Backplates versus Vests/Jackets a Newb's perspective
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cocoajoe
Contributor
I'm equally mystified by this. One of the great advantages of BP&W is that it holds the cylinder much closer to your back. reducing the 'pendulum effect' where the cylinder lies too far above the centre of gravity, causing greater instability through distance from the fulcrum.
I've dived with Halcyon and their STA is a solid affair, that is pretty low-profile and holds the cylinder relatively tight against the BP.I am still inclined to believe that the harness wasn't adjusted correctly in this instance...and the whole rig was slopping around...
As I said before...Not sure you really understand what a BP&W "does".
If you didn't like it, that's fine. I've never said that everyone had to have BP&W. I just think that divers should make an educated choice...and that the BP&W is a superior design and concept than the jacket BCD. I've seen where people had problems when initially converting to BP&W..and I've also seen how they changed perspectives once they finally got the kit configured and fitted correctly...and took some time to get used to it and learn to operate it properly.
Some people just can't convert. That's fair. Some people get used to one thing, then don't like to change. fair again. I appreciate that the BP&W initially feels different to a jacket BCD. Sometimes different is too much for people
I've read the responses with interest. Being that I'm a fairly new diver and so many tout the advantages of BP/W, I have to say NO, I'm not sure what a BP/W does.
I get the tank being secured more firmly. I get harness may fit better for hard to fit people. What else you got?
Got to say some of you BP/W enthusiast make the soup nazi seem like easy going person. LOL
Have you tried to dive a BP/W rig? While I'm not a die-hard enthusiast (I don't even own a working rig yet) I have to say, for me, the fit was the biggest factor. That and the mobility increases with less bulk in the harness. I don't really subscribe to the whole "more streamlined" way of thinking, because I've seen plenty of BP/W wearing divers that carry everything and the kitchen sink attached to them, so I don't see any gains in streamlining if you're just going to add more crap to your kit. Even as a bare harness versus jacket, I don't see it making that much difference unless you're really fighting a current or something... but I'm new too.
I am one of those "hard to fit" people so I've found my jacket BC to be less than optimum at depth, especially in cold water.
If you understand that the tank is more secure, and the harness is a better fit, what else would you consider a negative to keep you from using a BP/W setup? If you want integrated weights, you can get them. If you want easy adjustment, you can get a fancy harness, rather than single-piece webbing. All the "benefits" of a jacket BC can be had in a BP/W except familiarity to a larger number of vacation divers or new divers. Other than that, I personally haven't found any drawbacks to the BP/W. I have only dived a BP/W once, though.
Bullswan
Guest
Ya I tend to agree with the BC guys here... I don't buy the streamlining or the "failure point" arguements much. Having said that, I am putting together my BP/W kit as we speak.
My reasons for going that route?
A) I don't like the feeling of the jacket in front of me. Don't like it when it's inflated or deflated. Feels like ..... well, a jacket. I want that "freedom feel". That's one of the reasons I got into diving. Free floating in water.
B) Like the travel aspect of "less bulk". The jacket I have takes up space. Although I bought an SS plate, I plan to have an AL for tropics. Just for the weight. Speaking of which....
C) As mentioned I have an SS plate. I want to use H weight pockets on the cam band and GET RID OF THIS DAMN WEIGHT BELT. I have no hips. Always a struggle to snug it up tighter. Which eliminates that "freedom thing".
D) I want to be cool.
Kidding.
My reasons for going that route?
A) I don't like the feeling of the jacket in front of me. Don't like it when it's inflated or deflated. Feels like ..... well, a jacket. I want that "freedom feel". That's one of the reasons I got into diving. Free floating in water.
B) Like the travel aspect of "less bulk". The jacket I have takes up space. Although I bought an SS plate, I plan to have an AL for tropics. Just for the weight. Speaking of which....
C) As mentioned I have an SS plate. I want to use H weight pockets on the cam band and GET RID OF THIS DAMN WEIGHT BELT. I have no hips. Always a struggle to snug it up tighter. Which eliminates that "freedom thing".
D) I want to be cool.
Kidding.
fnfalman
Contributor
I'm a sworn BPW user but I'm not a BPW fanatic either. I also don't buy the denigration that the fanatics heap on the jacket BC about pockets & many D-rings either. So what? If you don't like the pockets & D-rings, don't use them. They ain't harming anything. You're not penetrating a wreck with it, so it's not like you have to worry about entanglement.
That's my main draw to the BPW.
I don't have hips (too fat) and that's why I can't stand weight belts. Have you considered weight harnesses like the one DUI puts out? I personally configure my rig so that I weight correctly and I can swim my rig up if I need to.
Chicks dig BPW.
scjoe
Contributor
For most active divers that is at least a decade of diving and, in fact, exceeds the number of dives the vast majority of divers make in a diving lifetime.
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