BP/W for my first purchase + weighting ques
- Thread starter James Maggio
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scubaalex1
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I was able to dive at Vortex Spring with another member of the Scubaboard who was super nice and offered to film. Diving as deep as 54 ft I did not notice any issues with it. No problems venting the air out either, although I could have used the kidney valves a couple of times, but managed by just change my trim a little bit to get some air out of the wing.
So far, very happy with how it performs, but also curious to compare it to a smaller wing when possible. Here are some pics for now. Video still needs to be edited.
My DGX 30lb came in and it is very streamlined and compact. Much more than my 27lb OMS monowing
OP
James Maggio
Registered
Wanted to circle this thread back around to the beginning and say thank you to everyone who offered advice and experience.
I finally went diving with my new rig this past weekend in Jupiter FL. I ended up going with the OMS 27lb wing and DGX stainless backplate for my first BPW setup. As I was told it took some fiddling to get the webbing sized up right but I do really like the setup. There are a couple things I need to rethink or change to make it better suited for me:
- For some reason, I am still using, what I consider a lot of weight, @ 12 lbs. That’s only 2 lbs short of what I used with a jacket BCD. Need to understand that.
- The other is the DGX BP does not have holes for my ditch-able pockets to bolt to. Every other BP seems to have them, I missed this and had to secure them to the waist belt with tri glides, this turn my “adjustable’ waist belt into a “non adjustable” and it was a hassle on the boat. (See below)
- Lastly, with a SS BP and 12 lbs in my pockets it was a MFer to switch tanks on a 3 tank dive. That sucked. I definitely need a handle and maybe a aluminum backplate.
But I met a tiger shark up close and personal so it was a killer weekend!
Cheers
James
I finally went diving with my new rig this past weekend in Jupiter FL. I ended up going with the OMS 27lb wing and DGX stainless backplate for my first BPW setup. As I was told it took some fiddling to get the webbing sized up right but I do really like the setup. There are a couple things I need to rethink or change to make it better suited for me:
- For some reason, I am still using, what I consider a lot of weight, @ 12 lbs. That’s only 2 lbs short of what I used with a jacket BCD. Need to understand that.
- The other is the DGX BP does not have holes for my ditch-able pockets to bolt to. Every other BP seems to have them, I missed this and had to secure them to the waist belt with tri glides, this turn my “adjustable’ waist belt into a “non adjustable” and it was a hassle on the boat. (See below)
- Lastly, with a SS BP and 12 lbs in my pockets it was a MFer to switch tanks on a 3 tank dive. That sucked. I definitely need a handle and maybe a aluminum backplate.
But I met a tiger shark up close and personal so it was a killer weekend!
Cheers
James
OP
James Maggio
Registered
IMO this thing about losing weight when you move to bp&w is overhyped, I usually use 2x3lb weights w/a 4lb plate and I used 10lbs w/ a rental jacket last time I dived one. I could use less but 2lb weights tend to be in short supply and really +/- a few pounds make no appreciable difference.
Yeah, you need 3 hands to change tanks. I've a loop of paracord tied to the top of the plate, it passes for a handle and helps. A little.
I know it is too late, but the Deep 6 wings have a nice loop:
Though I would remove weights from the trim pockets on the cylinder straps to not abuse it. May or may not be necessary to do so.
I like this idea. I think I'll use it on my Xdeep BP/W
Nice shark sighting.
A 6 to 8lb drop is average when going from jacket BCD to BPW. Stainless Steel is nearly as dense as lead, so you get to take off a pound of lead for every pound the plate weighs. And then you get another pound or three from losing the positive buoyancy of the BCD.
If you can't sink at the safety stop with only a 2lb drop, then I would be triple checking you've got all the air out of your new wing. Get your butt up and use the hip dump and then left shoulder up and use the shoulder dump.
I notice in your picture that the wing is fully inflated. If you had to inflate anywhere near that much to be comfortable on the surface at the end of your dive, then you are definitely overweighted. With a 3mm suit, you aren't every going to need to inflate the wing more than about 1/3 full in normal use.
When you get your weight down to one 3 or 4 pounder per side, your other problems will be greatly reduced.
Congrats on your new rig and on the shark -- both look pretty sweet. 12lb does sound like a lot of lead. Last year in Bonaire I was diving a 3mm wetsuit with boots but no gloves/hood. With a SS plate and AL80, I only needed 2lbs of lead. This was before my covid-19-induced beer belly, so I was clocking in around 5'11" and 165lbs. If you are roughly the same build, then 12lbs is probably more than you need. To figure it out, do a proper weight check: with nearly empty tanks and your wing completely empty, you should be able to hold a safety stop and manage your buoyancy in ~10 feet of water with just your breath. If you sink when you dump your wing all the way, you've got too much lead. Remove it in small increments like 1-3lbs, and you'll get it dialed in within a few dives. Or if you can get into a pool or do a shore dive, you can dial it in all at once. Make sure you use tanks which are close to empty, because the gas in an AL80 weighs about 5 lbs, so if you're perfect when it's full, you'll be light when it's empty.
By the way, completely emptying the wing is a skill in and of itself. When you're in horizontal trim, it's easiest to dump from the valve near your left hip, rather than from the inflator. And sometimes there'll be a little bubble trapped not quite where the valve is, so you might need to jiggle around a bit to make it move to a valve. You can also reach back and feel the wing, it will feel pretty flat when you've dumped all that can be dumped.
For the ditchable weight pockets, you might consider either making them non-ditchable (or not as easily) by moving them to the tank straps instead of the waist strap. DGX also sells little "trim" pockets for cheap, which might be more convenient than the bulky ones you've got. Or if you want to keep the weight ditchable, you might prefer a weight belt instead of pouches. I use a rubber belt myself -- the fact that it is stretchy makes it much better than the plastic belts I see people using, which always tend to be either too loose or too tight. MAKO spearguns sells them for $30 or so, and if you do go that way, the pinch weights they sell are pretty convenient as well. Putting it on the belt helps me to trim out nicely, makes the BP/W+tank easier to handle on land. And if I ever want to remove the rig underwater, it would keep both me and the rig more neutral, rather than me being a cork and the rig being an anchor. But I've never had to do that, so maybe it doesn't really matter.
As for changing tanks... yeah it's a bit of a pain. I had a loop of string tied to mine for awhile which made it easier. Tied a double fisherman's knot so that the loop was easy to dial in to the right size. After awhile I switched the tank straps out for Highland QR straps, which do make it easier (after dremel-ing off a quarter inch or so off of the hook), and removed the loop. You also might try to lay the wing plate-side down, put the tank on top horizontally, and then strap it in. That's what I do in the bed of my truck for shore diving -- but I haven't tried it on a boat, where space tends to be limited.
By the way, completely emptying the wing is a skill in and of itself. When you're in horizontal trim, it's easiest to dump from the valve near your left hip, rather than from the inflator. And sometimes there'll be a little bubble trapped not quite where the valve is, so you might need to jiggle around a bit to make it move to a valve. You can also reach back and feel the wing, it will feel pretty flat when you've dumped all that can be dumped.
For the ditchable weight pockets, you might consider either making them non-ditchable (or not as easily) by moving them to the tank straps instead of the waist strap. DGX also sells little "trim" pockets for cheap, which might be more convenient than the bulky ones you've got. Or if you want to keep the weight ditchable, you might prefer a weight belt instead of pouches. I use a rubber belt myself -- the fact that it is stretchy makes it much better than the plastic belts I see people using, which always tend to be either too loose or too tight. MAKO spearguns sells them for $30 or so, and if you do go that way, the pinch weights they sell are pretty convenient as well. Putting it on the belt helps me to trim out nicely, makes the BP/W+tank easier to handle on land. And if I ever want to remove the rig underwater, it would keep both me and the rig more neutral, rather than me being a cork and the rig being an anchor. But I've never had to do that, so maybe it doesn't really matter.
As for changing tanks... yeah it's a bit of a pain. I had a loop of string tied to mine for awhile which made it easier. Tied a double fisherman's knot so that the loop was easy to dial in to the right size. After awhile I switched the tank straps out for Highland QR straps, which do make it easier (after dremel-ing off a quarter inch or so off of the hook), and removed the loop. You also might try to lay the wing plate-side down, put the tank on top horizontally, and then strap it in. That's what I do in the bed of my truck for shore diving -- but I haven't tried it on a boat, where space tends to be limited.
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