All purpose BP/W set up?

[Ufdah]

I'm a VERY new diver with no gear and I'm looking at getting into a BP/W setup. I'm hoping to do it right the first time... I live in Alaska so there will be mostly dry suit dives with the occasional 5mm wet suit lake dive. Also I'll only be using AL80's since I have an unlimited supply of bottles and air. (I know the right people =) So what would be the most flexible option? I may go to doubles, may not, maybe a pony bottle, may take it on vacation to Belize... You get the idea.

I'm 6'2" 175lbs. Last dive with a 9mm wet/dry I had 25lbs of weight which seemed to be perfect. Think I'm going to get a Bear NEX-Gen Pro though. For the BP/W I'm thinking of something like the OxyCheq Mach 5. But do I get the 30# or 40#, and a S.S. or AL backplate?

 

[Gombessa]

If you're diving mostly in cold water and are already carrying about 25lb of weight, I'd suggest taking weight off your belt, especially if you're moving to a drysuit (which with a thick undergarment usually requires more weight than a wetsuit). A ss backplate and weighted STA shifts 12lb from your waist to your back.

There's a very good post by Tobin on TDS on how to determine the amount of lift you need with a wing (at The Deco Stop), but for the most part, I think most people need LESS than they think. I haven't heard of too many people who really need more than 30# of lift for a single tank, and if you do move to doubles, you definitely want to get a dedicated doubles wing.

Take your time figuring out what works for you, and have fun.

 

[pmetz]

For a single, go with a 30lb wing. For a double tank setup, I would go with a 40lb dedicated doubles wing, especially if you are using aluminum tanks. If you get a steel backplate, you can shed some weight off of the belt. Im 6 foot 225 and use that setup with halcyon gear. I just switch out the wings depending on if I am doing single tanks for recreational diving and teaching or doubles with deco bottles. I only have to add weight to my setup when I am diving a single tank. If I am diving doubles and deco bottles there is more than enough weight there between the backplate, tanks, manifold, ect to keep me good. However I dont dive the drysuits here.

 

[Colliam7]

I live in Alaska so there will be mostly dry suit dives with the occasional 5mm wet suit lake dive. Also I'll only be using AL80's since I have an unlimited supply of bottles and air. ... For the BP/W I'm thinking of something like the OxyCheq Mach 5. But do I get the 30# or 40#, and a S.S. or AL backplate?

I agree with gombessa and pmetz - go SS and a 30lb wing. Two others thoughts: 1) if you invest in a good (custom fit) drysuit, the likelihood of wanting to dive wet in cool lakes decreases, and you can end up with one exposure suit which you then tailor to the conditions (in terms of undergarments), so you are able to maintain a log of the optimal weighting for a variety of circumstances. The only time I dive wet these days is when the water temp is above 73 F, and I either dive my drysuit, or a 3mm wetsuit, making it easy to keep track of weighting. 2) I would PM Tobin (cool_hardware_52) at DSS, who Gombessa mentioned. Terrific resource for those moving to a BP/W, and great equipment, plus he is on the West coast.

 

[b1gcountry]

SS and 30# Wing. It's worked for me in the Great Lakes, with a single and stage, so it should work for you.

Tom

 

[cmburch]

I am 6' 225lb use a 9/7/6mm wetsuit, 24lb weight, SS BP, STA, 40lb Oxycheq Mach V Extreme for 46-52F ocean. There is not much difference between the 30 and 40 in profile. The 30 is actually 32lbs, so less than 8lbs difference between wings. I got the 40lb because it was on sale at ST. When deciding on which Oxycheq wing, may want to contact Patrick at Oxycheq and there are more users on ST forum. Since you also want it for warmer waters, the smaller 30lb would probably be best and a harness that allows an easy change to a lighter Oxycheq BP - or just get a second harness and BP. The SS is best for cold water. The lightweight Oxycheq BP may be best for warm water.

 

[TSandM]

Really, for most people, the only reason to have a lightweight plate for tropical diving is to save weight on the plane. Unless you're very dense (sinker) and are going somewhere where you are diving with NO exposure protection at all, you are likely to need some weight. I dive in warm water in a 3 mil wetsuit with my SS plate and 2 lbs on the cambands.

Now, if you do a LOT of warm water travel, it gets annoying to adjust the harness all the time, so you'll end up buying another plate. But if the vast majority of your diving is cold water dry suit diving, the SS plate works great. To add even more weight to it, you can either use a weighted STA, as mentioned, or get the DSS backplate and the bolt-on weight plates. That's what my husband uses.

For lift, you need enough to compensate for the lift lost in a suit flood, and to float your rig at the surface. Tobin goes through these calculations regularly for people, but the bottom line is that, unless you are using massively negative tanks and packing weight on your rig, 30 lbs of lift is enough for most cold, salt water divers. And with Al80's, that will certainly be true.

 

[Boxcar Overkill]

For the BP/W I'm thinking of something like the OxyCheq Mach 5. But do I get the 30# or 40#, and a S.S. or AL backplate?

My wife and I both dive a Oxy Mach 5 razor 30# on a SS backplate / single AL80s in warm salt water.

I'm 6'3"/225 lbs, she's 5'2" 115 lbs, so that setup covers quite a range.

We both use an aluminum STA, (although it's not really needed). I also use a 4 lbs center channel weight. She uses a 3m wetsuit - I just throw on shorts and a rash guard.

She may be a little overweighted, but if so, only a small bit. I'm pretty will dialed on.

The 30# wing on a SS plate is pretty versatile. Outside of having 6 more pounds of luggage, I can't see much downside to it. It's probably a little more lift than what we need where we dive, but if we ever start adding equipment and steel tanks, it will grow with us. And it's a streamlined wing.

If I were doing it all over again, I would buy the same setup. However, I might be tempted to go with a smaller DSS wing, since 18# of lift would be plenty for me, and DSS has a first class reputation with customer service.

I should mention that I got my complete Bp/w setup from Scubatoys, for right at $500. That included a Zeagle SS backplate, Oxycheq Mach 5 Razor 30# wing and 2 cam bands, Diverite hog harness and STA, and a center channel weight. Not a bad deal, for the quality of equipment.

 

[sea2summit]

Where are you from? I'm a Juneau guy if you're ever down her give me a bump.

I bought a BP/W as my first BC and never looked back. SS with 30# wing has never let me down and it alowed me to grow as a diver through DM and into the tec world without any hassel. If you really need a pocket install them on your dry suit or there are a couple different ones that you can put on the belt if needed, I cheat sometimes by using a DUI weight/trim and only using two pockets for weights and the other for extra junk sometimes (not life support of course).

 

[Ufdah]

Thanks for all the tips! Sounds like a SS BP w/ 30# wing is it. Now it's a matter of producing the funds... First off though I'll probably be getting the dry suit though.

Sea2Summit, I'm in Kenai. I would love to dive Juneau but I don't know if I'll ever make it that way... Around here the Cook Inlet is way to dirty to dive so it's only lakes or drive to Homer, Seward, or Whittier.

Thanks Again.