For warm water, aluminium or stainless steel plate?

[buddhasummer]

I think that You're forgetting the wight of the back plate


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I don't understand what you are saying in relation to dumpsterdivers post?

 

[djanni]

My wife dives with a SS Dive Rite backplate. Here in Cozumel she is a bit heavy in a 1mm full suit with no extra weight. In a 3mm she still needs no extra weight and her bouyancy is right on. Her plate and STA Weighs about 5.5 pounds. Important to note is we dive with Aldora who provides steel 100's or 120's.

If you're ever going to throw on a dry suit or a 7mm then an SS is better in my opinion. If your diving with an aluminum tank you'll probably be fine either way.

 

[charlier]

My experience in SE Asia, using a simple hoody top and 2mm leggings, I use 1kg with an Al BP with single tank adapter for an 11l Al tank. With Al twins, a 3mm wetsuit, no extra wt required with Al BP. As others have suggested, ask your Fundies instructor. GUE instructors are really well-informed and will set you on the correct path. ��

 

[Corleone]

I was having hard time digesting this thread, most replies start with praising something and end up suggestion the opposite, nevertheless thank you all.

My wife dives with a SS Dive Rite backplate. Here in Cozumel she is a bit heavy in a 1mm full suit with no extra weight. In a 3mm she still needs no extra weight and her bouyancy is right on. Her plate and STA Weighs about 5.5 pounds. Important to note is we dive with Aldora who provides steel 100's or 120's.

If you're ever going to throw on a dry suit or a 7mm then an SS is better in my opinion. If your diving with an aluminum tank you'll probably be fine either way.

was she using 1mm with SS and STA and steel tank? is the STA necessary? what type and brand of wing is she using?

 

[Got2Go]

based on all of the above am I better of with AL or SS plate ? any recommendations, brands, anything that I might have missed?

SS plate.
DSS SS plate and STA-Less design wing of appropriate capacity (prob 26lbs or less).
That will pretty much cover everything you mentioned.

If travel weight is an issue, then get AL plate...and add additional weight as needed at the destination.

I travel with an SS plate...both cold and warm water destinations.

 

[cool_hardware52]

I was having hard time digesting this thread, most replies start with praising something and end up suggestion the opposite, nevertheless thank you all.




was she using 1mm with SS and STA and steel tank? is the STA necessary? what type and brand of wing is she using?

Selecting gear based on what others are using *who may not share your specific application* is not what I would recommend.

I've posted this before, many times;

Plate material is a function of required ballast. Required ballast is a function of 1) Personal buoyancy 2) Exposure suit Buoyancy 3) The ballast provided the other components, with the choice of cylinder being of primary importance.

Most people are close to neutral in their swim trunks, there are exceptions but in general this is way over rated. That leaves exposure suit buoyancy and cylinder choice as the main criteria.

Test your suit. Roll up the wetsuit and throw in the water, see how much lead you need to sink it.

Find out what you are actually using for tanks and look up the buoyancy numbers. Google is your friend. One shortcut; 3000 psi aluminum 80's are all ~4+ lbs positive empty. These are the most common rental tank on the planet.

Once you know the buoyancy of your suit and cylinders your "ballast budget" is pretty much set.

Typical warm water diver: 3mm suit and aluminum 80

3mm suit usually 3-5 lbs positive lets use +4

Empty al 80 +4

A neutral diver using a 3mm suit and al 80 will be getting into the water with about 7-9 lbs of things that float, or will float at the end of the dive.

A medium SS plate and harness is about -6 lbs, ~5 for the plate and another 1 for the harness

Most brass first stage regs are about -2

6 + 2 = 8 Bingo! This is why it is quite common for divers in 3mm suits with al 80's to use nothing but their plate, harness and reg for ballast.

Wings need to do two things: Float your rig if you ditch it, and compensate for the maximum change in buoyancy of your exposure suit.

With a SS plate, harness, reg and full al 80 the rig will be about -10 lbs, the 3mm suit is about +4 10 > 4. That means for this application the minimum wing capacity would be just over 10 lbs. The smallest wings commonly offered are 17 -18 lbs.

It's a math problem. It starts with determining the buoyancy of the things you take diving that float, and matching them with things that don't float, then picking a wing that meets the criteria above.

Two more rules

1) Your wing must be sized for the most buoyant suit it will be used with. It's not a percentage thing, "I mostly dive in the tropics, but once a decade I go the Great lakes" Your Great Lakes exposure suit will dictate your wing size.

2) The solution to being over weighted is *never* a bigger wing. The solution is to change plate material, tank selection , and or exposure suit to cure the over weighted condition.

Tobin

 

[djanni]

I was having hard time digesting this thread, most replies start with praising something and end up suggestion the opposite, nevertheless thank you all.




was she using 1mm with SS and STA and steel tank? is the STA necessary? what type and brand of wing is she using?

Yes, the weight of both is 5.6 pounds as I recall. We both use the same wing, DR Travel XT. I'm still in my 10 year old TransPac but now that we're diving with steel tanks I'm thinking of going with a plate.

---------- Post added September 7th, 2015 at 12:40 PM ----------

BTW... the adjustments from going from AL80's to steel 100’s took two dives. Nothing to it.

---------- Post added September 7th, 2015 at 12:50 PM ----------

BTW #2 - we have 84 degree water here these days and she had been in a 1mm full. Going into the steel tanks we figured she'd be too heavy so she used, and still does, her 3mm. If I switch to a plate I'll take her SS and get her an aluminum plate.