did my first dive today on the new Halcyon Infinity.
to be honest not overly impressed. I like the simplicity of the harness, i didnt notice a difference at all for trim in the water from my Tusa X-wing BCD which is strictly back inflate, and god damn the harness shoulder straps are so uncomfortable compared to my x-wing on land. in the water I felt the shoulder straps were a little more restricting than the xwing but i think they were a little bit too tight. I also like my power deflater on the X wing so i didnt have to lift the inflator to release air.
Fitting a fist in between the shoulder strap and your chest is a good starting point, but I have found that the right fit is actually a lot looser than that. For me, anyway.
I would say, the shoulder straps should be however loose they need to be in order for the waist belt to come off the plate and straight around your waist. Caveat: If you can't reach your arm straight back over your shoulder and at least barely touch the top of the plate with your fingers, then it might be too low. In that case, you might need a bigger plate.
Once you get the right fit, it's easy to get in and out of and not restrictive at all. The ONLY reason I could see wanting one of those "cinch" deals is if you are adjusting fit frequently between t-shirt/board shorts and dry suit. And even then, I think the cinch is non-ideal because you also need to adjust the position of every D-ring and slider on the straps in order for everything to be positioned right when you change the fit like that. That is one of the main reasons why I ended up with more than one BP/W. I use one for doubles/drysuit/cold water and I have another one, adjusted to fit differently, for warm water.
12 POUNDS OFF! Dude, don’t let anyone make you feel you wasted your money. Adjust the shoulders. Kiss that BC, love that BC!
He did not take 12 pounds off. He just moved 12 pounds from lead somewhere (like his waist) to steel on his back.
That usually pays a benefit in terms of trim. But, not necessarily. I have one female friend who needs the weight to be distributed down lower in order to not be constantly tilting head down, even with wearing Jet fins (which are pretty negatively buoyant). A 6# plate with a 6# STA would actually be counter-productive for her.
so thats a no? your thoughts are based purely on cost? ok then, keep in mind That’s CAD as well. Everything in the US is much cheaper than here hell I just saw Vancouver's new "affordable rental housing rates" are 1600 for a studio, 2 k for a 1 bed, 3k for a 2 bed and 3700 for a 3 bedroom!
I got it with a SS plate and a 6lb STA
In my brief(-ish) history on SB, I have noticed a substantial tendency for experienced divers, and especially tech divers, to recommend stuff where the true, underlying reason for the recommendation is cost. I.e. people who have determined that something is not worth it to them. They extend that to just "not worth it" and then they recommend it because more expensive alternatives are "not worth it". Even though "worth" is purely a personal decision that is different for every individual. See the many debates (especially prior to a year ago when the Perdix AI was released) where people recommended against computers with wireless air integration. If you really wade through all the reasons given, most of them come down to saying wireless AI is "not worth it". "Not reliable" was another oft-cited reason, but those people generally seemed to have little or no experience with modern, reliable AI units, such as the one Shearwater adopted to work with the Perdix. Plus, the "not worth it" conclusion also often came from tech divers who were thinking that they would need multiple transmitters, to have one on each cylinder they take with them on a dive - even though that's not a factor for the recreational divers they were making these pronouncements to (and also, tech divers really don't need to have a transmitter on every cylinder, even if they do use one or two on their back or side mount cylinders).
I bought my own BP/W immediately after finishing my OW certification, over 3 years ago. I dived nothing but a BP/W from then until about 2 months ago when I bought a Hydros Pro to use when I teach OW classes.
Now that I have used the Hydros some, I am ditching my BP/W for single tank diving and going to the Hydros for all my single tank diving. I still have 3 BP/W rigs and will use them for backmount doubles (which, honestly, is most of my diving outside of teaching).
I would still totally recommend a BP/W to anyone. But, a major part of the reasoning for that is cost. I would take a BP/W for $300 - 400 over pretty much any other kind of BCD you can buy for anywhere near that price. I really like my new Hydros, but I would absolutely NOT buy one if I had to pay full price for it (but that is MY personal "worth it" decision). I only bought it because I work for a shop and got it at a big discount. I also would not buy most of the other "regular" BCDs on the market because I don't like all that padding and the clutter of pockets (which I don't need). The Hydros has weight pockets on the waist belt that can be completely removed, leaving you with webbing and no clutter, virtually identical to the clean and streamlined configuration of a BP/W.
A well-adjusted BP/W needs a crotch strap. The crotch strap is what tightens the whole rig up and keeps it from moving around. But, a BCD like the Hydros does not need a crotch strap. The Hydros conforms to my back and has a grippy feel to it. I put it on, tighten up all the straps, and it is actually MORE stable than my BP/W. The BP/W always has just a little tiny bit of movement to it, for example, if I roll to my side and then back to flat. The tank/plate will shift a tiny bit to the "down" side when I'm on my side and then I'll kind of hitch it back into place after I roll back to flat. The Hydros is cinched tighter to my body and grips, so I can do a barrel roll and the tank doesn't move on my back at all.
To me, an $1100 BP/W (or whatever that would be in American money) is not better than a good integrated BCD (e.g. the Hydros) which is the same cost or less. The BP/W is better than a lot of BCDs which (to me) have a bunch of pure crap on them, like needless pockets, needless QR weight pockets and general clutter. But, as a comparison of categories, the BP/W is only better when you factor in cost and you are talking about a BP/W that you can get for $300 - 400 versus a "good" integrated BCD, which is a lot more expensive. A BP/W that is setup in a proper Hogarthian configuration also does have the advantage (over a regular BCD) of being virtually indestructible. No plastic clips to break, like could happen with a Hydros or most any other regular BCD. But, if you're just doing single tank diving (which is, by definition, recreational), I don't feel like the sacrifice in robustness is a life-threatening compromise to make.
I'll say that I feel a bit bad for you. For the money you spent, you could have gotten something that, well, I personally like better. I think it's great that you would want to try a BP/W. I would encourage anyone to do so. But, recognize the pros and cons and don't spend a huge amount of money. The beauty of the BP/W is partly because of the simplicity, which should translate to low cost. Spending big dollars for a BP/W kind of defeats part of the purpose. I have had a complete Deep Sea Supply rig. It was my first BCD. DSS is on the expensive end (in my mind) of BP/Ws (and it's nowhere near as expensive as Halcyon), and even DSS is more expensive than I would spend. I now use a $70 Blue Reef BP* and a $170 HOG wing (for when I dive a single tank BP/W) and it works just as well as the more expensive stuff I've had. So, why spend all the extra money?
Conclusion: BP/W's are great. They are ultra durable and you can put one together that will support any kind of diving for very little money. That doesn't mean they are The Best solution for recreational diving. My opinion is that they ARE The Best for under $400 - 500. But, if you're just looking at recreational diving and you're willing to spend $1000, there are integrated BCDs that you might actually enjoy more, be more stable, be more flexible for weight distribution in dialing in trim, be lighter for travel, and be much easier to get the fit dialed in.
* full disclosure: For single tank, I now actually have a Freedom Contour plate. I use the Blue Reef for diving doubles. For single tank, I do think the Freedom Contour plate is a work of art and worth every penny, if you decide to go that way. But, for a flat, bent plate of stainless steel, I just can't see spending $200+.
I normally use a crotch strap but forgot to replace it after rerigging my FP for my recent Cozumel trip. (Love the red webbing) The only time it seemed to make any difference was on the surface with the wing partially inflated.
