DIR- Generic Does the ScubaPro S-Tek Pro BPW Meet Standards?

[Ez E]

There is a lot more to the class than being "compliant" on gear. For some reason gear is what people fixate on when discussing GUE, but there are two chapters on gear and ten other chapters in the book "The Fundamentals of Better Diving."

Fundies is a class where even the most ardent split fin & jacket BCD w/ octo inflator diver can gain from the class - provided they're willing to step outside their comfort zone with a little rented or borrowed gear. If they immediately revert back to split fins & jacket BCD so be it - I'd be shocked if they didn't learn a lot on the way. For me personally, none of my takeaways from Fundies were gear related - other than "Sydney is really F*ing cold in July, buy a Drysuit."

This is exactly what I was hoping for. I want to become a better diver overall. If that means tweaking my equipment so be it. Then I will go back to being a basic recreational diver which is my only aspiration.

 

[Ez E]

So some more thoughts on the S-Tek Pro. The harness is a bit of a bitch to adjust the “hard” settings. IE its max and min length. Since it came pre assembled I wasnt familiar with how it came apart. It took me 5 mins to see how to adjust it. Once I did that I was able to route the harness back together pretty quickly.

It was a bit loose on the waist when I got it. But now thats fixed. Overall it feels great. Much more secure on the waist than my Atomic BC2(but I did lose almost 30 lbs since I bought it). And if I loose more I know how to “pull” this new harness in. I absolutely love it.

I am thinking I may just “borrow” a DIR BP and harness vs removing this one. It seems tedious with all the SP marked rubbery strap retainers(which are great for getting the straps properly retained). But now that I have figured out how it goes together its not terrible. But it would probably take a couple hours to set up a new harness I would guess.

Overall its a great purchase. Cant wait to train in the pool with it. The stability that comes from the waist buckle is a godsend (like many have mentioned) vs my too big BC2. Even with the shoulder straps loose the whole rig feels secure. Much more so than the one I tried on since this one is adjusted to me.

Anyway. Flame away.

 

[BoltSnap]

I am thinking I may just “borrow” a DIR BP and harness vs removing this one.

That's what I'd do myself.

Anyway. Flame away.

You are going to die just because it isn't DIR!!!

 

[lexvil]

Just for the record, I have and use an S Tek backplate, it’s the pro, I replaced the webbing with stiffer stuff for a few reasons, I found the webbing to soft and prone to twisting, the rubber pads are there to “firm” up those spots prone to twisting.

Also I don’t like the one piece HOG style because it just doesn’t work on me (6’5” 235lb, 54” chest) and I have my own harness configuration and it’s been working for me for a long time, this is why I say to avoid dogma, not everything works on everyone. The good news is if you borrow a rig for this “training” and you like it and it works for you it’s really easy to take you nicely designed modern rig and Stone Age it to fit that style

 

[Ez E]

Just for the record, I have and use an S Tek backplate, it’s the pro, I replaced the webbing with stiffer stuff for a few reasons, I found the webbing to soft and prone to twisting, the rubber pads are there to “firm” up those spots prone to twisting.

Also I don’t like the one piece HOG style because it just doesn’t work on me (6’5” 235lb, 54” chest) and I have my own harness configuration and it’s been working for me for a long time, this is why I say to avoid dogma, not everything works on everyone. The good news is if you borrow a rig for this “training” and you like it and it works for you it’s really easy to take you nicely designed modern rig and Stone Age it to fit that style

Good info. Im happy overall and waiting/willing to see what knowledge I get from additional training.

 

[jeelan]

I’ve been using the S-tek Pro system for around 9 months now. I bought it primarily for the new plate shape and the adjustable metal buckles on the harness. My previous kit was built around a Diverite Transplate solution using generic steel backplate I’d been using this for close to 15 yrs.

Recently we completed out first dive trip since I got the SB system, so had the opportunity to use the gear 3-4 times a day repeatedly for 5 days and learnt few things which will likely result in me changing some of my setup.

Before I elaborate, I’ll add that I simply love the plate. The contouring fits me like a glove and it’s unlikely I’d ever go back to a standard angled plate again. The handle is also super convenient for moving a fully rigged up system around on the boat etc, or for doing quick swaps on cylinders. The STA works a charm and I’ve always been a fan of SB’s buckle system for latching to a cylinder and had that on my previous BPW rig.

1) agree with Lexvils comments on the harness being too soft and prone to twisting. I’d removed the moneprene shoulder pads but replaced them with the diverite transplate pads however the softer webbing still twists a lot more than standard webbing. Same with waist strap it would be me a bit longer normal to determine if webbing is twisted or not given how soft / pliable it is.

2) probably the biggest issue was from day 3 onwards. We typically donned our gear on the boat sitting on the edge (backward roll to get into the water). After putting my arms through the shoulder straps, I’d typically stand up to pull through crotch strap and fasten up waist strap. As the harness took up the weight of the tank, the webbing would slip 1-2” through the metal buckles. This really surprised me as I’ve never had this happen before whilst diving at home. For the last 2 days this became a consistent issue and I’d need to re-adjust the shoulder straps sitting back down again before entering the water.

Based on both of these experiences, Im looking to retain the plate and STA but replace the Pro webbing harness with the transplate harness which I’ve never had any issues with. I bought the Pro solely for the lack of plastic buckles but as I said I’ve had any issues with Transplate so I’ll revert back to that.

FWIW My wife and kids also dive BPW and are in Transplates using the shorter Diverite steel plates. Kids getting taller now now ne during this trip I noted it might be time for both to move to standard length plates so when I make this call, I’ll be putting them in the SB backplate - probably buy the Pure setup and ditch the harness.

 

[crofrog]

As the harness took up the weight of the tank, the webbing would slip 1-2” through the metal buckles. This really surprised me as I’ve never had this happen before whilst diving at home. For the last 2 days this became a consistent issue and I’d need to re-adjust the shoulder straps sitting back down again before entering the water.

That’s entirely unforeseeable.


Just imagine if you had double 130s and a stage and are trying to walk into the water.

 

[Ez E]

I’ve been using the S-tek Pro system for around 9 months now. I bought it primarily for the new plate shape and the adjustable metal buckles on the harness. My previous kit was built around a Diverite Transplate solution using generic steel backplate I’d been using this for close to 15 yrs.

Recently we completed out first dive trip since I got the SB system, so had the opportunity to use the gear 3-4 times a day repeatedly for 5 days and learnt few things which will likely result in me changing some of my setup.

Before I elaborate, I’ll add that I simply love the plate. The contouring fits me like a glove and it’s unlikely I’d ever go back to a standard angled plate again. The handle is also super convenient for moving a fully rigged up system around on the boat etc, or for doing quick swaps on cylinders. The STA works a charm and I’ve always been a fan of SB’s buckle system for latching to a cylinder and had that on my previous BPW rig.

1) agree with Lexvils comments on the harness being too soft and prone to twisting. I’d removed the moneprene shoulder pads but replaced them with the diverite transplate pads however the softer webbing still twists a lot more than standard webbing. Same with waist strap it would be me a bit longer normal to determine if webbing is twisted or not given how soft / pliable it is.

2) probably the biggest issue was from day 3 onwards. We typically donned our gear on the boat sitting on the edge (backward roll to get into the water). After putting my arms through the shoulder straps, I’d typically stand up to pull through crotch strap and fasten up waist strap. As the harness took up the weight of the tank, the webbing would slip 1-2” through the metal buckles. This really surprised me as I’ve never had this happen before whilst diving at home. For the last 2 days this became a consistent issue and I’d need to re-adjust the shoulder straps sitting back down again before entering the water.

Based on both of these experiences, Im looking to retain the plate and STA but replace the Pro webbing harness with the transplate harness which I’ve never had any issues with. I bought the Pro solely for the lack of plastic buckles but as I said I’ve had any issues with Transplate so I’ll revert back to that.

FWIW My wife and kids also dive BPW and are in Transplates using the shorter Diverite steel plates. Kids getting taller now now ne during this trip I noted it might be time for both to move to standard length plates so when I make this call, I’ll be putting them in the SB backplate - probably buy the Pure setup and ditch the harness.

I will see if I have the same experience with the harness. I must say it is not very easy to loosen the shoulder straps on mine. Even tugging up on the buckles to loosen them it seems like it needs some weight in order to make it happen.

My old BC2 was much easier to loosen the shoulder straps. And I never had slippage issues with that. I will let you know if I experience a similar issue to yours with the factory scuba pro harness.

 

[jeelan]

That’s entirely unforeseeable.


Just imagine if you had double 130s and a stage and are trying to walk into the water.

As I said I've never had that happen at home and I've done a few shore dives as well so had to walk into the water from carpark (anywhere from 30m to ~100m) but that's usually a single dive then wrap it up. Boat dives are max 2 per day with a few hrs in between each.

all I can put it down to is potentially webbing being a bit more slippery from being continuously wet after pro-longed use. Either way ive changed out the harness now and reverted back to stiffer webbing with traditional nylon quick release.

 

[passeparici]

Quite easy to loosen the shoulder straps on mine and no slippage issues !