wb416
Contributor
jpmorrison once bubbled...
What is the big deal about back plate and wings? Every time someone asks a question about BCs they always get hit with BP and wings as the only way to go. Could this be a DIR thing?
Probably one of the biggest draws of the BP/wings is the cleanliness and low drag of the unit. Most BC's have a great deal of stuff on the front that creates drag in the water. Less effort usually means better air consumption.
If you think about the diver with good horizontal trim in the water, anything that is on his/her chest will create extra drag in the water. (If you're not careful with the placement of your extra gear, you can still create drag with BP/wings by putting things like reels on front D-rings).
The backplate also provides a solid foundation for you and your tank(s). What's really nice about this configuration, is that if you ever adopt diving with twins and or singles interchangeably, you use the same backplate, but install the appropriate sized wing. Everything is in the same place, so you don't have to relearn where things are when the $##@ hits the fan.
HTH,
wb