First BP/W looking for advice on setups!

[cvrle1]

Here is another option for you when it comes to packages. DRIS (Dive Right In Scuba) BP/W system

DRIS Dive Gear 28lb BP/W System - Dive Right In Scuba - Plainfield, IL

Wing is just as good as Oxycheq, SS Backplate. It is listed as 360, but if you contact Dive Right In Scuba member on here (I believe his name is Mike), and ask him nicely, he may lower the price to $299. This is their sale price that they have going on several times a year. Thats what I did, and thats the price I got

 

[DevonDiver]

All nice options, at good prices.

My only personal preference would be to go for a wrist-mounted computer, rather than a console... both for immediate ease of access to the information you need and for keeping your rig most streamlined.

 

[BVickery]

Here is another option for you when it comes to packages. DRIS (Dive Right In Scuba) BP/W system

DRIS Dive Gear 28lb BP/W System - Dive Right In Scuba - Plainfield, IL

Wing is just as good as Oxycheq, SS Backplate. It is listed as 360, but if you contact Dive Right In Scuba member on here (I believe his name is Mike), and ask him nicely, he may lower the price to $299. This is their sale price that they have going on several times a year. Thats what I did, and thats the price I got

A member even wrote up a decent overview on the package.

 

[t1n_2]

+1 for the DRIS package. Can't wait to get my hands on mine.

 

[Drx6x]

another vote for DRIS. It's what I'm getting when I start buying.

 

[USCScubaboy]

It might just be a fluke. I have a DR basic harness from late 2009/early 2010 as well as a newer from earlier this year and they are both fairly stiff.

I would recommend against Dive Rite basic harness. I prefer basic harness, but DR's version use a very soft webbing, way too soft, makes it very difficult to use in practice. I swapped out the webbing after 10 dives. The strange thing is DR's other harnesses use stiffer webbing tho. Not sure why they made such a choice. For crotch strap, DR's is are very stiff. Again, don't understand DR's reason behind their choice of webbing.

 

[770link770]

Thanks for all the great info so far you guys! I'm definitely liking the looks of the DRIS package... Sending Mike a PM right now so hopefully we can work something out. As for the HOG regulators I overlooked the fact that they only had them in a DIN setup. Definitely not liking the adapter as I would rather just have a Yolk 1st stage for the moment at least. Has anyone had any experience with the Edge Epic regulators? I've heard they're similar in function and have great reviews but with the option of being Yolk instead of DIN. The computer however I was looking into the Uwatec console only because I was told that it's a decent beginner computer but I was planning on removing it from the console and wrist mounting it anyways and just using the rest of the console as an SPG.

 

[mahjong]

From reading responses here it seems that Hog has a newer 32# wing that's an improvment over the earlier/original model. I have not seen the new one, made in the US with a 10-year pinch flat warranty. A few years back, I bought the earlier model, examined it, and sent it back. Cheesy at best, esp the inner bladder. It was roughly the same shape and style of the OMS 32# wing, but inferior in quality to the OMS, one of which I own.

My go to cold water singles wing is a 40# Oxy Mach V. I doubt there's a wing of comparable lift that trims out as nicely as this wing does. And it's basically bomb-proof, inside and out (can't imagine who would need the Extreme version). The wing is so trim, however, that I doubt anyone actually gets 40# of lift out of it, as it cannot quite fully expand once sandwiched between a tank and BP, esp if the tank might be 8" in diameter and if you tuck trim weight pockets close to the spine (it's okay, though, with an STA and if you move the trim pockets out a bit).

As for Oxy's customer service, well, I cannot refute TSandM's comment. I've had one less than impressive experience with them, though not regarding the wing (they told me to file down the edges myself when I complained about the 100% raw-edged lightweight STA they sold me. This was way back when these STA's first came out. I've seen newer ones and they are nicely finished; however, this does not let them off the hook for the pathetic customer service).

What's the basis for the statement (yes, honest question)?

What is it about the Oxy that makes it better in your eyes?

 

[gcarter]

From reading responses here it seems that Hog has a newer 32# wing that's an improvment over the earlier/original model. I have not seen the new one, made in the US with a 10-year pinch flat warranty. A few years back, I bought the earlier model, examined it, and sent it back. Cheesy at best, esp the inner bladder. It was roughly the same shape and style of the OMS 32# wing, but inferior in quality to the OMS, one of which I own.

My go to cold water singles wing is a 40# Oxy Mach V. I doubt there's a wing of comparable lift that trims out as nicely as this wing does. And it's basically bomb-proof, inside and out (can't imagine who would need the Extreme version). The wing is so trim, however, that I doubt anyone actually gets 40# of lift out of it, as it cannot quite fully expand once sandwiched between a tank and BP, esp if the tank might be 8" in diameter and if you tuck trim weight pockets close to the spine (it's okay, though, with an STA and if you move the trim pockets out a bit).

As for Oxy's customer service, well, I cannot refute TSandM's comment. I've had one less than impressive experience with them, though not regarding the wing (they told me to file down the edges myself when I complained about the 100% raw-edged lightweight STA they sold me. This was way back when these STA's first came out. I've seen newer ones and they are nicely finished; however, this does not let them off the hook for the pathetic customer service).

Thanks for the response. I ask because we just bought a HOG rig for my son. We received it on Monday, it hasn't gotten wet yet, but to my unpracticed eye (I have a SeaQuest balance and no experience with BP/W) it certainly does look very well made. Fit and finish on the steel backplate, the wing, the regs, on everything, looks very good. The regs also look quite good next to my Apeks.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating, but we are certainly happy with what we see at the moment.

If the quarry temp creeps up a bit he may get to dive it soon.

 

[mahjong]

Again, if Hog is making a wing in the US and offering a 10 year warranty on the inner bladder, then you're in good shape. I wouldn't warranty the older Hog wing that I saw. The issue is, beyond workmanship, quality of materials. Halcyon and OMS, for example, use top quality dernier; moreover, they heavily polyurethane undercoat both their outer and inner bladders. And you can feel it when you grab the material. This is not to say that other wings, which use a 1680 dernier (typical stuff), won't hold up just fine. If you ask "which wing," however, I do consider these issues in offering a response. What else is there? It's only a wing. Well, there's the warranty. If you've got a 10 year warranty, then dive the wing and be happy!

Anecdotally: I use a Dive Rite Travel EXP for tropical excursions (long story, in short it's center-panelless and so fits between a Scubapro backpack and mounting plate). DR wings use the most basic, "typical" materials, but are pretty nicely put together. I'm just back from Belize. The DO I went with will take care of your gear for you entire stay--storing it, setting it up before dives, and rinsing it afterward. I let them have their way with my Backpack/wing (plus wetsuit and fins--I keep my regs and computer and mask). Man they really put my wing to the stress test, or, rather, they really beat up on my wing and stressed me out (a little; hard to get too stressed about anything on Ambergris). I would show up in the morning and my rig would be tank affixed and stuffed into a tank mount that was a wooden box with holes cut out. Well, the bottom of my wing would be half squeezed inside the hole with the tank and half outside, and entirely crumpled. I'd race over and reinstall it on the conventional tank mounts that were on the side of the boat. Yanking my rig onto the boat from the water, they would allow the inflated wing to bang or drag against the boat. After diving, they'd literally toss the BC's into a pile, with trim weights still affixed (easier to keep track of weights that way). My wing was once at the very bottom of the pile, with other weighted down BC's on top of it. To drain water from the BC, they would squeeze it like a sponge around the exhaust valve (as if my wing were voodoo doll of me, tears would drain from eyes).

My enitirely ordinary, unexceptional DR wing is still holding air, or at least I think it is.

Thanks for the response. I ask because we just bought a HOG rig for my son. We received it on Monday, it hasn't gotten wet yet, but to my unpracticed eye (I have a SeaQuest balance and no experience with BP/W) it certainly does look very well made. Fit and finish on the steel backplate, the wing, the regs, on everything, looks very good. The regs also look quite good next to my Apeks.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating, but we are certainly happy with what we see at the moment.

If the quarry temp creeps up a bit he may get to dive it soon.