Awesome new BP/W

[JustinRyan]

I purchased a med BP, Torus 26 Wing, and 8lbs bolt on weights. I've dove the new gear 6 times now and I'm in love with this BP/W.

The craftmanship is beyond excellent! The fit and feel of the back plate is actually nicer than the other plates I borrowed while deciding on brand. I honestly can't describe how impressed I am with this equipment. As an engineer, I love this level of attention to detail.

A couple of questions:

Should I remove the weights after rinsing? Just concerned about potential corrosion.

WRT to weighting:

My current set up is as follows:
7mm 1 piece
5mm hood
3mm gloves
6mm boots
Catalina Al 80
6 lbs on a wetbelt

So total weight is:
-5 SS plate
-8 Bolt-on Weights
-2 AL 80 (Full)
-2 Reg
-6 weight belt
Total = -23
I am 5'11, 155lbs diving mostly the cold waters of SD

I'm thinking of diving a steel HP100. The tank website says -12 to -5 for the HP 100. Any recommendations on weight config? I figured I should remove the bolt-on weight when using a HP 100.

Thanks Tobin,

You make amazing gear.

 

[Deco Duck]

Here's a quick reference chart for the corrosion potential of metals.
If your plate and fasteners are made of 300 series stainless steel, I wouldn't worry about removing the lead weights; the weights will be the first to go.
http://www.corrosionist.com/Corros1.gif

 

[JustinRyan]

Thanks for the chart! That's pretty cool. I did pull them off for an inspection and everything looks good.

 

[cool_hardware52]

I purchased a med BP, Torus 26 Wing, and 8lbs bolt on weights. I've dove the new gear 6 times now and I'm in love with this BP/W.

The craftmanship is beyond excellent! The fit and feel of the back plate is actually nicer than the other plates I borrowed while deciding on brand. I honestly can't describe how impressed I am with this equipment. As an engineer, I love this level of attention to detail.

A couple of questions:

Should I remove the weights after rinsing? Just concerned about potential corrosion.

WRT to weighting:

My current set up is as follows:
7mm 1 piece
5mm hood
3mm gloves
6mm boots
Catalina Al 80
6 lbs on a wetbelt

So total weight is:
-5 SS plate
-8 Bolt-on Weights
-2 AL 80 (Full)
-2 Reg
-6 weight belt
Total = -23
I am 5'11, 155lbs diving mostly the cold waters of SD

I'm thinking of diving a steel HP100. The tank website says -12 to -5 for the HP 100. Any recommendations on weight config? I figured I should remove the bolt-on weight when using a HP 100.

Thanks Tobin,

You make amazing gear.

Thanks for the kind words.

The typical HP 100 will be about -2 lbs empty vs +4 lbs for an empty al 80. That's about a 6 lbs difference. The bolt on weights for a medium or large DSS plate are 8.1 lbs / pair. Removing the weight plates when diving steel tanks is a good idea. You may need a couple more lbs on your belt.

Keep in mind that you have a 26 lbs wing, and that needs to be able to float your rig with a full tank if you ditch it. 6 lbs of plate and harness, 2 lbs of regulator, ~11 lbs of full hp 100 + 8 lbs of weight plates = 27 lbs 27 > 26, bad idea. However if you remove the weight plates your rig drops to 19 lbs.

Remember when a diver moves ballast from their belt to their rig they have not changed their total weighting, but they have increased how much the wing must float if the rig is ditched.


If you rinse well in fresh water you probably don't need to remove the weight plates after every dive, but once in a while can't hurt.

Tobin

---------- Post added April 21st, 2015 at 10:25 PM ----------

Here's a quick reference chart for the corrosion potential of metals.
If your plate and fasteners are made of 300 series stainless steel, I wouldn't worry about removing the lead weights; the weights will be the first to go.
http://www.corrosionist.com/Corros1.gif

Our Back plates *and* weight plates are all 304 Stainless. Having said that there is the potential for corrosion between the two if there is even a slight difference in the two alloys. There will always be a slight difference between different batches of the "same" stainless. The good news is the resulting corrosion, if it happens, will be slight easily removed with a bit of scotchbite and or soaking classic coke.

Tobin

 

[JustinRyan]

Thanks again Tobin

I love those plates with the Al80, but I'll make sure to take them off if I go with steal tanks.

 

[Hatul]

I wish Tobin offered 4 lb plates. I also need to remove the plates when I change from drysuit to wetsuit (about 4 lbs difference in ballast for me) and I like to have some ditchable weight.

 

[JustinRyan]

I wish Tobin offered 4 lb plates. I also need to remove the plates when I change from drysuit to wetsuit (about 4 lbs difference in ballast for me) and I like to have some ditchable weight.[/QUO]

Thats a good idea. Assuming uniform density. A DSS Bolt-On Weight set at 1/2 thickness would be 4.05 lbs.

 

[NAM001]

First of all I think some of your weights guesses off. Heres what to do. hang the rig from a scale in a pool and take a reading. I say this cause I think tobins st backplate is 6# and you have no value for valves. You may be surprised just how much different reality is from estimation. Next I would also measure again with a full wing with additional weight hanging on the rig to see just what lift you can get. I am sure tobin has that worked out cause we are talking about tobin. I use a non dss no sta wing. It is similar to tobins as far as the no sta requirement. I also use 8" tanks. that combnation restricts the full inflation of the wing. I am guessing that I get perhaps 23-25 inflation from my 30# wing. Other than that you numbers are very similar to my numbers. I am 6' using lp95's h valves and steel plate. I trim out perfectly with a 3mm shorty with out weight in fresh water. I use the bolt on weights in salt water or go to a lavacore suit. My saltwater divng is in the gulf with 80-95f water.

I purchased a med BP, Torus 26 Wing, and 8lbs bolt on weights. I've dove the new gear 6 times now and I'm in love with this BP/W.

The craftmanship is beyond excellent! The fit and feel of the back plate is actually nicer than the other plates I borrowed while deciding on brand. I honestly can't describe how impressed I am with this equipment. As an engineer, I love this level of attention to detail.

A couple of questions:

Should I remove the weights after rinsing? Just concerned about potential corrosion.

WRT to weighting:

My current set up is as follows:
7mm 1 piece
5mm hood
3mm gloves
6mm boots
Catalina Al 80
6 lbs on a wetbelt

So total weight is:
-5 SS plate
-8 Bolt-on Weights
-2 AL 80 (Full)
-2 Reg
-6 weight belt
Total = -23
I am 5'11, 155lbs diving mostly the cold waters of SD

I'm thinking of diving a steel HP100. The tank website says -12 to -5 for the HP 100. Any recommendations on weight config? I figured I should remove the bolt-on weight when using a HP 100.

Thanks Tobin,

You make amazing gear.

 

[cool_hardware52]

First of all I think some of your weights guesses off. Heres what to do. hang the rig from a scale in a pool and take a reading. I say this cause I think tobins st backplate is 6# and you have no value for valves. You may be surprised just how much different reality is from estimation. Next I would also measure again with a full wing with additional weight hanging on the rig to see just what lift you can get. I am sure tobin has that worked out cause we are talking about tobin. I use a non dss no sta wing. It is similar to tobins as far as the no sta requirement. I also use 8" tanks. that combnation restricts the full inflation of the wing. I am guessing that I get perhaps 23-25 inflation from my 30# wing. Other than that you numbers are very similar to my numbers. I am 6' using lp95's h valves and steel plate. I trim out perfectly with a 3mm shorty with out weight in fresh water. I use the bolt on weights in salt water or go to a lavacore suit. My saltwater divng is in the gulf with 80-95f water.

DSS medium Stainless steel plates are a bit over 5lbs, combined with a harness with buckles and drings etc. the Plate and harness is abut -6lbs.

DSS measures the capacity of our wings when they are mounted to a plate, with a 8 inch tank in place.

How we test for wing capacity:

Weigh the wing empty,

Mount it to a plate and fit an 8 inch cylinder

Fill the wing fully with water until the OPV vents only water.

Remove the full wing and weigh it a second time.

Subtract the full weight from the empty weight. This value directly represents the lift capacity of the wing subject to whatever constraints are imposed by the plate and cylinder.



BTW -2 lbs for a full al 80 is pretty typical. It's pretty hard to have a full tank with no valve.

Tobin