BP/W storage and gear

[Water Bug]

Amongst the numerous individuals on this board I am also contemplating a BC jacket style vs BP/W.
Question I have is... How easy is it to stow away equipment such as knives, slates, lights, snorkle, safety gear or anything else you would like to have on hand? BC pockets seem very convienient for this? My concern is having numerous items just hanging of my setup.thx

 

[Mo2vation]

Amongst the numerous individuals on this board I am also contemplating a BC jacket style vs BP/W.
Question I have is... How easy is it to stow away equipment such as knives, slates, lights, snorkle, safety gear or anything else you would like to have on hand? BC pockets seem very convienient for this? My concern is having numerous items just hanging of my setup.thx

No need to look like a Christmas tree or a Trident Display in a dive shop. Get pockets on your Dry Suit or Wet Suit, and put the stuff in those pockets.

There is nothing hanging off my BP/W.

Its much easier to get to stuff in the large bellows pockets on a Dry Suit or Wet Suit than it is in a BC pocket. No zippers, a simple velcro flap, everything attached to a bungee cord.

Makes senses to me. And the buoyancy of my BP/W is much more favorable than my former fluffy Black Diamond BC.


---
Ken

 

[kawasakign]

I use SS snaps and a Dive Rite 2 zip pocket on my lower strap. I am pretty sure that the pocket is going to go as I just don't put much inside it. I also use "sex bolts" and a quick draw sleeve on the backplate itself.

 

[TSandM]

Backup lights can get clipped to the chest D-rings and snugged up to the harness inside a loop of inner tube. A snorkel can be carried this way, too. I carry a small knife in a sheath on the waist belt near the buckle.

Other small items go in pockets. For diving wet, I use X-shorts. For dry, I have pockets on my dry suits.

The two things there's no good way to stow are a camera bigger than your pocket, and a lantern-handle light.

 

[seaducer]

You can buy pockets, that you can either glue onto your suit, or connect to the harness of the BP/W itself. IMO this is easier to use than the pockets on a jacket bcd. I dove one for 10 years, and I found the pockets on my jacket clumsy to use because of their positioning. Not to mention if you are diving in cold water, you need so much weight to overcome bouyancy at the surface that you must have air in the bladder at depth, which squeezes those pockets even more and makes it harder to get items in and out. Again, IMO.

The pockets I use loop around the waist belt of my harness, then wrap around my thigh, in a nice convientient location to get at items, and because they are velcro, it is easier to manipulate them with bulky gloves on.

This is all not to say jacket BCD's are bad. I loved mine, but I do find my BP/W more versatile, easier to configure for different types of diving, and even more comfortable in the water.

Of course I have only had it a short time so...?

 

[Gombessa]

You can easily hang things off the harness (backup lights, knife, etc.). SMBs and spools can go between the backplate and your back if you need. The point of most BP/W setups is to minimize the number of things "hanging off of it" so as to present the most streamlined profile to the water. However, I think you can get "pockets" that attach to the harness if you don't have suit pockets.

 

[String]

Amongst the numerous individuals on this board I am also contemplating a BC jacket style vs BP/W.
Question I have is... How easy is it to stow away equipment such as knives, slates, lights, snorkle, safety gear or anything else you would like to have on hand? BC pockets seem very convienient for this? My concern is having numerous items just hanging of my setup.thx

Drysuit pockets for signalling/safety gear like that.

Knife - on the inflator hose or the waist strap.

Primary light - chest D-ring. Backup light bungeed to shoulder strap.
Slate, whistle,cyalume stick,strobe all in drysuit pocket.
Spool on the arse d-ring. Primary SMB right hand drysuit pocket.
Backup SMB/lift bag in a backplate pouch. Backup reel either hip d-ring or pocket.
Snorkel - you'll probably find the garage is the best place to store this.

OR you can buy a pocket for the harness that threads onto the waist band.

 

[Ice9]

Snorkel - you'll probably find the garage is the best place to store this.

Hahaha! No doubt!

 

[BarryNL]

Amongst the numerous individuals on this board I am also contemplating a BC jacket style vs BP/W.
Question I have is... How easy is it to stow away equipment such as knives, slates, lights, snorkle, safety gear or anything else you would like to have on hand? BC pockets seem very convienient for this? My concern is having numerous items just hanging of my setup.thx

Before deciding how convenient BCD pockets are, try getting your hand into one while diving, especially while wearing a drysuit and thick undersuit.

Bellows pockets on the exposure suit, backplate storage packs or storage packs which fit on the belt of a backplate harness are all much easier to use during the dive.

As for the items you mention, knives go well on the harness belt, lights clip onto harness D-rings, safety gear goes into bellows pockets and slates and snorkels go into the bin.

 

[Splitlip]

I have pockets I glued to my two primary wetsuits.
I also made a pair of "split pants" for going without a suit or two piece or another suit.