Fundamentals or Fundies

[peterbj7]

You absolutely 100% need the backplate if you are going to go on to any sort of tech training

No you don't. I did almost all my early tech training (as far as advanced trimix) with a Transpac + wing.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

No you don't. I did almost all my early tech training (as far as advanced trimix) with a Transpac + wing.

Hmmm ... how early was that?

I've done tech classes so far with IANTD, TDI, GUE and NAUI (and in a few weeks with NSS/CDS) and about the only requirement they all have in common is that they want you in a backplate.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[DIR-Atlanta]

You absolutely 100% need the backplate if you are going to go on to any sort of tech training

No you don't. I did almost all my early tech training (as far as advanced trimix) with a Transpac + wing.

While it's certainly possible to do tech training in a non-BP configuration, I would argue that it is not optimal to do so.

For example, I started my Full Cave class back in 1995 with a brand new (original) Transpac, which had just been introduced that year and was "all the rage" for cave and tech training. I realized about halfway through the training that the TP was a huge mistake, and switched to a BP as soon as the course was done.

In particular, I found that the TP was very loose and floppy when used with heavy doubles (steel 104s), and did not provide good mounting options for primary and backup lights. I had to jury-rig almost everything I did with it. By comparison, the BP was incredibly simple in its construction, did everything that it needed to do (and no more) and felt very solid in the water.

I still have my same backplate that I assembled after my Full Cave class 14 years ago (still with the original webbing), and I use it for all my diving, from shallow ocean reefs to multiple stage dives in caves. It just seems like such a logical choice to me now for my diving, that it's sometimes hard for me to understand why there is so much resistance to it from the diving community at large.

In the end, it's just a BC really, and not a particularly complex or specialized one at that. Why so much angst over it?

 

[lamont]

rewinding the discussion about BP/W to the last useful and halfway on topic post made.

if it jumps the rails again, i'll get more aggressive...