BP/Wings any recommendations

[DavidHickey]

Good Afternoon,
Just curious, I'm new to diving and currently have a Zeagle Ranger LTD. I like my ranger but just seems kinda cluttered when trying to reach for the pockets and stuff. I'm sure I will get more use to it though. I only have 4 dives on it at this point. But does anyone have any recommendations if I decide to purchase a BP/wing set up? I had originally looked at the Halycon Eclipse, which I thought looked pretty simple and comfortable. I know its nice to try things out first but in my area its not really an option. And I hate to cause debate over this, but chances are I will be ordering off the internet since I have not seen a single dive store in my area that even carry a BP/Wing setup. Also what is the norm for a BP/Wing setup, do you wear a separate weight belt or do most have ditchable weight pockets that you can put on the waist band? And I'm not looking to get rid of the ranger, just looking for an addition to the collection of dive gear.
Any help advice would be appreciated.
David

 

[Rick Murchison]

Check out some of these threads...
Rick

 

[deadend]

Contact FredT on this board. He makes some killer backplates and other dive gear in different sizes and is easy to deal with.

 

[cool_hardware52]

Also what is the norm for a BP/Wing setup, do you wear a separate weight belt or do most have ditchable weight pockets that you can put on the waist band?

Hi David,

People do both for weight. I prefer a weight belt, I use the XS Scuba pocket belt, easy to adjust the LBS, and one can open a single pouch if they need to ditch a little at a time.

I find the weight on my wasit helps with horizontal trim, and helps with donning in the water. If all my weight is on the rig and none one me, I'm kinda pinned on the surface, and struggle a bit getting "under" the gear in the water.

Others add pouches to the waist belt of the harness, and report that it works well for them. XS Scuba also makes single pouches that can be threaded onto 2" webbing, these are inexpensive.

I would recommend that after you get your BP&W that you get in the pool and determine what your total weight requirements are, then play around with where you want to carry the weight for trim considerations, before you choose a belt, pouches, or even bolt on weight plates.


Good luck,


Tobin

 

[Diver0001]

what is the norm for a BP/Wing setup, do you wear a separate weight belt or do most have ditchable weight pockets that you can put on the waist band?

Personally I use a weight belt, I don't like integrated weights. I also find integrated weights and/or weights on teh waist strap a PITA on a BP harnass.

R..

 

[mossym]

Same here, weight belt is much easier, i used integrated weights when i had a bc, not that i have a bp/w i sitched to a weight belt and much prefer it.

 

[Ernesto]

You have probably opened a large can of worms here and will get various people recommending various manufacturers.
I personally did my research with this web-site a couple of years ago and finally settled on the "oxycheq." This was probably most remarkable because I had never heard of Oxycheq and my originally posted question was about which size of Halcyon set-up to buy.
I bought my oxycheq set-up over the web; and have enjoyed it. There were no problems with purchasing it this way. I'm sure this will be true with most manufacturers. My best advice is to figure out the features you want or don't want, ask questions, on this web board, listen to peoples answers, disregard the raving fringe, and I'm sure you'll be happy with your final decision.

I love having no pockets, no d-rings, no nothing I don't put on myself.
I love the lack of clutter.

On you wieght question. Because of the crotch strap I went to a weight harness -- mines an OMS -- love it. takes all the wieght off my shoulders (and diving in BC there is some lead to carry) is really quite comfortable to wear and is easy to ditch in an emergency -- even offering the ability to just ditch one side -- could be a good thing sometimes.

Enjoy.
ernie

 

[teknitroxdiver]

I got Tobin's (he's the 'coolhardware' dude a few posts up) BP/W setup and like it a lot. I don't require any weight other than the 5# backplate, and really like not having a weightbelt. Of course, YMMV as you likely use more weight than me. But anyway....it's the most comfortable rig i've ever dove, so comfortable and streamlined that I actually dropped my SAC rate by .1 just by switching to it...and that was on my first 4 dives with it so I expect it to drop further.

 

[Ernesto]

I got Tobin's (he's the 'coolhardware' dude a few posts up) BP/W setup and like it a lot. I don't require any weight other than the 5# backplate, and really like not having a weightbelt. Of course, YMMV as you likely use more weight than me. But anyway....it's the most comfortable rig i've ever dove, so comfortable and streamlined that I actually dropped my SAC rate by .1 just by switching to it...and that was on my first 4 dives with it so I expect it to drop further.

I use a 6 lb steel backplate and an OMS steel 96 and still unfortunately require approximately 18-20 lbs of lead depending on which underwear combination I'm wearing under my drysuit -- the harness is magic -- for me. I hated having a heavy weight belt, even my soft one. heavy on hips never tight enough at depth.

Dumb question -- if all your weight is taken up in your backplate how do you dump weight in an emergency? Or am I missing something obvious?

ernie

 

[teknitroxdiver]

I use a 6 lb steel backplate and an OMS steel 96 and still unfortunately require approximately 18-20 lbs of lead depending on which underwear combination I'm wearing under my drysuit -- the harness is magic -- for me. I hated having a heavy weight belt, even my soft one. heavy on hips never tight enough at depth.

Dumb question -- if all your weight is taken up in your backplate how do you dump weight in an emergency? Or am I missing something obvious?

ernie

There's no need to (in my case, at least). I'm not fond of uncontrolled ascents, so I wouldn't ditch anyway, and I can swim the rig up easily.


As for your weighting, have you thought about a heavier backplate or a P-weight? FredT makes plates quite heavy (I've lost my info sheet so I can't say exactly how heavy...).