Backplate/Wing or Jacket BCD?

[Ayisha]

Thank you all for your advice.

diver 85, I didn't forget about back inflate BC's. I think many women's BC's are pretty close to back inflate BC's. I have tried the Scubapro Ladyhawk and didn't like it. I do need to wear a women's BC rather than unisex because unisex (essentially men's) BC's do not fit me. I did try some in my early diving days and even a unisex XS FULLY INFLATED BC only touched my body in one place. My jacket would be fully inflated while vertical at the surface in an XS unisex BC and my mouth was under water - not pleasant. I actually held myself up in the BC to keep my mouth out of the water, otherwise it rode right up. I bought a women's Small BC, and I was never happier. To be fair, I have not tried other back inflate BC's.

I am thinking that an aluminum backplate might be the way to go for me, since I do occasionally travel and weight restrictions are fierce these days. I can add some weight pockets on the cambands as Lynne suggested if I feel I need them or I could get a steel backplate later if I think I need one... Thanks!

 

[Ayisha]

I am not completely certain yet if the Halcyon Infinity will become available with a small backplate. I got two different responses from my LDS and from Halcyon.

My LDS said:

I talked to Halcyon and they said that they will have infinity BC with small plate available within next 4 weeks. The current Cinch system is too big for small plate

.

The Manager of Technical Services at Halcyon said:

Unfortunately the Infinity system does not come with a small backplate. Likewise, the Cinch upgrade will not work with the small backplate.

I hope they figure it out...

 

[tstormdiver]

Thank you all for your advice.

diver 85, I didn't forget about back inflate BC's. I think many women's BC's are pretty close to back inflate BC's. I have tried the Scubapro Ladyhawk and didn't like it. I do need to wear a women's BC rather than unisex because unisex (essentially men's) BC's do not fit me. I did try some in my early diving days and even a unisex XS FULLY INFLATED BC only touched my body in one place. My jacket would be fully inflated while vertical at the surface in an XS unisex BC and my mouth was under water - not pleasant. I actually held myself up in the BC to keep my mouth out of the water, otherwise it rode right up. I bought a women's Small BC, and I was never happier. To be fair, I have not tried other back inflate BC's.

I am thinking that an aluminum backplate might be the way to go for me, since I do occasionally travel and weight restrictions are fierce these days. I can add some weight pockets on the cambands as Lynne suggested if I feel I need them or I could get a steel backplate later if I think I need one... Thanks!

Of my 2 back inflate BC's The Oceanic Hera is a hybrid BC. Pros- VERY comfy. Very well padded & comfortable. The shoulders are very adjustable. Besides the normal adjustable straps, it can be adjusted in the back (screws & grommets). It is mostly back inflate for stability of the horizontal position & a little side inflation for stability on the surface. Cons- Because of the padding, it is very bulky & heavy for a BC. Probably not the best traveling BC there is.

My Seaquest Balance is a total back inflate BC (the Libra is the female version). Pros- Comfortable. Holds you in a very stable horizontal position for swimming. Packs down very nicely & light weight. Cons- The Libra needs some larger sizes. I had to go with the Balance because the Libra did not go big enough (I'm 5'6"/ 200# & I have to have room for my drysuit & undergarments). It does take a little getting used to on the surface to counter the forward push of the bladder.

BP/W is also a viable option.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I know this is the womens forum but In this case I think I'm safe. No one has yet mentioned Deep Sea Supply. Tobin makes a number of plate sizes and offers two types of harnesses. The basis hog and the pro-fit which has quick releases. I have never used the pro-fit as the basic hog, properly adjusted, is no different to get into for me than a standard jacket or back inflate BC. And it will be substantially less expensive than a Halcyon system. DSS will also talk you through all aspects of your purchase. I have two DSS rigs. One for singles and one for doubles.

I also use a Zeagle Express tech for pool, some OW checkouts and it will be my new travel bc. Pure back inflate, as close to a hog harness as you can get, and retail in the US is $250. You can upgrade the wing. I added drings, a steel buckle, and two pouches on the cambands for trim purposes. Put 3lbs in each one and I have a setup that mimics my BPW for travel. I have also used it with a 5 mil and a steel 95. It is a little more adjustable than a BPW as the shoulder straps ride through glides in the soft backpack. If you PM me I can provide a link to a full review with pics of my setup I did for the on line magazine I write for.

The nice thing about the Zeagle is if you wanted you could add a plate and use it for small doubles. NetDoc has his setup for side mount. There is no reason whatsoever to spend big money on a BC. Unless you are rich. And most rich people do not stay that way spending big bucks on stuff they really do not need.

I use my Zeagle and the BPW for OW classes in the pool and checkouts. Doing bc remove and replace in either is no more diffcult than in a jacket and in fact it is a bit easier since the straps don't flop around as much being of a bit stiffer webbing, which is not noticeable when you are wearing it. They all have standard inflators. The only thing I see an advantage to in the AIR II, which incidentally is pushed very hard by SP and they push their dealers to sell them as well, is the advantage to the shop. It turns a $400 bc into a $600 or $650 one. One shop here sells a SP BC with it and the whole thing comes to $800+. That's nuts.

Find someone who will let you try a BPW or call Tobin at DSS.

 

[Ayisha]

Thanks, I will look into those too.

BTW, I had emailed the manager of technical services at Halcyon with the response I got from my LDS saying that a small Cinch system would become available in the next month. He emailed me back yesterday after checking into it and it will be available in the next month.

 

[Layla]

Wow!!
16 pounds in fresh water [8Kg right?]

I'm 5'4 and 54kg

I use a Halcyon Eclipse ...
ali back plate and with a 7mil neoprene dry suit, a 10 liter steel cylinder in fresh water
= 3 kg of lead

When I bought my Eclipse I was told the small back plate was coming out soon, but I was impatient and wanted my wing now
so, I got the standard size ali back plate and I dont notice it's there

The change I did make was to not have an STA [single tank adaptor] I use the little ali brackets to take some bulk of the system

Not sure how much weight difference the small ali plate will make, not much, I'm thinking

Good luck

So my next question is, is it better to get a steel or aluminum backplate? I have heard that aluminum is better for travelling with since it is a lot lighter. I only wear 16 lbs for fresh cold water diving and 9 lbs for salt warm water diving with an AL 63. If I use a HP steel 80 tank, I only use 4 lbs here and 2 lbs down south. In cold salt water, I use a steel tank and 10 lbs. So, I don't need a lot of weight and I'm wondering if an aluminum backplate will be fine for me?

Thanks again!

 

[Ayisha]

Wow!!
16 pounds in fresh water [8Kg right?]

I'm 5'4 and 54kg

I use a Halcyon Eclipse ...
ali back plate and with a 7mil neoprene dry suit, a 10 liter steel cylinder in fresh water
= 3 kg of lead

Hi Layla. 16 lbs is just over 7 kgs. However, 1 wear a 2-piece 7 mm wetsuit, hood, gloves, neoprene socks and boots with a 63 cf AL tank. I wear the least lead out of anyone that I know, and many people wear double around here with the amount of exposure protection we wear in anywhere as low as 36F water.

As I stated in a previous post, if I wear a HP steel 80 cf (10 L) like you with the same setup otherwise as above for cold fresh water, I wear 4 lbs, which is 1.8 kg. This is a more similar comparison since we are both using steel tanks.

Trust me, I use as little lead as I possibly can (to the lb) while still being able to hold a 10 foot stop at the end of the dive with no air in my BC and make a controlled ascent to the surface. I will be slightly overweighted with a steel tank if I use a steel backplate, even without wearing any lead. It isn't much, and I would have redundant lift, so it isn't much of a problem. I would prefer AL to travel with though, anyway...

 

[Layla]

LOL

I read that completely wrong didn't I ... sorry

Yeah, so get the Halcyon Eclipse with Ali back plate

 

[Ayisha]

Just thought I would follow up on all the great advice I got on this thread. The Halcyon Infinity finally became available in small just over a month ago and I got it with an AL backplate, 30 lb (Eclipse) wing, a 6 lb Steel Tank Adapter and a Storage Pak. It has the Cinch system harness and some of the Deluxe padding. The shoulder pads haven't been made in small yet, but Halcyon will ship them to my LDS when they become available, hopefully sometime this month.

I tried it in the pool a few weeks ago and in the St Lawrence river in Brockville all last weekend, and the Infinity is awesome! I had no issues with it whatsoever, it fits me very well, is so comfortable and it was as easy as my previous jacket BC. I got it for a good price at one of my LDS', cheaper than some jacket BC's or Infinity online, but more than non-Halcyon bp & w's. Thanks to all for your advice and Laura and a22shady for letting me know of this product. I highly recommend it!