BP/W Concepts and recomendations PLS

[leousb]

I currently live/dive an area wich has no techdiving whatsoever (No nitrox, deco , doubles, etc). Nonetheless I would like to set up my second gear so that is suitable for tech diving in the future, just because i´m interested in it, even if that means pioneering this kind of diving in the future in this area, wich btw would be a personal accomplishment


SO, I would appreciate suggestions on setting up a BC ( backplate harness, single and doubles wing, etc). I would definetely be diving singles still for a long period of time but would like an option to add a wing suitable for doubles in the future. I´ve seen posts around that talk about "hog rigs", but don´t actually know the difference between a Hog rig and a "regular" one and pros an cons of each.

I´ve read also about the "trans-plate" harness and seem to be a popular choice. But is this a hog rig o not? is it the more suitable for my needs? Kinds of plates, should i buy more than one . . .


Have no prefered BRAND cause the LDS are pretty basic and they´re not authorized dealers of any.

REGULAR DIVING CONDITIONS:
- 21 - 24 °c water (Kinda cold if you ask me)
- Use a 3mm shorty wet suit, but probably will buy a full 5mm soon.
- Use 12 pound on integrated weight , wouldn´t mind using a weight belt
- Currently Certified PADI Rescue Diver and so to start DM training

PS. All info greatly appreciated.
PS2. In case you are wondering I DID checked this and other forums to find an answer to these questions but found either too general info or toooooo specific.

 

[TSandM]

I would recommend buying Dan Mackay's Dress for Success. It goes through the setup and adjustment of the harness and so on with very good photographs. It's available from the GUE website.

There are a couple of threads on Hogarthian diving on this board, with at least one link to a very good article about it. This article on the GUE website is a good beginning as well.

The issues with BP/W setups can boil down to these, more or less:

1) Hog versus other harness setups. This has to do with whether you use a continuous single-piece harness, or have releases/padding and other things added to it. Technical people tend toward the continuous harness, but that's not universal.

2) Material of plate. Plates are available in stainless steel, aluminum, and plastic. What you use primarily depends on your goals for weight. People who travel a great deal sometimes choose to use a lightweight plate, and accept that they'll need to put more weights on when they get where they're going. People also use lightweight plates if they're negative with the tanks they use and the exposure protection they use with the weight of a SS plate. People who dive in cold water with a lot of exposure protection tend to use SS plates, sometimes with weight plates or weighted STAs, to get weight off the belt.

3) Torus versus horseshoe wing. There are vocal proponents of each, and several manufacturers make both.

4) Amount of lift. Search posts by cool_hardware52, and you'll find any number of times that Tobin's explained how to calculate how much lift you need.

There are more esoteric questions, like doubled bladders, bungied wings, and so on, and you can search and read about those issues ad nauseum here.

There are multiple manufacturers of good products, and what you end up buying may have more to do with what is readily available to you than anything else.