BP/W in warm water without wetsuit

[Nightwatch]

HI all - be gentle I'm new . I am researching options for my first BCD. Up to this point I've been renting, and I'd like to have something that is robust (long lasting), upgradeable/modular, and lightweight for travel. I am essentially a vacation diver - but I've been doing it for 8 -10 years or so. 50 or so dives, so I'm still a newbie in terms of # of dives.

I've read many positive accounts of switching from jacket BCDs to a BP/W configuration. However one question I still have is above the level of comfort wearing one without a wetsuit, or maybe at most a rash guard. I am nearly exclusively a warm weather diver, with the exception of an occasional cold'ish water dive (Greece for example). Are these backplates comfortable on the back against bare skin? I would assume I'd want some bouyancy neutral padding on the plate?

I think Im settled on aluminum for the plate, and then going with a lead pocket system. What would you say are the top 3 going BP/W combos for warm water diving? Going to Indonesia (raja Ampat) this winter and I want to get something and get some practice in with the new BCD style before I go.

I weigh 215 and I'm 6'1".

 

[Douglas Ward]

I dive my steel backplate in all conditions.

Cold quarries and tropical carribean. I find with the steel I only need 2 lbs lead in the ocean to fine tune trim.

As far as comfort in warm water. I always wear a rash guard but that is more for stingy things. The thumb nuts that attaché the STA to the backplate are recessed into a channel and won’t come into contact with your back. So nothing touches your back but the flat area of the backplate.

There are wing designs that do away with the single tank adapter and only uses cam bands to attach to the tank.

Dive gear express house bp/w uses this system.

You really can’t go wrong with a backplate system as it is unlimited in its configurations. As well as takes up less room packing.

 

[purbeast]

I'm a noob myself with only 15 dives total, and I decided to get my own gear and this past month and a half I've been researching the hell out of stuff.

I tried a BP/W out in a pool (right after trying out the Hydros Pro) and within about 10 seconds I knew a BP/W is what I wanted. The minimalist feel of it was the selling point for me. It's not bulky at all like a jacket style BCD and just less "stuff" around you.

In the pool I had a rash guard on but I only tried it out for like 10 minutes. I have to say I was surprised at how not-uncomfortable the whole getup was.

After tons and tons of research (to the point of too much research) I ended up getting a steel BP from DGX and a VDH #35 Argonaut wing. I bought 15ft of nylon and hardware from Piranha and made my own harness.

While I haven't dove with it yet, I am super happy with my decision. There is so much configuration and personalization to the BP/W setup that it's a bit overwhelming due to so many options that come down to personal likes.

 

[Anthony A.]

Most backplates look the same, however I can tell you through my experience that they all feel different on my back. Almost every manufacturer has a slightly ifferentd bend angle and some have the edges rounded or even cutout. Over the years, I have tried on more than 30 different manufacturer plates and only recently have I found one that fits my back perfectly where I can wear it with just a rashguard and i dont feel it on my back at all. So my advice is to try to visit as many shops as you can and actually try on plates and keep track of which ones feel better and more natural for your back. Try, try, try and then buy.

 

[rongoodman]

A few years ago I left my wetsuit in the room at Bonaire and ended up doing a couple of divers in my SS Halcyon plate over a T-shirt without issue.

 

[grf88]

I use an aluminum backplate for travel to warmer areas and normally use it with just a rash guard or T-shirt.

 

[eelnoraa]

Comfort in water should be fine or better than A conventional BCD. Keep in mind, the rig can't be more than a few lb negative in water, so technically there isn't much weight on you r back. If you have to carry your rig for a hike to your dive site, then bp/w is not how you want to carry you rig.

 

[MichaelMc]

You may want to distinguish between:
* Putting it on on the boat and rolling over the side.
* Wearing it from the car to the dive shop/boat in a T shirt as a convenient way to carry it with no tank. For this, the straps are what I feel, the plate just hangs down.
* Walking fully geared up 1/4 mile between the car to the dive spot. I haven't done this shirtless, but I'd guess again it's the shoulder straps. I do it all the time in a wet suit and it's the shoulder straps I feel. You can get extra padding for the shoulders if you're doing that with bare shoulders. You could stick your gloves under there, but in the tropics you may not have any.
* In water. My only bare skin experience is a steel plate no tank in the pool. Its just a flat object on your back, no need for padding. Unless it is so long it digs into your hips. Then a shorter plate is likely called for.

Some plates have little outward bends on the lower sides, Halcyon for one. Not an issue for you, but if the plate reaches down to your hips this would smooth that pressure point on land. There are shorter plates as well.

On a top 3 list, AL plate is a good tropics choice. Steel might do, but to me AL gives you more flexibility on where you put ballast for trim. For tropics, an 18 lb. wing might do great, but the 30 lb. wings give you more versatile for diving at home and are not that much bigger in the water. There is lots of discussion of people liking the VintageDoubleHose wings, and the Deep6 ones. I like my 30 lb. Oxycheq, but it does not fold very well for travel. DiveGearExpress also has some nice simple BP/W packages. Plates do vary in shape, but in general terms they are just back shaped with a channel for bolt fasteners. I would get some trim pockets, DGX $10 ones are nice.

 

[Nathan Doty]

I was torn between going with a aqualung rogue, really minimalist rear inflate and a bp/w. Then I came across a dive rite transpac. I guess the best description is a soft plate/wing instead of metal plate wing. It's pretty comfy in and out of the water. I'm pretty happy with it, generally dive with just an undergear stretch shirt on as a rash guard.

 

[Jcp2]

I dove al backplate with dive skin, hp100, and no other weight. This was perfect weighting for me underwater. The only issue was with shore diving, where getting from car to ocean wearing this outfit left red marks on my shoulders from the rubbing.