there own style of diving. I dove bpw when diving doubles in the Great Lakes and my first 10 years of cave diving. Now for single tank recreational diving my Scubapro jacked bcd works great. When cave diving with two steel 120’s, my Nomad XT is unit.