BP/W..... one BC to rule them all??

[turnburglar]

Hey guys, new to the forum and diving in general. I have an Advanced Open water cert with ~20 dives, and my wife just got her Open Water cert. Currently we have been renting gear and think its time to buy personal gear.


I have been doing research on gear and like to live by the motto "buy once, cry once". So my question to the board is: "BP/W a good piece of gear for our usage? Or should we stick with traditional style BC's?". One of the main things I like about the BPW is that it creates a smaller/lighter rig by needing less lead. There are 3 main dive scenarios that I would like one BC to handle.

1. LOCAL: Local diving for me is in Lake Pleasant, Phoenix, AZ. Freshwater that will be dove with either AL80's or HP80, most likely in a 3mm suit.

2. TRAVEL: Travel diving can include just about anywhere but will most likely involve warm salt water, AL80's and a 3mm suit.

3. SOCAL: Diving in Southern California (lobster & Catalina) I will probably be wearing a 7mm suit and AL80's, although I have heard that the water is warmer than I remember (62*).


The main thing I am worried about is that a SS plate will be too much weight in the 3mm in freshwater with a HP80, where I know in the 7mm suit with AL80 I would probably prefer the SS. If I go to an AL plate than I will need to add weight, which isn't a deal breaker, I would just like to keep the gear as simple as possible. Also if anyone can chime in: How much lift from the wing should I have?

 

[fisheater]

I use a SS backplate for tropical diving with an AL80 (or AL100). Not too much at all.

The major difference is that I use a small wing for tropical diving and a larger wing for California diving.

The question of lift is dependent upon your exposure protection. Best person to consult is Tobin at Deep Sea Supply (down there in Pasadena) who makes excellent BP/Ws.

 

[Aquavelvet]

A Stainless Steel plate is actually quite versatile. With a full length 3mm suit and an AL80, you will still need a few pounds of lead to be able to hold your safety stop at the end of a dive. A SS plate weighs about 5lbs and associated hardware another pound or so. I'm getting ready for a trip to the Philippines where I'll be using my 3mm full suit and a stainless plate with a 23 lb wing.
When you're diving in colder water, the SS plate will be necessary even if you're using a steel tank.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[dumpsterDiver]

HP steel 80 in freshwater w 3 mm suit... Unless you are fat,, aluminum plate. You can wear a weight belt in colder water

 

[charlier]

It might be difficult to use the same setup for cool water diving in California and tropical water conditions. As a new diver, it with the time and effort to get your equipment "dailed-in".

For example, I use a AL BP with a 14kg single tank wing with an AL 80. With this set up, I use 1 kg with a 3mm wetsuit. With a SS BP, I would always be negatively buoyant. Every person is different, so you will need to experiment. Perhaps purchase a SS BP and find out how it works. Purchasing a second AL for tropical locations might be a good option. Have fun and keep learning.

 

[cool_hardware52]

It might be difficult to use the same setup for cool water diving in California and tropical water conditions. As a new diver, it with the time and effort to get your equipment "dailed-in".

For example, I use a AL BP with a 14kg single tank wing with an AL 80. With this set up, I use 1 kg with a 3mm wetsuit. With a SS BP, I would always be negatively buoyant. Every person is different, so you will need to experiment. Perhaps purchase a SS BP and find out how it works. Purchasing a second AL for tropical locations might be a good option. Have fun and keep learning.

In the vast majority of cases the same plate (SS) is appropriate for warm and cold water. What may change is the size of the wing.

Cold water requires lots of ballast to overcome the buoyancy of the thick exposure suits, this is usually the case even with negative steel tanks.

Warm water OTOH frequently sees divers in thin suits (3mm) *and* buoyant tanks (al 80's) The combination of thin suits and buoyant tanks makes the ballast provided by Stainless Steel plates useful.

While it is possible for a Stainless Plate to over weight a diver using little to no exposure suit or thin suits with negative steel tanks, most warm water divers find the ~6 lbs of ballast a SS plate and harness provides to be about right.

The thick, buoyant exposure suits required in cold water require more wing lift, but if the cold water wing is carefully selected and not oversized it's common for these same wings to be used in warm water.

Tobin

 

[turnburglar]

Hey Tobin, do you think a SS plate would work in fresh water with a 3mm? The lake isn't the best diving by any stretch: but it is only 40 minutes away which means I will probably be in the fresh water more often than anywhere else.

Would I be forced to run AL80's for fresh water?

 

[diversteve]

When are you planning to dive Pleasant? Only in summer? In winter and early spring 50-52^o is not unheard of - even in shallower water. I'm thinking your SoCal requirements will apply there as well 1/2 the year or so. A lot of the posts here list temps:
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/so...-recent-lake-pleasant-conditions-reports.html Some also mention temps above/below the thermocline which seem a noticeable difference.

 

[buddhasummer]

Hey Tobin, do you think a SS plate would work in fresh water with a 3mm? The lake isn't the best diving by any stretch: but it is only 40 minutes away which means I will probably be in the fresh water more often than anywhere else.

Would I be forced to run AL80's for fresh water?

I envy you if you have access to a lake that's warm enough for a 3mm, my lake back home in NZ needed a 7mm in summer and a drysuit in winter. I used a steel plate and steel tank with no additional lead, I was a tad negative.

 

[Centrals]

The difference is about 2kg in most cases between SS and Al plate.
If I am wearing a 3mm wet suit then I will use the Al plate because I prefer couple of kg of ditchable weight. But if I am wearing a thick wet suit then I will change to SS plate because I do not want all the weight on my waist.
Horses for courses.