BP & wing connections

[Chuckitall]

BP guys, I am putting together an aluminum BP for my wife. It needs a STA, which I can only find in SS. To prevent corrosion do I use any type of rubber or teflon washers with the nuts and bolts or just connect directly to the different metals. Also for a female less than 5'3" 120lbs, is crossed or uncrossed shoulder better/preferred. Reason for crossing straps. Thanks

 

[dkktsunami]

BP guys, I am putting together an aluminum BP for my wife. It needs a STA, which I can only find in SS. To prevent corrosion do I use any type of rubber or teflon washers with the nuts and bolts or just connect directly to the different metals. Thanks

I have used stainless wing nuts and bolts with my wife's aluminum back plate with no problem other than a light mark at the point of contact. You might disassemble every few months to clean.

 

[Fishpie]

The reason that someone with a short torso would cross the shoulder straps is to lower the plate on the back and reduce the likleyhood of the reg hitting the back of the head. At 5' 3" this shouldn't be necessary....but it does depend somewhat on the make of the plate....

DSS plates and mounting system allow the plate to be mounted higher on the tank making them well suited to smaller divers without having to do the cris-cross.

No problem at all using stainless hardware.

 

[Gombessa]

I've also had no problem with an SS sta on an AL BP. You're always going to have a bit of dissimilar metals touching since the wear points - the SS bolt threads on the STA are going to touch and grind away at the anodized finish of the 11" holes on the side of the backplate. In reality it's not a big deal at all, just keep the gear relatively clean and rinse down the plate after using it in the ocean.

I've heard that smaller divers will sometimes criss-cross the straps not because of plate height, but because their shoulders are narrower, and the harness may be too wide and tend to slip off if the webbing isn't crossed.

 

[rstofer]

DSS plates and mounting system allow the plate to be mounted higher on the tank making them well suited to smaller divers without having to do the cris-cross.

The DSS Pro-Fit harness comes crossed.

Richard