BP/W - Manufacturers

[darylm74]

Who makes BP/W setups other than Halcyon, OMS, DiveRite and OxyCheq? I am primarily looking for DIR compliant gear and have gotten a lot of different opinions about non-Halcyon gear being DIR compliant as well as I would like to shop around and wondering if there are any vendors I am missing.

Thanks

Daryl

 

[cool_hardware52]

Who makes BP/W setups other than Halcyon, OMS, DiveRite and OxyCheq? I am primarily looking for DIR compliant gear and have gotten a lot of different opinions about non-Halcyon gear being DIR compliant as well as I would like to shop around and wondering if there are any vendors I am missing.

Thanks

Daryl

Hi Daryl,

We also make BP/W's. We do offer a harness that will never be DIR compliant, but to the best of my knowledge nothing about our plate or wings is noncompliant. Our plate can easily be laced with a one piece harness.

Regards,



Tobin George

 

[MechDiver]

Who makes BP/W setups other than Halcyon, OMS, DiveRite and OxyCheq? I am primarily looking for DIR compliant gear and have gotten a lot of different opinions about non-Halcyon gear being DIR compliant as well as I would like to shop around and wondering if there are any vendors I am missing.

Thanks

Daryl

Any backplate is DIR, they are not brand specific. FredT also makes excellent backplates. Halcyon is too expensive and no better than any of the others.

There are also not a lot of differences in bp's, except in lengths offered.

MD

 

[cool_hardware52]

Any backplate is DIR, they are not brand specific. FredT also makes excellent backplates. Halcyon is too expensive and no better than any of the others.

There are also not a lot of differences in bp's, except in lengths offered.

MD

MD, To an extent I would agree, a plate is a plate. There are however some differences in design, sizing, weight, finish etc.


As with most dive goods the intended use can drive the selection criteria.

Type of diving, cold water vs tropical, fresh vs SW

Tanks, singles mostly, or doubles or twins?

Do you need a single tank adapter? Can you use a single tank adapter?

Compatability with various wings. This is most important if you need to match slots in the wing to slots in the plate.

Fit, small / med / large, bend angle etc.

If your application is doubles in cold water few plates sold today would disappoint. Other apps may merit more research.


Regards,


Tobin George

 

[MechDiver]

MD, To an extent I would agree, a plate is a plate. There are however some differences in design, sizing, weight, finish etc.

As with most dive goods the intended use can drive the selection criteria.

Type of diving, cold water vs tropical, fresh vs SW

Tanks, singles mostly, or doubles or twins?

Do you need a single tank adapter? Can you use a single tank adapter?

Compatability with various wings. This is most important if you need to match slots in the wing to slots in the plate.

Fit, small / med / large, bend angle etc.

If your application is doubles in cold water few plates sold today would disappoint. Other apps may merit more research.

Regards,

Tobin George

Yea, so? All the bp's mentioned, with the possible exception of yours (as I know nothing about it), come in different thicknesses and materials. All have standard 11" spacing. Holes don't matter for zip. If you don't have one where you want one, you make one.

Yes, wing angle, trough depth/angle, slot angle, etc etc are somewhat different from plate to plate. But unless you're an expert user, you'll never notice the difference. I have different plates that sit differently, but that's not due entirely to the plate. I was trying to make the post simple, as the original poster appeared to not be familiar with plates in general. Walk before you run.

Regardless, it would be exceedingly difficult to beat either an Oxycheq (Koplin) or a FredT plate, both of which offer different material, thickness and lengths.

MD

 

[cool_hardware52]

Yea, so? All the bp's mentioned, with the possible exception of yours (as I know nothing about it), come in different thicknesses and materials. All have standard 11" spacing. Holes don't matter for zip. If you don't have one where you want one, you make one.

Yes, wing angle, trough depth/angle, slot angle, etc etc are somewhat different from plate to plate. But unless you're an expert user, you'll never notice the difference. I have different plates that sit differently, but that's not due entirely to the plate. I was trying to make the post simple, as the original poster appeared to not be familiar with plates in general. Walk before you run.

Regardless, it would be exceedingly difficult to beat either an Oxycheq (Koplin) or a FredT plate, both of which offer different material, thickness and lengths.

MD

MD,

It would seem to me that it is the unsophisticated buyer who benefits from the widest range of information, not the "expert" who already knows well his needs.

I would agree that the 11" hole centers are pretty standard, in fact the 11" spacing is about the only "standard" I could find amoung plates. Please note I made no mention of holes or their location in my first reply to you. Of course you can drill additional holes if you need them, but most current plates have plenty.

Cam Strap slots are another matter. Inclusion of direct mount slots in back plates is a relatively recent development, and there is some variation from make to make. This can complicate using some wings with some plates.

I can't say I have direct knowledge of every plate now offered, or ever made, but we did considerable testing and reseach before producing our own design. We did find that most body types, i.e. short vs tall, thin vs not thin, barrrel chest vs not, male vs female etc, found a flatter plate more comfortable. We did not need expert users to determine this, just time and patience.

I too was just trying to help the new BP/W buyer. Please note in my first reply to you I make no reference to the features of our goods, just points to consider.

We have encountered people who currently have a wing and want to mount it to our plate, or they have a plate and need a wing. For doubles this generally a non issue. For some single tank setups there can be conflicts. Is there some harm in pointing out potential conflicts?

Regards,




Tobin George

 

[BDub]

I have a FredT backplate and am very happy with it. He is a member on this board as well (FredT).

If I were in the market for another, I would get one of his without a second thought.

 

[darylm74]

I have a FredT backplate and am very happy with it. He is a member on this board as well (FredT).

If I were in the market for another, I would get one of his without a second thought.

I pretty much will be diving cold water (Pennsylvania) with a drysuit (as soon as I do my checkout dives next weekend) with a single for now but would like to go to doubles later on in my scuba-diving adventures. It seems that Fred-T is the place to go for the backplate, so who else makes wings other than the manufacturers I mentioned and I guess the DIR question relates more to the wing than the plate. I will check also check out cool hardware's stuff. Right now I just have my little excel spreadsheet and putting in costs for everything and then will narrow it down based on quality, feedback and price. I prefer to get the most for my money but not skimp on quality.

Thanks all....hope to hear back on the other part of the BP/W question soon (i.e. the wing)

 

[gfisher4792]

I think those 4 you listed pretty much cover the vast majority of the wings out there, with deepoutdoors and jetharness (jetharness.com) the only other ones I have heard of. I can only add that I dive an Oxycheq 45# signature series wing, and it's perfect for me.

 

[ShakaZulu]

DarylM, please PM me the results of your research, should be very interesting.