Back Plate Vs Standard BCD

[Gloveboxtech]

I keep hearing about these Back Plates with wings. I currently dive with a Seaquest Balance which works great for me. I am just curious the difference between the Back plate setup vs. my Balance BCD. What is the main reasons for using a Backplate?

 

[Guy Alcala]

I keep hearing about these Back Plates with wings. I currently dive with a Seaquest Balance which works great for me. I am just curious the difference between the Back plate setup vs. my Balance BCD. What is the main reasons for using a Backplate?

Mainly, it allows you to transition into tech with doubles more easily, it's less buoyant so will allow you to remove some weight, and it's probably slightly more streamlined. I used a Balance (and Malibu) before I got my BP/wing, and liked them, much more than I liked using jacket style BCDs (Pro QD+ and some type of Cressi). Whether I'd like it as much now that I''ve been diving a BP for 2+ years I couldn't say. I know my local LDS owner, who's been diving everything including tech for 40+ years, is perfectly happy to use a Balance for rec/travel diving.

If I had a long steep shore hike (say 1/4 mile or more each way) wearing my gear to get to the water, I'd much prefer the Balance to my Hog rigged BP/Wing, because it's got a useful hipbelt that will offload your shoulders. But for the type of diving I do now and plan to do in the future, the BP/wing is simpler, cleaner, more versatile, provides a better connection to the tank (two cam straps) and is the minimum weight. What it is _not_ is cheaper, given sales.

Guy

 

[FireInMyBones]

Great trim. Bombproof. Versitility (such as the ability to go "tech" or wear doubles). Usually less weight on the belt (it can be integrated into the BP and Single Tank Adapter). Less failure points. Simple.

 

[Deep South Divers]

Yeah, I would say that the biggest reasons are:

1. Performance
2. Stability
3. Modularity
4. Customizablity
5. Durability

...But I think what you're really asking (since you've specifically stated what sort of rig you own) is, "What sort of advantages could I expect of a backplate and wing over my Seaquest Balance?"

These are:

1. Stability. A backplate is wide and flat and spreads tank weight (or bouyancy) across your back, so there is absolutely no tank wobble whatsoever. The rig is very secured to your back and feels like a part of you. This feature also allows you to dive doubles, impossible with a Balance.
2. Permenantly adjusted correctly. Once you've adjusted a backplate and wing (depending on the harness that you've chosen), it's always dead-on with it's adjustments, as there's nothing to come unadjusted... So no more screwing around with a rig that doesn't fit quite right.
3. Modularity. With a backplate and wing, you can choose and swap wings out as you see fit, so you can use small travel wings when traveling and when you don't need much lift (very streamlined) and use larger wings when the situation requires it. Again, because of this, doubles are a possibility, whereas they aren't on a Balance.
4. Customizability. You choose whatever accessories you want to put on your backplate and wing, and it all swaps out and changes out according to your needs. Which brings me to...
5. Durability. The basics behind a backplate and wing are a solid, thick metal plate and very heavily-fabriced wings... Held together with very durable webbing. Backplates and wings are pretty tough to hurt, and are vastly more durable than the mostly plastic parts on a "standard BC." When you do screw something up, parts are easily exchanged and swapped out, too... As mentioned above... Because the system's modular.
6. Performance. Spreading the load of a standard 6 lb backplate over your lungs can do amazing things for your trim and bouyancy, not the least of which is a fairly dramatic reduction in the amount of additional lead needed to correctly weight a diver. This action also streamlines and simplifies a diver, with the results being improvements in many areas of diving.

 

[diver 85]

I 'got one' almost a year ago just for heck of it--loved my Zeagle Scout BI BC that I had been diving for almost 2 years--------short story, I can not tell the difference between the 2......EXCEPT...I need a little less weight(maybe ?3 to 4 lbs) for the BP/W.....I find both are GREAT........

EDIT: I bought an alum DR BP with a DR Travel wing with 2 delrin straps, harness is an Oxycheq with their crotch strap.....

 

[Trimix2dive]

configurable vs. fixed. doubles & singles vs. singles alone. I have both. BCD for class work. B/P w/wing for everything else.

 

[Gloveboxtech]

What is your recommendations of a Manufacturer for a plate/wing setup?

 

[FireInMyBones]

I enjoy a hodge-podge system. I like my OMS BP and Oxycheq wing. I have the razor guard and it is sweet!
I made my own webbing for free.

 

[TSandM]

My husband has a Balance, and likes it just fine. It has enough of a plastic plate to keep the tank stable, and he has no problems trimming it out. He switched to a BP/W for one reason . . . because he needed a crotch strap for scootering! (He was also able to dump 3 pounds of ballast with the change.)

 

[hg frogman]

1) Technical diving with a twinset and/or stages.

2) Less lead (provided you need some).

3) Snug fit, adjustability (provided your BCD doesn't satisfy you in that respect).

But for open water single tank diving in tropical seas with a wetsuit and little lead (less than 8 pounds) good, simple jacket-style BCDs are actually more streamlined (because heavy fabric flopping in your back is less hydrodynamic than light fabric wrapped around your body) and provide better support at the surface (though most BP/Ws will also do the job).