Question From jacket to BP and Wing

[Robert H. Diver]

Ok- I HAVE TO ASK - Doesn’t snug / tight crotch strap Smash THE BOYS down there ?? Or make em very uncomfortable ??

Lol, no you don’t even know it’s there.

 

[BlueTrin]

Hmmmmm.... I saw that in articles too. So I ask - Would that be a weight distribution issue ? ... OR simply a bit of learning / training with a new type of BC ???????

You just need to not fully inflate your wing and lean backwards a bit (inflate it well enough to be ver buoyant but just not to the point it auto dumps)

It has never been an issue for me.

 

[James79]

I already made this deal (at what I felt was a fair price). I'm going to look at the HOG harness/strap, play around in my pool and go along with my Wife and Sons when they go to get certified (as my "refresher")

I'm pretty sure the sopras sub wings have a standard elbow.... and even if it has a pull dump, doesn't mean you have to pull on it if you don't wish.
The swoopy harness is still a valid harness... just many find they use all the swoopy aspects less and less and that a simple harness ends up working for them. The important thing is what works for you... and if you decide to try a basic continuous webbing harness, you can borrow the hardware off that one and webbing itself is cheap.
If I were you, I wouldn't sweat weight placement to start... I would start in a pool with a 500 PSI tank and no air in the wing. If you can't sink, grab 2 pounders one at a time until you sink when you exhale. Once proper weight is found, put it on a weight belt toward the back of your hips. The get neutral in a horizontal (belly down) position and freeze.... if you tilt head down, the weight needs to be lower on your body. If you tilt head up, weight higher (upper cam band or top of shoulder straps). If you turn turtle, weight needs to go on the cam bands as far behind you as possible.... if you can't roll easily it needs to be further forward (snugged forward against the wing).
In a perfect world, you end up with your center of gravity and your center of buoyancy lined up... able to hold any position in the water.
I don't live in a perfect world, but the above process got me pretty close to the goal!

Respectfully,

James

 

[saxman242]

Ok- I HAVE TO ASK - Doesn’t snug / tight crotch strap Smash THE BOYS down there ?? Or make em very uncomfortable ??

You'd think so, but it's not even noticeable

 

[Flgrizzy]

I'm pretty sure the sopras sub wings have a standard elbow.... and even if it has a pull dump, doesn't mean you have to pull on it if you don't wish.
The swoopy harness is still a valid harness... just many find they use all the swoopy aspects less and less and that a simple harness ends up working for them. The important thing is what works for you... and if you decide to try a basic continuous webbing harness, you can borrow the hardware off that one and webbing itself is cheap.
If I were you, I wouldn't sweat weight placement to start... I would start in a pool with a 500 PSI tank and no air in the wing. If you can't sink, grab 2 pounders one at a time until you sink when you exhale. Once proper weight is found, put it on a weight belt toward the back of your hips. The get neutral in a horizontal (belly down) position and freeze.... if you tilt head down, the weight needs to be lower on your body. If you tilt head up, weight higher (upper cam band or top of shoulder straps). If you turn turtle, weight needs to go on the cam bands as far behind you as possible.... if you can't roll easily it needs to be further forward (snugged forward against the wing).
In a perfect world, you end up with your center of gravity and your center of buoyancy lined up... able to hold any position in the water.
I don't live in a perfect world, but the above process got me pretty close to the goal!

Respectfully,

James

Excellent ! Thanks James.

 

[mcohen1021]

You just need to not fully inflate your wing and lean backwards a bit (inflate it well enough to be ver buoyant but just not to the point it auto dumps)

This is why I went back to jacket style

 

[Jcp2]

I have a freedom plate that I’ve playing with for local drysuit diving, and I enjoy using it; however, my latest two dive vacations have involved me using rental jacket BCDs. Given that I know my weighting for salt water, Al80, and 3 mm wetsuit, there’s not a lot of air in the bladder at depth and I’ve been able to maintain good neutral buoyancy and horizontal trim without an issue.

 

[billgraham]

Ok- I HAVE TO ASK - Doesn’t snug / tight crotch strap Smash THE BOYS down there ?? Or make em very uncomfortable ??

We ran into this scootering, and the answer was to make up a "split" one with a loop for each leg.

 

[FF / EMT]

I have a wing and I’m afraid someone
Might jacket…

 

[rx7diver]

I have an old Scubapro BCD from the 90s that still works. But it’s quite bulky compared to a BPW and has the typical jacket style constriction.

But pop a hole in that jackets’s bladder and it’s done. With a wing the bladder could be replaced, or, given the interchangeability of the BPW design, a new wing can be put on with many options for less than $300.

Hmmm. Neither my "new" Scubapro Stab Jacket (purchased new in 1993), nor my "old" one (purchased new in 1987) has/had a bladder. They are/were coated internally with neoprene. Pop a hole in the SSJ, you repair it like you would a bicycle inner tube. Duct tape and Aquaseal work, too, in a pinch.

But, those SSJ's are pretty tough. I never needed to repair either of mine. Plenty of repairs were on the 1st gen SSJ's we used in the pool sessions of the univ scuba course I took in 1986, though. Those SSJ's were abused BIG TIME! And chlorine took a serious toll on those, as well.

I still use my "new" SSJ when I wear my HP80. Nice combo (with a medium thickness wet suit, or, maybe, for the more corpulent among us). My daughter (college junior) used my "new" SSJ earlier this summer for both her open water check-out and immediately afterward for a Roatan dive trip.

Having written all that, I should add that my fav single-cylinder rigs these days is either my VDH Al Classic Double-Hose Plate and VDH 23# Argonaut wings (with my double-hose reg on my OMS/Faber LP66 cylinder), and, since ~2010, my SS Freedom Plate and Halcyon 27# Pioneer Wings (with an old-school PST 72 wearing a Y-valve) . Both rigs are worn with a single-piece 2" harness and a crotch strap. Excellent rigs for three-season MO/AR diving.

ETA: And I wear a rubber weight belt (solid weights) with all my rigs. I wear it over the crotch strap when I'm wearing one of my BP/W rigs. I don't wear "trim" weights.

rx7diver