BP/W for me and my son?

[cool_hardware52]

Our 5'6", 109 lbs diver wants to dive in both cold & warm water; what is his best choice for a BP/W?

Have him call me.

626-799-5074. I've already provided you with mountains of free advice. If you still don't feel confident in your abilities to make a recommendation perhaps this diver would better served by somebody who is equipped to do so.


Tobin

 

[beaverdivers]

Have him call me.

626-799-5074. I've already provided you with mountains of free advice. If you still don't feel confident in your abilities to make a recommendation perhaps this diver would better served by somebody who is equipped to do so.


Tobin

This diver was just an example of the OP's son. I made him up based on the OP's description of his son. I missed his weight by a pound.

Would his best option be two buy two BP/W ( from you )?

Please share your final recommendation for the OP's son.

 

[JohnN]

This diver was just an example of the OP's son. I made him up based on the OP's description of his son. I missed his weight by a pound.

Would his best option be two buy two BP/W ( from you )?

Please share your final recommendation for the OP's son.

I'd still like to meet someone with your specifications (5'6"/110 lbs) that dives in 84oF water without exposure protection and uses a tank+reg that is ~1/3 their body weight

Clearly they need to reduce their gear weight and are perfect candidates for a Titanium regulator !

 

[fjpatrum]

This diver was just an example of the OP's son. I made him up based on the OP's description of his son. I missed his weight by a pound.

Would his best option be two buy two BP/W ( from you )?

Please share your final recommendation for the OP's son.

I'm still confused why you keep implying people need multiple plates/wings. Tobin has indicated that's not the case (and he's the resident expert) and several others, including myself, have indicated we use the same rigs in both cold and warm waters. Are you deliberately being obtuse to keep the thread going or do you really not understand that a plate and wing CAN be "universal" the same way a jacket BC can be used in both warm and cold water.

 

[eelnoraa]

This diver was just an example of the OP's son. I made him up based on the OP's description of his son. I missed his weight by a pound.

Would his best option be two buy two BP/W ( from you )?

Please share your final recommendation for the OP's son.

Since this is a question from imagination instead of reality, I would like to hear your recommendation as well. Would it be a Scubapro Knighthawk with 45lb of lift for one for all BCD?

 

[Adobo]

This diver was just an example of the OP's son. I made him up based on the OP's description of his son. I missed his weight by a pound.

Would his best option be two buy two BP/W ( from you )?

Please share your final recommendation for the OP's son.

In my personal experience, fewer than 1% of the divers who I have come across (thousands) would come remotely close to the characteristics within this example. I think I was on a boat in Hawaii with a 12 year old. That's probably the closest I can think of. And even then, that kid had a full wetsuit on. I'm guessing that he had a 3 mil on but personally, I find my 5/4 to be just right in high 70s to low 80s. That's with my more than generous amount of bioprene.

Its probably true that in Asia, this kind of build might not be uncommon. But how many Asians are traveling to the US to dive in California, the PNW or any of the colder water quarries?

But to your point, yes, if there was this tiny individual who would go diving somewhere on occasion where no wetsuit is used and also dives at home where extensive exposure protection is required, then there might be two different BCs required if the diver wants to use the optimal solution in any dive.

If that diver only wants one solution, then they would do what I did when I first started diving a backplate. They would buy an aluminum plate. Diving in the tropics without exposure protection means you have ~2lbs of ballast from the BC. When diving at home where there would be more exposure protection, they would then add the required ballast through a variety of techniques.

I don't know if the above is something that Tobin would recommend with his Kydex plate. But this approach worked just fine for me when I was using an aluminum plate almost exclusively.

Forgive me if I am wrong but it seems like you are trying real hard to paint a picture that backplate systems are inherently dangerous for tropical diving. I haven't yet seen any cogent argument that proves that point. The only thing I have seen remotely close is this incredibly rare case of this child who would be diving in the tropics without a wet suit and diving at home where thick exposure protection is required and they insist on only one solution. And even in this scenario, an aluminum plate (and even perhaps a kydex plate) would work just fine.

Full disclosure: I have no dog in this fight. No association to Tobin or DSS and no particular motive to care about whether someone dives a backplate or a jacket bc.

 

[cool_hardware52]

I don't know if the above is something that Tobin would recommend with his Kydex plate.

I recommend Kydex plates when a SS plate will over weight the diver.

Typical examples for fit to reasonably fit divers:

No exposure suit and al 80 cylinders

Thin suits and negative steel tanks

Big steel doubles in warm fresh water even with thicker wetsuits, think long shallow fresh water Cave dives in Mexico


In most of these circumstances the ballast provided by a Stainless Plate is a burden, not an advantage.

The applications for stainless plates however dominate with ~10 stainless plates sold for every light weight plate.

Tobin

 

[bryanmc57]

I recommend Kydex plates when a SS plate will over weight the diver.

Typical examples for fit to reasonably fit divers:

No exposure suit and al 80 cylinders

I feel fat now... LOL

 

[cool_hardware52]

I feel fat now... LOL

I dive a Kydex plate with lightweight steels (2250 72's that are about neutral empty) and a dry suit.

I'm pretty cold tolerant so my shell suit with undies suitable for me down to about 50F is only 18 lbs positive at the surface an only about 14 lbs positive at 10 ft.

My tank bands, dual regs, brass manifold and can light and ~2 lbs worth of Kydex plate and harness are all I need.

I am getting old and bit less cold tolerant so I can see the day when I add more undies and switch to a SS plate.

Tobin

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Says the same guy who sold a "friend" a negative steel tank, and BC on the verge failure, and then went diving with him knowing he had an unbalanced rig......

"Saving" people from calamities you helped create doesn't justify your gear choices.

Tobin

And.. engaging in a personal attack .., rather than addressing how much reserve buoyancy might be desirable - doesn't serve to justify your recommendations.

I know, I know, I can dive anyway I want..

Oh yeah.. I gave him a full refund and didn't charge him for any of the emergency oxygen he used on the boat... do I get points for that?