BP/ W in UAE ?

[Diving Dubai]

I brought and Apex BPW from Al Boom in Al Quoz in Feb, Stevie in the shop even set it up. I can't remember the cost but I remember it was cheaper than an Aqualung I3 Back inflate Jacket. The Apex has an Aqualung bladder and is pretty robust, 60 dives later I love it even more

 

[Simon-]

OP, merely using a by/w will not give you great trim. It is the same as anything, you need to work on it.

i use mine for tech diving and a standard BCD for rec and teaching. I have to say, not a lot of difference in my trim in either configuration.

My question about what do you want to do with it is based on, are you going to stay recreational or venture into tech. If you we're looking at tech diving at some stage, it makes sense to buy a system that that grow with you.. Don't buy a purely recreational wing set-up, look for something that you can use for all types.

 

[bongabonga]

OP, it's not fair to compare online vs LDS price, without calculating for shipping costs, overhead, tax duty, etc...
I don't think that you could get lower than $600 locally.
One thing you have to consider if you want to purchase BP/W, you have to do some work to assembly the harness, putting the D-rings, crotch strap, etc.

If you buy it in your LDS they could help you assembly the BP/W, which is can be "scary" if you never seen it or touch it before.

I owned one BP/W (blue "H") I bought locally for $750, I prefer to buy it through my LDS here over buying online for $500-600 (including shipping cost), the first reason is to support the dive shop, second is I would like to observe how to assembly BP/W and how to correctly fitting it to my body.

 

[Abdullah]

A standard BP is a stamped piece of aluminum or stainless steel. They cost about $75 online, and about $45 to ship to the UAE via UPS. The harness is a couple lengths of 2 inch nylon webbing, which costs about $5 anywhere in the world. Affordable stainless d-rings can be found in marine supply stores (where they sell to local fishermen). Buy the buckle of your choice at your LDS. Or get the harness kit online for about $40 plus shipping. You should be able to acquire complete BP and harness online in the US for less than $200, delivered to the UAE UPS.

The wing depends a lot on how you intend to dive. Plan to spend about $300 for a basic single tank wing, or up to $600 for an advanced twin-set wing. For the money, you can't go wrong with Dive Rite. In any case, it's a big investment. You have to ask yourself whether this is the right direction for your style of diving.

As online discussions of different kit are useless in the water, I would recommend taking a basic tech try dive in rental kit to see if this type of diving feels right to you. You might decide a traditional BCD is a much better option for your diving.

 

[GiantMoray]

This whole thing about BPW being cheaper than a standard BCD does ring true with me in the UK either, all packages I can find here seem to be more pricey than BCDs and that's including the package discount over buying prices separately. I guess that as above buying a generic backplate and harness for as cheap as possible might bring the price down a bit, but to be honest the cost of a wing is higher than that of a BCD in most cases.

I am looking to buy a BPW and so been doing some research, it isn't a case that BCDs are going out and BPWs are coming in, I would say they get a skewed amount if attention on here due to the demographic and number of tec divers.

I am looking into buying one as I like the simplicity, modularity and solidness they seem to have, also if i want go to twin set diving i just need to buy a second wing (although as the wing is by far the most expensive part of the package and often people seem to buy a separate bp and harness for twinsets that could be a false economy).

Make sure you research and ideally try one out, if there is any chance of that, don't just buy one because that's what everyone raves about in here.

These are just my observations from looking into BPW recently, I most certainly am no expert, but I hope this helps.

James

 

[Abdullah]

you asked what i want out of the kit, well, first of all, i don't wana be one of those that buy a new BCD every now and then. second, i don't wana buy something that i will overgrow in the near future or will limit my choices. Third, i wana make the bouancy problem a thing of the past, i wana have a good trim.

if Axiom or Black Ice or whatever brand is going to give me that, i will happily roll my credit card. the thing is that bp/w become more like a trend now and everybody is pushing in that direction. i don't wana buy VHS tapes in the era of DVD and Blue Ray!! hope you got the idea.

BP/W isn't necessarily the more modern choice, it's more Betamax than Blue Ray. The hogarthian movement is all about going back to basic, simple, no frills design. It's all about minimizing failure points for divers who dive in areas where small equipment failures can have catastrophic implications. For recreational divers that like the convenience of integrated weights, zipper pockets, and all kinds of easy attachment points, BP/W will be a huge disappointment.

I prefer BP/W, but I dive twin sets almost exclusively. One of my dive buddies (with 1000's of dives) can't stand BP/W and dives a BCD that's served him well for over 10 years. Buying a BP/W solely because it's the current cool thing to have is a waste of money IMO. You really need to try one on for a couple dives to validate your need to acquire one of your own.

 

[BoltSnap]

I'd go with the Black Ice over the Axiom for sure.