Freedom Plate Divers Roll Call: show us your rig!

[Diver below 83]

Is the VDH 23 shell the same as the 35?

 

[noj3333]

@stuartv, did you remove the bungee from the wings?

 

[2TH DIVR]

My original FP with harness off US Divers plastic plate, rail with band. Wing is modified Dive Rite w/ about 20# lift

 

[Couv]

Is the VDH 23 shell the same as the 35?

No, the size of the shell determines the amount of buoyancy the vessel will have. It's possible the 23 and 35 have a common sized bladder-but not the shell. @Bryan@Vintage Double Hose can probably answer more in detail.

 

[stuartv]

That is a bigger difference than VDH's pictures. Now I am really itching to build an ultra light travel rig.

I thought the same thing. I had looked at the pictures on the VDH site and thought they looked very similar in size. In person, not so much...

@stuartv, did you remove the bungee from the wings?

No. The bungee is internal and it's still there in both wings.

 

[lexvil]

It’s raining so I decided to change the webbing to yellow, for no good reason, and add more weight to the FP.

The VDH 35 is nice and compact but the built in stabilization was in the way of adding weight under the rail, I removed the guts from the system including the half tubing so it would be flatter.

I put in a 5lb soft weight and worked it up as high as it will go

Then put a 2lb weight in and worked it over

After getting it over as far as I could, tightened up the nut adding 7 lbs to the plate, all told with heavy tank straps it close to 15 lbs now.

 

[stuartv]

I wonder if one of these V-weight pouches would work to fit in under the rail...

Highland V Trim Weight Pouch

I have one of them, but I ditched the rail on my FP and have it setup for the tank to go right against the plate.

 

[lexvil]

I wonder if one of these V-weight pouches would work to fit in under the rail...

Highland V Trim Weight Pouch

I have one of them, but I ditched the rail on my FP and have it setup for the tank to go right against the plate.

Send it to me and I’ll give it a try but there is much clearance in the middle of the rail.

 

[stuartv]

Send it to me and I’ll give it a try but there is much clearance in the middle of the rail.

Ha ha! I can always put the rail back on my own to try it.

I think you meant there is NOT much clearance there. The V-weight pouch comes empty, so you can put as much lead shot in there as you want or will fit. But, being so long, I bet you could fit at least 3 # in there. Plus, if you put the bolts that hold the rail through the grommets of the pouch, that will stand the rail off a little further from the plate - giving you room for even more shot in the pouch. The pouch is supposed to be able to hold up to 7# of lead. You might be able to fit that just by putting the grommets under the rail ends. If not, you could use a few washers at each end to stand the rail off a little further, until the pouch fit.

Or... you could do it the way you're already doing it, I suppose... LOL

 

[noj3333]

Hummm... all this 'will it work' discussion had me thinking about adding some storage to my rig.

I was poking around on Dive Gear Express and saw a pocket that they sell (pic below).

In their picture they show it on a steet back plate, like a 'tail pocket'.

With the Freedom Plate rails in place do you think this would sit under your tank without putting pressure on your tailbone?

I was thinking of using it for storage of rarely (hopefully never) used stuff, like a very large SMB, signal mirror, etc...