Carbon Fiber Backplates?

[Joneill]

I always respect an engineer's knowledge. But for what it's worth, I was given a Halcyon carbon fiber plate by someone 3 years ago. I'm a dive instructor and I absolutely beat the crap out of that thing. It has about 1000 saltwater dives on it, regularly gets chucked in a truck with tons of customer gear, weights and tanks banging on top of it. It's held up perfectly well. I'm not sure I would buy one, as was pointed out, the difference in weight between the carbon fiber plate and an aluminum plate is about half a pound. But aside from price I can't say anything bad about it.

Also worth noting many BoneX scooters have a carbon fiber hull, and so do SF2 rebreathers. My KISS rebreather frame is carbon fiber as well. I have not heard of any stories of premature failure on any of these.

Thanks - always good to get feedback on usage in real world conditions - beats theoretical doom and gloom any day (and I’m an engineer too!).

BTW - my CF backplate is just a little over 1/2 a pound and, as I don’t need an STA , I’m ~ 2 lb lighter than an AL backplate set up and almost 6 lb lighter than my SS setup. A meaningful difference when traveling for me.

 

[jadairiii]

...
Also worth noting many BoneX scooters have a carbon fiber hull, and so do SF2 rebreathers. My KISS rebreather frame is carbon fiber as well. I have not heard of any stories of premature failure on any of these.

I have an ongoing debate with my dive buddy regarding the Bonex scooters and their CF hulls. And it comes down to what "problem" does the CF hull solve and is it worth the extra cost vs Alum or PVC? The benefits of CF are pretty much wasted on an application that is merely static (unlike a bike frame, or racing applications). Sure, they look cool but are you driving your SUV over them?

I have an old(er) Suex 37 with the PVC hull/tube that I have beaten the crap out of, dragged over rocks in Mexico and north Florida caves, abused on dive boats, left baking in the sun, rolled around in the back of pickup trucks and it still is fully functional. and the small gouges in that hull would not bode well for CF.

Minor chips in the resin of CF can cause some real issues.

But again, my ultimate question is why are "you" spending additional money for a material when there is a cheaper (and just as effective) for the application it is used for? We aint flying an SR71. Sort of like Titanium for 1st stages, I have brass 1st stages from the 60's, they seem to function fine.

 

[Jack Hammer]

I got my CF plate simply because I like the way it looks. Anyone who has a problem with that is free to **** a bag of *****.

 

[Manatee Diver]

But again, my ultimate question is why are "you" spending additional money for a material when there is a cheaper (and just as effective) for the application it is used for? We aint flying an SR71. Sort of like Titanium for 1st stages, I have brass 1st stages from the 60's, they seem to function fine.

Weight is why. Overweight baggage fees can be really expensive, sometimes as much as $200 a bag on trans-Pacific routes. Some airlines will even weigh your carry on, so you can't just transfer your heavy stuff to it. Lighter weight materials like flex hoses, carbon fiber, and titanium allow travel divers to more easily pack everything they need and still come under the weight limits.

 

[PfcAJ]

I have an ongoing debate with my dive buddy regarding the Bonex scooters and their CF hulls. And it comes down to what "problem" does the CF hull solve and is it worth the extra cost vs Alum or PVC? The benefits of CF are pretty much wasted on an application that is merely static (unlike a bike frame, or racing applications). Sure, they look cool but are you driving your SUV over them?

I have an old(er) Suex 37 with the PVC hull/tube that I have beaten the crap out of, dragged over rocks in Mexico and north Florida caves, abused on dive boats, left baking in the sun, rolled around in the back of pickup trucks and it still is fully functional. and the small gouges in that hull would not bode well for CF.

Minor chips in the resin of CF can cause some real issues.

But again, my ultimate question is why are "you" spending additional money for a material when there is a cheaper (and just as effective) for the application it is used for? We aint flying an SR71. Sort of like Titanium for 1st stages, I have brass 1st stages from the 60's, they seem to function fine.

$2000 dollar flight. $1500 lodging. $1000 diving costs.

Overweight checked bag fee? TOO MUCH!

 

[PfcAJ]

I got my CF plate simply because I like the way it looks. Anyone who has a problem with that is free to **** a bag of *****.

Now THIS is a reason I can get behind!

 

[rddvet]

I got my CF plate simply because I like the way it looks. Anyone who has a problem with that is free to **** a bag of *****.

That's a damn good reason. That halcyon cf plate is really sexy. I'm hoping for another reason to get one to pop up, but so far can't justify spending the money cause it's pretty. I already have 2 steels and an aluminum. Maybe I should buy another set of doubles, then I'll have a reason for another plate. It only makes sense

 

[greeniguana]

Спинка для дайвинга - Титановая. Производство Helium Dive

Says weight is 0.8g, but I think they might mean Kg?

I suppose it never needs to be rinsed off either....

 

[Diving Dubai]

I suppose it never needs to be rinsed off either....

Nor does SS or Ali

 

[Diving Dubai]

Weight is why. Overweight baggage fees can be really expensive, sometimes as much as $200 a bag on trans-Pacific routes. Some airlines will even weigh your carry on, so you can't just transfer your heavy stuff to it. Lighter weight materials like flex hoses, carbon fiber, and titanium allow travel divers to more easily pack everything they need and still come under the weight limits.

Oh come on now

I can take a full SM kit (2 1st sages) plus a spare complete octopus (All Apex XTX 50) and basic tools and still be under the weight limit

You'd save more weight by converting 1 reg set from A clamp to Din

0.5 lbs (220g) is nothing

Using cambands you don't have the issues of the bolts and the single stress point.

Sorry to be a bore here

A cam band in effect (extremely exaggerated as an example) is trying to bend the back plate around the tank so both tensile and compression stress on different sides of the plate going across ways on both cam bands

A bolt and nut will both exhibit compression load on either side of the plate which basically neutralises itself

So in reality a cam band induces more stress