You don’t need that much lift where you are but what happens when the water gets cold and you want to dive? More lead, drysuit, more lead, cold salt water, more lead. You may never need the lift of that wing but it’s not in the way so why worry.
Info Beginners Guide To BP/W
- Thread starter swimlikethefish
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So I've read through this thread, a couple of times, and looked online but still have a couple of questions on set up. I got the Dive Gear Express bp/w setup. I got the webbing on pretty easy with all the videos and such.
The waist belt buckle, does it go on the left part of the webbing so that when it's attached it will be on the right side of my body? I think I threaded the buckle correctly, but does the extra webbing go against my body?
I put the two plastic screws through the eye hole of the wing part and then put the cam belts through the holes. I've read that the screws really don't help, but don't know if they do or not, should I leave them in?
I got a foot long piece of bungee cord, is this for attaching the inflation hose or some other use? Is there a better way to attach the hose to the shoulder strap?
Are there any other common pitfalls I should look out for after I've assembled it all? I think I got it all pretty well done, I can get a fist between my shoulder and the strap. The crotch strap seems to be good. I think I got the cams put on correctly as well, but I'll need a tank to make sure.
The waist belt buckle, does it go on the left part of the webbing so that when it's attached it will be on the right side of my body? I think I threaded the buckle correctly, but does the extra webbing go against my body?
I put the two plastic screws through the eye hole of the wing part and then put the cam belts through the holes. I've read that the screws really don't help, but don't know if they do or not, should I leave them in?
I got a foot long piece of bungee cord, is this for attaching the inflation hose or some other use? Is there a better way to attach the hose to the shoulder strap?
Are there any other common pitfalls I should look out for after I've assembled it all? I think I got it all pretty well done, I can get a fist between my shoulder and the strap. The crotch strap seems to be good. I think I got the cams put on correctly as well, but I'll need a tank to make sure.
OP
Waist belt:
I typically center it like a normal belt buckle. Wether you pull open left or right is your preference. I like to pull it open with my right hand. I web the buckle then trim the excess. Leaving about 6 inches inside toward my body for growth. The webbing on the other (non buckle) end can be trimmed as well. Not too short. Leave room for growth or larger suits. I leave about 8 inches there.
Screws:
You already installed them, I'd leave them in place. Doesn't hurt at all.
Bungee:
I thread an extra triglide on my left shoulder. Then I tie the bungee between the webbing and triglide. I put my corrugated hose through this loop. It prevents it from being all floaty while diving. You could also use a large oring for this purpose (which is exactly what I use).
Fitting:
Sounds about correct. It will take some fine tuning once you jump in a pool. But minor adjustments go along way. I would say the crotch strap is probably the most important. This is difficult to adjust properly without being in the water.
Misc:
Appears as though you are on the right track. Welcome to the club! If you need pictures let me know and I'll send you a few with descriptions to help you out.
I typically center it like a normal belt buckle. Wether you pull open left or right is your preference. I like to pull it open with my right hand. I web the buckle then trim the excess. Leaving about 6 inches inside toward my body for growth. The webbing on the other (non buckle) end can be trimmed as well. Not too short. Leave room for growth or larger suits. I leave about 8 inches there.
Screws:
You already installed them, I'd leave them in place. Doesn't hurt at all.
Bungee:
I thread an extra triglide on my left shoulder. Then I tie the bungee between the webbing and triglide. I put my corrugated hose through this loop. It prevents it from being all floaty while diving. You could also use a large oring for this purpose (which is exactly what I use).
Fitting:
Sounds about correct. It will take some fine tuning once you jump in a pool. But minor adjustments go along way. I would say the crotch strap is probably the most important. This is difficult to adjust properly without being in the water.
Misc:
Appears as though you are on the right track. Welcome to the club! If you need pictures let me know and I'll send you a few with descriptions to help you out.
Chavodel8en
Contributor
For the waist belt buckle, if you use a weight belt, you should orient the harness buckle the opposite of your weight belt buckle. So you dont confuse them.
How many triglides/D-rings do you have on your gear? I have only put the four that was with the set, two on the shoulders and two on the hips. Not sure I really want to take it all apart to put another couple on. Not that it was that hard, but getting the straps just right took a bit.
That's kind of what I was thinking. When I was watching one of the videos on how to put it together one person said the buckle had to be on the right side so the weight belt would be the other way, but he was the only one who had it set up that way.
OP
2 for waist d rings
2 for chest d rings
2 for back of plate where shoulder strap becomes waist
2 on crotch strap for d rings
1 on upper left shoulder for inflator oring
You can add or remove them as you see fit. If you need to disassemble your current setup, use a sharpie. Mark the webbing in the center of the triglide. Take everything off. Then when you retread it, just line up the sharpie marks. Everything will be in its original orientation.
2 for chest d rings
2 for back of plate where shoulder strap becomes waist
2 on crotch strap for d rings
1 on upper left shoulder for inflator oring
You can add or remove them as you see fit. If you need to disassemble your current setup, use a sharpie. Mark the webbing in the center of the triglide. Take everything off. Then when you retread it, just line up the sharpie marks. Everything will be in its original orientation.
I usually have 2 d-rings on the right shoulder strap: octo holder on the top d-ring, camera lanyard on the bottom one.
lairdb
Contributor
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Back in the plastic backpack days, the custom was opposing buckle setup. The WKPP/DIR folks used the waist harness buckle to secure the battery canister, so they turned that buckle around. I recently asked if, absent the battery canister, there was a functional reason for this, and the answer seems to be “not really”, with a small seasoning of “it might (helpfully) snag on the crotch strap if it popped off mid-dive”. All the setup guidance you’ll find online will be to fix it to the long left strap, though.
This is the classic setup pictorial (though I notice it includes the second buckle heresy.)
RobPNW
Contributor
Looking at getting a BP&W setup. My diving would be cold water drysuit in the PNW mostly for now. I was looking at something like the Trans plate SS to add 5lbs of distributed weight. I would also like to go on at least 1-2 warm water trips each year if I can afford it. Can I start with the SS Trans plate setup but also have a lightweight plate I use on travel? In other words, how much of a PITA would it be to keep all my gear except swap out the plate for travel?
Kind of a pain in the butt to do what you are saying. (video: ).
Better option if you want a light weight backplate is to use a V weight when diving the drysuit, that can get you an extra 5-8 lbs. In truth though saving the 2-3 lbs with an AL backplate for travel rather than just using the SS seems like much ado about nothing, how often are you 2-3 lbs over weight on luggage?
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