Deciding on a BP/W

[DiverLaura]

You've already dove the Halcyon system, and you liked it enough to want to get something similar (Darn crack dealers). There should be a number of people down in your area who have the gear you'd like to try out... As people have mentioned, there are many sizes and shapes of BP/W... dive a few, some will work better for you than others.

 

[fnfalman]

You either Dive Rite or you Dive Rong.

I prefer the customer service aspects of Halcyon and Dive Rite. It's more than just how to pick out a rig for you because these outfits will do that, but it's the after sales. Heaven forbids, something broke (your fault, EQ's fault, whatever), you'd get the quick response help. They would even assist you configure your gears.

 

[OneBrightGator]

I have two backplates. A Halcyon Ali backplate and a Custom Divers SS backplate. I LOVE the custom divers backplate, because it is shaped and cut to accept two cam bands for independant doubles. It holds them tight. This makes it great for travelling, where I can go to any dive centre and simply strap on 2x AL80s.

Do you have a picture of the CD backplate? I've never heard of such a thing and it sounds pretty cool.

 

[Blue Sparkle]

I was kind of curious too; they are shown at this website (UK):

Quality Diving Equipment by Custom Divers - BACK PLATES ONLY

 

[DevonDiver]

I haven't got a photo of my own backplate, but this is what I found online...

You can see that the BP has 3 camband slots across the middle. I use the outermost and innermost of these slots, on both sides, to secure 2 cambands for indie tanks. They are held very securely.

Changing cylinders is just a case of opening the camband and sliding a new cylinder in. It's perfect for use on the average holiday boat.

I've not tried using the backplate for single cylinder, but it looks like it would also hold one tightly without the need for a STA. You'd have the choice of 3 different locations to fit cambands for a single cylinder.

 

[OneBrightGator]

Very interesting. I don't do any traveling tech dives, but I can see the benefit and that it works just like a regular backplate is pretty sweet.

 

[DevonDiver]

I don't use it for many tech dives. I'd go the whole hog and rent an isolated manifold double for that.

IMHO indie doubles are good for deep and/or long recreational dives, or overhead environments. I do lots of wreck dives...either that or long solo photo dives. The indie doubles, cam-banded on this BP - using normal rental AL80's is a great solution for those.

 

[TSandM]

Yes, double Al80's is a fantastic setup for long recreational dives in warm water -- we did that in the Red Sea. Only two technical dives the whole week, but we dove doubles all the time, and racked up some significant bottom time. It's easy to do, where the water is warm and there is a ton to see above 30 feet!