bp/w for both cold/warm water with easy adjustment

[Kevin Floyd]

As for adjustable harness: I have these

SubGravity Backplate Harness Slider - Subgravity

they work great.

I also highly suggest the Halcyon weighted STA. I dive a Dry suit with medium weight undergarments only a couple LBs of lead in the trim pockets when I have the STA weight on.
In warm water I dive with no lead at all and just dive the BP and STA.

I also really like the sub gravity trim weight pockets on the cam strap.

 

[Kevin Floyd]

Oh...and if you can wait just find a used plate online. They pop up all the time. You can buy a full harness kit from basically anyone for about the same price.

 

[halocline]

If you are in CA and use a 7mm or drysuit, you will need a bladder with more lift. A bladder with more lift will also be useful if you decide to dive al80 doubles. So you are looking at a bladder with 40-45 pounds. This gives you a lot of flexibility. Diverite rec model would be ok.

Sorry but this is terrible advice. There are single tank wings and double tank wings. They are very different. Buying a too-wide wing for single tanks with the idea that you might be able to use it with doubles NEVER works out well.

There is no reason at all why a 30 lib lift single tank wing would not work for cold water diving. You just have to be weighted properly and maybe not have all the weight on the rig. People use small wings with drysuits all the time.

 

[divad]

^ what he said.

 

[decompression]

Yes, some bad advice being given here......
Simply, to meet your criteria; Warm and cold water BP/W at low cost and adjustability....

Choose a Stainless Steel plate, only a bit heavier for travel but if you dive with an AL 80 and 3mm suit, you won’t need very much lead. When you dive cold, you’ve got 5lbs already so just add weights with pockets or cheap bungee (I have pics of a awesome way).

Harness, simple 1 piece hogarthian webbing, no tri glide on the plate or a sub gravity slider ($10). You can get decent shoulder pads for $20 if you wish.

Wing......only want one so it’s got to be streamlined but enough lift for cold water, and a single wing for now, do not get a double wing and use for single tank (ugg!). Generally a 30# wing works for most (ensure this works for you), so from personal experience and many students, the DGX 30 wing is excellent.

Summary, the DGX package fits your needs and is under $500.

 

[rongoodman]

Adjusting the harness to go from a 7mm to 3mm suit should take about 10 minutes, less if you mark the webbing for the different sizes at the tri-glide. Get a SS plate and a 30# wing. Going with a weighted STA would get some weight off your belt for the 7mm suit and you can remove the weight for travel. If the amount of weight needed for the thick wetsuit means that the wing won't float the rig without you in it, you can move some it to a separate weight belt. As for padding, you'll be wearing it.

 

[Kevin Floyd]

I really like my set up. Let me start by saying i have worked hard to get a balanced rig that can be used in either a dry suit or skin suit. I do not have any droppable weight. I have not dove this rig in open ocean in a dry suit. But have dove it in fresh water dry and open ocean skin suit.

OMS SS BP
OMS one piece webbing harness
Sub Gravity harness sliders
OMS 32lb mono wing
Halcyon Storage pack
Halcyon Weighted STA
Halcyon SS buckle cam straps
Sub Gravity cam strap trim pockets
IST Plate Weight

I like the SS OMS Plate because is slightly over 5lb, all the cuts and slots are cleaned and smooth, and has all the holes in the edges. People talk about Carbon or AL for travel but I stole this idea and it works great. I had an old backpack that I used.


This is where all the side holes are important. I can keep the back pad/storage pack on the plate. attached the backpack, put the STA and crouch strap in the backpack and carry it all on.

For this reason I don't stress about travel weight.

The Sub gravity sliders work great. They give you the ability to adjust the harness but have enough friction to make sure it doesn't slip. I do have to move my shoulder D rings a little when I move from a skin suit to a dry suit. My OMS set up came with this extra webbing that was set up to allow adjustment but it got in the way and was too easy to pull on. So I ditched it and went with the simpler cleaner sliders

The OMS wing has rods in the center to hold a tank without an STA. I have never run my rig like that but i'm going to try it this summer when it warms up and I don't need the extra LBs from the STA and the STA weight.

The Halcyon weight STA is spendy more so when you add the SS cam buckles but I really like its flexibility.

The IST Pate weight is a nice way to add a few extra LBs close to your body. I did have to force it on my rig the first few times with a screw driver until the webbing stretched out slightly.

The Sub Gravity trim pockets are the most streamlined option out there asides from just running the weights through the cam straps. I did have the OMS pockets but they were little bulky.

 

[Anthony A.]

I think you can easily have 2 backplates (1 setup for warm water, 1 for cold) and a single #30/35 wing like dgx or vdh that will work for both wetsuits. Under $600 all in.

 

[_Ralph]

Only adjustments I make between 3mm/rashguard to 200g and 400g is really just adjusting the waist belt.... but do lengthen the crotch strap 2-3 inches.

There's some compromise there, but at the end of the day, it's not much of a factor...


_R

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

I would look at Sub Gravity. They have a simple adjustable harness and a lot of options to chose from.
Paragon Single Tank Package - Subgravity