Freedom Plate poll

[HenrikBP]

I had looked at your plate when I was shopping, but productions stopped before I had a chance to buy, so I went with a DSS plate instead. While I'm happy with the DSS plate, I think you have a great product, and think that with the right marketing and maybe agreements with some of the vendors here, you should be able to get a good business going.

And for $125 - 150 the plate (without harness I'm guessing?) it's still a good deal for a dedicated single tank plate. And since my Mach V wing would slip right on .... hmmm

Best of luck in your venture

Henrik

Question: will you still be able to "customize" with holes along the bottom edge and such? I hang my SMB from the bottom of the plate.

 

[TN Traveler]

Another vote for making the plate - I'd be very interested - again to work with my Double Hose. Sorry I missed out on the original.

 

[Nemrod]

I want to be clear just becase a few of us vintage divers like the plate for it's simplicity and form fit, this is a FULLY modern plate that would be grand with any Hogarthian type rig or singles recreational rig. This plate is not really intended to be vintage, it is a modern and sleek design that just happens to work for vintage use better than the commonly available traditional tech back plates. It does draw some inspiration (a guess on my part) from the old Voit Snugpack because of the way it form fits the body. This is a nice modern compact singles plate. It also packs nice and allows the single tank to sit a bit closer to the back improving your balance and trim.

I would say that my particular Freedom Plate is heavier than my aluminum Hammerhead tech plate but not as heavy as a tech stainless plate. Not needing an STA is a good thing also. The only reason it originally needed one was because the Mach V originally did not have cam band slots--lol. Now of course the Mach V does solving that issue. It was the fault of the wing, not the plate.

Anyway, any diver who wants a really sleek set up with the Mach V 18/30 (or even brand X or brand Y etc) this should be looked at carefully. This plate with say the Oxy Mach V Extreme--holy cow!!!!

Oh, put me down for the new one when you get started, I can always use another.

N

 

[dschonbrun]

Never seen one of these and I'm intrigued. I've been investigating the BP/W simplicity and have come to think it's better than the mass market BCD's (one of which I own). For singles, this looks to be about the best product... however, the lack of modularity makes me wonder if the total cost is worth it? Looks to be about $500 for a complete BP/W setup using this. I can justify the 600$ transpac setup, because I can also use it with doubles, or with side mounts. This rig is dedicated singles in back config... not sure how I feel about that.

 

[Nemrod]

Never seen one of these and I'm intrigued. I've been investigating the BP/W simplicity and have come to think it's better than the mass market BCD's (one of which I own). For singles, this looks to be about the best product... however, the lack of modularity makes me wonder if the total cost is worth it? Looks to be about $500 for a complete BP/W setup using this. I can justify the 600$ transpac setup, because I can also use it with doubles, or with side mounts. This rig is dedicated singles in back config... not sure how I feel about that.

You make some excellent points that should be considered. The thing is however that modularity--jack of all trades--means something gets compromised somewhere. The Freedom Plate is an evolved solution to optimization for the new sleek modern wing designs (like the Mach V) and single tank diving. Most people wind up with several plates and wings. Your not going to be using a Mach V 18 with dobules either so might as well have a singles specific rig.

I think this would be a great rig with the HP 80/100 cf tanks combined with the Mach V 30/18. Lots of gas and very compact and streamlined. Anyways, good luck.

Voit SnugPack, late 60s, possible inspiration:

Not a good pic but you can see how close the Freedom Plate sits since in this pic there is no wing to obscure the view.

N

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

The original plates were 4 lbs 2 oz.
The new plate I'm guessing will be around 3.5 lbs depending on what I come up with for a tank bracket.
There will also be an option to bolt a specially made weight on the back of the plate which will add 2 to 5 lbs. depending on which one you want, and it will be casted specifically to fit snuggly between the plate and the tank.

I wear a 1/2" commercial urchin diver wetsuit with a 38 lb weight belt to off set the suit and a plain original Freedom Plate with no added weight and a steel tank and I can hold a stop perfect
at 10 feet with no air in the wing. I could trade some weight off the belt and put it on the back of the plate but I've been to busy to worry about it right now. Another way to do this is simply thread some 2 lb weights on each side of the waist as far back as you can get them. Their out of the way and the balance is very good and you added 4 lbs of non ditchable.

As far as your head banging into the the tank, what I did was just ride the tank down lower and that cures that problem. I find that the lower you ride the tank the better you trim out and avoid the top heavy issue. But there's a trade off, the lower you ride the tank the more the inflator gets pulled back over your shoulder, but with the mach V this is not much of an issue because that wing has a slightly longer inflator hose than the older models and sits very nicely. That's another reason I don't like STA's and that's because the wing should follow the tank. With a STA the wing gets pegged into one spot on the plate due to the holes, unless you punch a whole row of holes top and bottom, but then this adds more complexity and I don't like molesting the design with a bunch of holes that don't have to be there.
But holes in the bottom for smb's etc I can do, this is different.

I have an old OMS plate that I use exclusively for doubles which sits all set up ready to go. I also have my singles Freedom Plate rig all set up ready to go. I guess if someone doesn't have the extra money to have 2 dedicated rigs then getting a conventional doubles plate and also using it for singles would make some sense, but conventional doubles plates are not optimal for use with a single tank. They work, but the back pack Freedom Plate design works better, that's why I came up with it; because I was disatisfied with the doubles plate for simple single tank diving and I knew there had to be a better way.

 

[Peter_C]

I dove doubles over the weekend using a Dive-Rite plate, and it is not nearly as comfortable as my Freedom Plate. I am not used to feeling the plate create any "corner of the material" type pressure on my back.

In Roatan, with NO wetsuit or dive skin, the Freedom Plate was ultra comfy for multiple dives in a day, and stayed glued to my back. My Freedom Plate will be the last singles tank rig I ever need, and the Oxycheq wings are top quality to go along with them.

 

[Chuckitall]

I ended up with a DSS because your busisness was in transition. I still like your idea and would maybe consider one. I kept the DSS plate for 1 year and sold it for one reason only. The lower straps came from under my rib area instead of my waist area. I 6"3" , so I guess what I'm saying is one size might not fit all. Possibly a longer plate is needed for tall divers. I also hate stays, but like the tank to align without problems. I would also like it to fit several different wing combos. I'm a high tank person and that could be solved by tilting the tank away from your head. I'm a geek for dive gear, but not sure if the average diver would consider it. You would have to get the word out on boards like Spearboard. Com and Scubadiving.Com. Another way would be to try and get a couple over to DM's in So Florida that dive everyday. I have bought alot of equipment I can see in person, but it is tough to judge form Net sites. Hope that helps. Good Luck.

 

[Faris427]

Being a new diver and spending much of my free time looking into single tank BP/W setups, this is the best plate I have seen, if you had it ready today I would have bought one! I am a long ways off from needing a double tank setup, and this would be a great niche of the market to advertise too. Although I think the comment of putting a logo with phone number in the middle of the plate is a good business strategy, I would hate to see it, the SS looks great in a nice clean, sleek fashion.

For the new plate, what sort of time line are you looking at? i.e. How long would I have to hold back from buying a plate to get my hands on one of these, I would hate to wait a year to see it.

Thanks,
Jeremy

 

[Nemrod]

I have dove mine with just a rash guard and swimsuit. Very nice comfort. It does not dig in like a tech plate. It would of course be easy to fabricate a snap on neoprene soft cover --lol.

Not speaking about the Freedom Plate but I note one fellow mentioned his waist straps were to high with his (conventional) tech plate. This results when your shoulder straps are to tight. Of course, a really tall guy mighrt need a longer plate--true--but it is usually because people typicaly have the shoulder straps adjusted to short which pulls the plate up. This is especially true of people who set the rig up per certain onlne diagrams. Relax, who cares if the guru approves--lower the plate by letting the straps out a bit.

N