BP&W question

[drmwc]

I've just bought my first BP&W. I'm off diving tomorrow from a hard boat.

I won't have a chance to do a weight check before tomorrow's dives, which are on some rather splendid wrecks. I'm thinking that I should use my traditional BCD for tomorrow, and arrange a quarry trip in the near future to play with the new toy, and sort out weighting etc.

Does anyone think I should try wing out tomorrow instead?

 

[buddhasummer]

I would use new plate personally. If you are using a steel plate if you dropped about 5-6 lbs (all other things being the same) you'd be in the ball park and then do a proper weight check at the end of the dive. Good luck.

 

[TSandM]

If you are spending good money on what you hope will be a couple of fabulous dives, use your old gear. If you don't have the harness adjusted correctly, you won't be comfortable, and if you don't have your weight properly balanced, your trim will be off. What's one more day with the old stuff? You'll have years to enjoy the new.

 

[CptTightPants21]

How deep are these wrecks?

I would use the same set up that I have experience on before testing something brand new out in the ocean. This could go either way for divers, but the fact that your first instinct was to use your regular set up tells me that is what you should do.

If you have the space, bring along the BP/W as a "backup".

 

[drmwc]

Thanks for the advice. Tomorrow's wrecks are likely to be 20-25m; we may go onto 30m wrecks over the rest of the weekend.

My car is pretty small, and I'm giving someone else a lift, so taking both is unlikely to be practical.

I think going with the old kit is a sensible approach.

 

[buddhasummer]

Thanks for the advice. Tomorrow's wrecks are likely to be 20-25m; we may go onto 30m wrecks over the rest of the weekend.

My car is pretty small, and I'm giving someone else a lift, so taking both is unlikely to be practical.

I think going with the old kit is a sensible approach.

Yes, probably best. Enjoy.

 

[RJP]

I think going with the old kit is a sensible approach.

Indeed.

 

[cool_hardware52]

I've just bought my first BP&W. I'm off diving tomorrow from a hard boat.

I won't have a chance to do a weight check before tomorrow's dives, which are on some rather splendid wrecks. I'm thinking that I should use my traditional BCD for tomorrow, and arrange a quarry trip in the near future to play with the new toy, and sort out weighting etc.

Does anyone think I should try wing out tomorrow instead?

I'd recommend getting comfortable in your gear in a low stress environment. BP&W's are rocket science, and most adapt quickly, but caution is a good thing in Scuba.

Having said that it has been my experience that most divers moving from a conventional jacket to a BP&W end up with about 4 lbs less total ballast, or about 10 lbs less on their belt.

6 of these lbs are the Stainless Plate and harness, and the other 4 are eliminating the inherent buoyancy of a padded jacket BC.

Of course your MMV.

Tobin

 

[drmwc]

The wrecks were awesome. They included a 17th Century wreck, where the ship (if left) is buried under silt, but there are the anchors and cannon left. The Coronation Wreck Project

The incident is sunk in was a disaster - many ships sunk in the storm, and only a handful or people survived. It is protected, and so you need permission to dive it. We were lucky enough to have the wreck owner join us.

I did the sensible thing, and used my old kit.