First dive with bp/w

[Daryl Morse]

Yesterday, I dove with a bp/w and sling bottle for the first time. It was an OMS SS plate and STA with a hogarthian harness and a 45 lb OxyCheq wing. I used a locally-made (Victoria, BC) weight harness with web shoulder straps. It has 6 pockets, 3 per side, and both sides are separately ditchable. I brought the sling bottle for the second dive, and I wore it on the left side. I dove with this bottle so I could get used it for the ANDI CSU course which I'll be taking in a couple of weeks.

I haven't bought this rig, I was just trying it out. I normally use a rental Seaquest Maverick BCD with integrated weights. What I liked was the comfort and stability of the bp/w, additionally that it frees up so much space in the front. The weight harness was excellent as well. I really dislike weight belts because they don't stay on my hips unless I cinch them up uncomfortably tight, in which case, air gets trapped below the waist. With this harness, I could barely tell the weights were there and I could wear it loosely enough that air didn't get trapped in the suit below the waist.

I wasn't particularly enamoured with the inflator and pull dump on the wing. I found the inflator to be uncomfortable in my hand and somewhat awkward, particularly for inflating. I think I might like it more if the inflator button was on the other side. I also found it a bit difficult to dump with the inflator hose, especially when I was horizontal. It seemed to dump better if I rolled over to the right side. Also, I'm sure it's a matter of not being used to it, but I found that I had to grope around for the pull dump at the bottom of the wing. I guess I've gotten used to the Seaquest BCD with the pull dump on the shoulder. (It has one on the bottom as well.) I can always find the shoulder dump and it always works right away because that's where the air (usually) is.

I also found the bp harness a bit hard to don and even harder to doff, maybe it was too tight. Based on that, I'm leaning a bit towards either the OxyCheq or DSS harness with quick releases. (I don't plan to get into hardcore DIR.)

It was interesting diving with the sling bottle. I could barely tell it was there when it was full. It was slightly negative, almost weightless and it stayed out of the way. I found it a bit more in the way when it wasn't full because it was positive at the bottom end.

Anyway, overall very positive and I look forward to getting my own bp/w soon.

 

[Rick Inman]

I dive that wing, and it did take me a few dives to get used to the position of the shorter inflator hose. Also took a few dives to get the muscle memory of the rear dump, but now it's second nature. I took Uncle Pug's advice and located the little pull string by making an OK shape with my fingers around the dump valve and then just closing it around the string. Works great.

 

[triton94949]

There are pros and cons.

Here go the pros in favor of the backplate and harness:

The harness is completely adjustable. You can make it as loose or as tight as you want it. I wear mine fairly loose, and therefore I like the fit better than with a Zeagle back-inflation B/C with my drysuit. The Zeagle fits me perfectly in warm water with a 3mm wetsuit, but it is too tight with a drysuit on. The harness wins the adjustability issue.

The plate lets you move 6 lbs to your back, off your belt. For warm water diving or tech deco diving, this is great. Your warm water weight belt ends up being only 2 to 4 lbs, if that, with a steel tank, or 6 to 8 lbs with an aluminum tank. Even your cold water weight belt is diminished to around 10 lbs. The harness and plate win out on the issue of weighting for warm water or for tech deco diving with twin tanks.

The harness and plate are stronger than a B/C of course, and therefore they better accomodate large twin tanks. There are some Zeagle back-inflation B/Cs that can take smaller twin tanks (like twin 72s), but for big twins the plate and harness win out on the issue of diving with twin tanks.

Ready for the cons? --

For cold water single tank diving, a plate and harness end up putting a lot of weight on your weight belt. The shoulder strap ditchable weight pouch gear works fine when you are walking around on the boat or the beach. But once you become horizontal in the water, all that weight ends up directly on your lower back. That might not bother you, now. Wait a few years, or decades. You won't be young with a strong back forever. The back inflation B/C with integrated weights wins out big on the issue of single tank cold water weighting.

Since you are on the west coast diving cold water, that issue of lower back pain will catch up with you eventually.

For international travel, your backplate, if in your carry-on luggage, is going to set off the metal density detector, and you are going to be pulled out of line every time and asked to dump out your carry on bag. You can put the plate in your check luggage, but then you run the risk of losing your luggage with your scuba gear in route, not a good choice.

Therefore whenever I am diving my twin tanks, I use my harness and backplate.

Whenever I am diving a single tank, I use my Zeagle back-inflation integrated B/C. The integrated feature of the B/C lets me wear my normal tech belt of 14 lbs, and also put whatever extra cold water single tank weighting is required into the weight pockets of the B/C. And then for my lower back, life is good.

 

[cool_hardware52]

Daryl,

Heavy weight belts can be a pain, literally. But a heavy weight belt is not your only option for cold water single tank diving. A heavy weighted STA, or in the case of DSS, a set of weight plates added to your plate moves 8lbs from your belt to your plate.

Having the majority of the weight you are carrying distributed over your back via a rigid plate is easier on the lower back.

Let second what Rick had to say 'bout dumping gas, finding the rear dump is just practice.

Regards,


Tobin

 

[jagfish]

Ready for the cons? --

For cold water single tank diving, a plate and harness end up putting a lot of weight on your weight belt.

Has this been your case?

Not mine. Diving dry (trilam) with SS plate (6lb) and heavy STA (6lb), I use no extra weight with a single steel tank, and 4 pounds in weight pockets with AL80.

If someone used a heavy SS plate (up to 11 pounds possible I believe) and heavy STA, you would not need much on a belt (or harness pockets) to offset even more bouyant suits...

 

[Daryl Morse]

I dive that wing, and it did take me a few dives to get used to the position of the shorter inflator hose. Also took a few dives to get the muscle memory of the rear dump, but now it's second nature. I took Uncle Pug's advice and located the little pull string by making an OK shape with my fingers around the dump valve and then just closing it around the string. Works great.

It seems like a great idea having the inflator hose attach to the bladder where it does, but the downside is that when you're horizontal, you have to hold the hose up quite far to get the exhaust above the air exit point on the bladder. The hose seems a bit too short for that, but at the same time, I had a hard time finding it a couple of times because it flopped around. Do you get around this by using the pull dump when you're horizontal?

I think it'll take me a while to get used to the location of the pull dump. I can see why it's there (as opposed to the top), but I guess I'm a bit too used to the location of the pull dump on the BCD. Do you ever find it hard to locate the pull dump with a sling bottle in the way?

 

[Daryl Morse]

There are pros and cons.

Here go the pros in favor of the backplate and harness:

The harness is completely adjustable. You can make it as loose or as tight as you want it. I wear mine fairly loose, and therefore I like the fit better than with a Zeagle back-inflation B/C with my drysuit. The Zeagle fits me perfectly in warm water with a 3mm wetsuit, but it is too tight with a drysuit on. The harness wins the adjustability issue.

The plate lets you move 6 lbs to your back, off your belt. For warm water diving or tech deco diving, this is great. Your warm water weight belt ends up being only 2 to 4 lbs, if that, with a steel tank, or 6 to 8 lbs with an aluminum tank. Even your cold water weight belt is diminished to around 10 lbs. The harness and plate win out on the issue of weighting for warm water or for tech deco diving with twin tanks.

The harness and plate are stronger than a B/C of course, and therefore they better accomodate large twin tanks. There are some Zeagle back-inflation B/Cs that can take smaller twin tanks (like twin 72s), but for big twins the plate and harness win out on the issue of diving with twin tanks.

Ready for the cons? --

For cold water single tank diving, a plate and harness end up putting a lot of weight on your weight belt. The shoulder strap ditchable weight pouch gear works fine when you are walking around on the boat or the beach. But once you become horizontal in the water, all that weight ends up directly on your lower back. That might not bother you, now. Wait a few years, or decades. You won't be young with a strong back forever. The back inflation B/C with integrated weights wins out big on the issue of single tank cold water weighting.

Since you are on the west coast diving cold water, that issue of lower back pain will catch up with you eventually.

For international travel, your backplate, if in your carry-on luggage, is going to set off the metal density detector, and you are going to be pulled out of line every time and asked to dump out your carry on bag. You can put the plate in your check luggage, but then you run the risk of losing your luggage with your scuba gear in route, not a good choice.

Therefore whenever I am diving my twin tanks, I use my harness and backplate.

Whenever I am diving a single tank, I use my Zeagle back-inflation integrated B/C. The integrated feature of the B/C lets me wear my normal tech belt of 14 lbs, and also put whatever extra cold water single tank weighting is required into the weight pockets of the B/C. And then for my lower back, life is good.

My buddy dives a Zeagle Tech with double Faber 95s and he's looking at a bp/w.

I'm also looking at getting either a heavy STA (OxyCheq) or else a DSS bp with the extra weight plates. That will reduce the weight off the belt. I had 24 lbs on the belt and with the shoulder harness, I honestly couldn't feel the weights. It was very comfortable. (And I'm not a youngster either.) Now that I've tried a shoulder harness for the weights, I like it much more than fiddling around trying to stuff weights in BCD pouches or else trying to don a BCD with the weights already in the pockets.

 

[Rick Inman]

The hose seems a bit too short for that, but at the same time, I had a hard time finding it a couple of times because it flopped around. Do you get around this by using the pull dump when you're horizontal?

About 50/50 with the hose/pull dump. I have a loop of thin bungee secured behind the left shoulder D ring that keeps the hose where I can always find it.

 

[Daryl Morse]

Has this been your case?

Not mine. Diving dry (trilam) with SS plate (6lb) and heavy STA (6lb), I use no extra weight with a single steel tank, and 4 pounds in weight pockets with AL80.

If someone used a heavy SS plate (up to 11 pounds possible I believe) and heavy STA, you would not need much on a belt (or harness pockets) to offset even more bouyant suits...

Hey jagfish, what do you wear under that tri-lam suit?

If I used an SS plate (6 lb) plus heavy STA (6 lb) and only an extra 4 lbs with an AL80, even if I could sink at the start of the dive (which I couldn't), I'd pop up like a cork at the end.

I wear two layers of fleece all over plus wool socks and a double layer fleece vest. Maybe that's the difference.

 

[OE2X]

For cold water single tank diving, a plate and harness end up putting a lot of weight on your weight belt. The shoulder strap ditchable weight pouch gear works fine when you are walking around on the boat or the beach. But once you become horizontal in the water, all that weight ends up directly on your lower back. That might not bother you, now. Wait a few years, or decades. You won't be young with a strong back forever. The back inflation B/C with integrated weights wins out big on the issue of single tank cold water weighting.

Since you are on the west coast diving cold water, that issue of lower back pain will catch up with you eventually.

I dive cold and have a 10# plate and a 6# STA. Combined with an 8# weightbelt I find that I'm nicely trimmed out and weight doesn't hurt my back.
For warm water just switch over to an AL plate.