Considering diving, BP/W is ok?

[RJP]

Are you really going to base this decision on a popularity poll?

Among total strangers, no less!

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

Hey man: If I was living my life all over again, starting as a OW diver here would me my gear choices:

1. BP/Wing over any kind of BCD. My first preference would be Oxycheq wing and second would be DSS. I would buy a steel plate for cold water and am AL plate for tropical diving.

2. For regulators, I would buy Atomics M1 (first choice) or Apeks XTX 50 (close second) and HOG with cold water kit as third choice.

3. Id buy a nitrox compatible computer.

4. Id buy a custom measured wetsuit.

5. In fin department, Id buy nothing except solid rubber fins.

6. Id buy neoprene drsuit instead of a shell suit.

7. Id buy a frameless mast that fits well close to my face.

The above preference would save me from selling gently used gear on e-bay.

 

[Dr. Lecter]

And then he can experience the pain of paying for Atomic factory-offered regulator service.
At least according to a recent thread on that topic.

Fixed that for you, and I look forward to hearing about SP's factory service option. Wait, what's that? Ah, OK then

 

[KEdiver]

I bought Scuba Pro Seahawk. MK25/G260, and Uwatec computer, I also have a back up Sunto Zoop computer, OH I got the Air 2 on the BC for the other thread going on about air 2. I am not one bit dissatisfied with the choice. I did however wait until I was certified and talked to several people about the places I would dive. Have fun, I bought my own tank, again glad I did.

 

[FM1520]

After doing a lot of research I get more confused each day.

Really? And a popularity pole will clear it up for you?

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I don't know how many times I've had a friend who wanted to get into diving, ask me to help them get set up with gear. They look to me as the go to guy because I've been diving for a while and have pretty much distilled my gear down to exaclty what I like and what I need.
So we go through everything that is being discussed here in this thread, or at least pretty close. I try to fast track them and have them bypass all the pitfall choices that new divers always make.
I never fails, as soon as they take open water they get brainwashed into all the crap the LDS sells. The poodle jackets, split fins, FPFL rpogram regs, etc. and even a few dingle balls and tank bangers to top it off.
Sure the stuff all works OK. They can go diving with it. Is it optimal? not to me it isn't and they asked me what I thought. So I tell them.
I don't know what power the LDS's have over these people. Maybe they're "Experts" to them because they are instructors and shop owners.

I'm almost tempted to tell you just to go with whatever the LDS sells you, and in time when youget more experience you will truelly understand why some gear may not be suitable for your type of diving. It's really pretty hard to get fast tracked without that knowledge. There are also so many variables and opinions out there.
Even Scubaboard is full of contradictions. If you look there are gear wars all the time.
What may be fine for some will totally suck for someone else.

The LDS where you get certed will probably tell you that people on the internet are FOS (they may be right), and that they (the LDS) are the real thing in the flesh, standing in front of you and showing you what you need in the real world of diving. This actually has way more power than a handfull of screen names telling you to get a BP/W, which most LDS's have absolutely no interest in or know very little about, especially in CA.

Part of the problem is you don't know the inner workings of the dive industry yet. It takes time to learn it and understand how and why dive shops operate like they do.
We would love to help you, but you must understand that our diving world and the LDS diving world exist in two separate parallel universes. You must know this before you walk through those doors and sign up for an OW class.

I beg you to please just rent gear for now and at least get certified, then come back and talk to us. It will get easier and less confusing I promise.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Eric, that tallies with what a shop owner in the midwest said his Aqualung rep told him. BPW's are an east coast wreck.diver thing and they are not used west of Pennsylvania.

Friggin idiot.

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

 

[SanDiegoSidemount]

Eric, that tallies with what a shop owner in the midwest said his Aqualung rep told him. BPW's are an east coast wreck.diver thing and they are not used west of Pennsylvania.

Friggin idiot.

Ah, so I must be hallucinating when I see half the people on SoCal dive boats using them! Long hoses are more rare, but certainly not BP/W rigs.

---------- Post added December 13th, 2013 at 05:40 PM ----------

I beg you to please just rent gear for now and at least get certified, then come back and talk to us. It will get easier and less confusing I promise.

I concur. I don't really know that there's any way around the process of replacing your gear 2 or 3 times over as your skills and needs evolve. It's pretty much a rite of pa$$age for any devoted diver. But renting for a while at the beginning should at least make your first purchases last longer.

I would say don't buy anything that's not required for your OW course until you get your C-card, dive a few times in the place(s) you will regularly dive, and chat with everyone there about what they wear and why. (And come back for more discussion here on SB.)

 

[alecto]

During my OW classes, our instructor wore a BP/W and said it was his tech setup and gave us the impression it was for tech only. I only learned later that was incorrect.

I too thought about buying my gear ahead of time but I'm glad I waited. I have since bought a HOG BP/W and love the weight it saves me. I'm also using the cold water HOG reg. So far they have worked great for me and I'm looking forward to traveling with them in a week. The BP/W takes up hardly any space. I'm not doing tech diving but I one day might venture into it. I am using a regular size plate and it seems fine for me and I'm only 5'1". There are other brands like DSS and Halcyon that have a small plate option.

You just missed some amazing sales that happened on black Friday. If you are lucky, maybe someone still has them going on for Christmas if you are really intent on buying first.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Ah, so I must be hallucinating when I see half the people on SoCal dive boats using them! Long hoses are more rare, but certainly not BP/W rigs.

It probably depends on which dive boat, where they're going, and who's on it.
I was just on one down there that had two different OW classes on it, on Sport Chalet class and an Eco Adventures class. So it goes witout saying BP/W rigs were pretty rare. There was one other besides mine and my buddy's.
However, rarest of rare, there was a guy on board who was using an old DW Mistral yellow label hooked up to a set of doubles with a center post manifold and an old plastic backpack and horse collar. I talked to him for a while and he knows Bryan at VDH personally - small world.

---------- Post added December 14th, 2013 at 11:23 AM ----------

During my OW classes, our instructor wore a BP/W and said it was his tech setup and gave us the impression it was for tech only. I only learned later that was incorrect.

I too thought about buying my gear ahead of time but I'm glad I waited. I have since bought a HOG BP/W and love the weight it saves me. I'm also using the cold water HOG reg. So far they have worked great for me and I'm looking forward to traveling with them in a week. The BP/W takes up hardly any space. I'm not doing tech diving but I one day might venture into it. I am using a regular size plate and it seems fine for me and I'm only 5'1". There are other brands like DSS and Halcyon that have a small plate option.

You just missed some amazing sales that happened on black Friday. If you are lucky, maybe someone still has them going on for Christmas if you are really intent on buying first.

Are there other shops down that way besides Hollywood Divers that stock and promote BP/W setups?