Halcyon, Xdeep, OMS, Audaxpro, Aquatec, DGX - value & longevity?

[JoeTPhilly]

I don’t know about weight saving in practical sense. I was bored many years ago and measure every piece of my dive gears. If you search here, you can find it. Here is a few items

1. Al STA: 110g/0.24lb
2. CF STA: 89g/0.20lb
3. Ti STA: 180g/0.40lb

They are all the same shape, design, and thickness. So difference is material density. I don’t have CF or Ti plate l, but let me use AL plate as reference

Halcyon regular size plate: 1.45lb (advertised 2lb). A CF plate will be 1.17kb. 0.28lb or127g saving.

If one really need to saving weight, first ditch all the padding from Infiniti. Way more than 0.28lb. Then ditch the ACB weight pocket, use a weight belt at destination. And use a light way luggage instead of those large dive gear roller case.

One more note. As much as CF is strong under certain load, it is not good against aberrations or abrasions, it is mine or stress dive gear see a lot. Sure if you like CF, buy CF, just want yo point out in practice, it does very little for bp/w beside cool factor

Excellent points. A couple things to note.

The carbon fiber plate (Pro) the OP is thinking of has the STA and the cinch system molded into the plate. The SS and Aluminum plates have the delrin cinch plate bolted on and you have to carry the STA so the CF will save some space in the bag.

I think the OP is concerned about travel weight so the Infinity padding doesn't add much to that. However, it is quite positively buoyant. I weighted it at 1.4 pounds in fresh water so one would probably need a 2 pound weight in salt water to offset it.

I agree on ditching the ACB pockets. They are good for cold water if you don't want to wear a weight belt but for warm weather I like trim pockets on the cam straps like in the video I uploaded. The can be resold pretty easily in the US.

I think Carbon Fiber does have its place. I know some cave divers use them because they dive cave filled low pressure steel doubles so they need a light plate.

 

[JoeTPhilly]

Yes, I was thinking I would need the crotch strap also but they said cinching up the other straps it would be ok…problem was I couldn’t cinch it tight enough. They also said Halcyon is more for tech divers. The other shop that I wanted to rent the Halcyon from does cater to tech divers.

Haha, the crotch strap holds everything in place. With those comments I think you need to find a new shop. Some dive ops are going to BP/Wing at the start of open water training.

 

[eelnoraa]

Excellent points. A couple things to note.

The carbon fiber plate (Pro) the OP is thinking of has the STA and the cinch system molded into the plate. The SS and Aluminum plates have the delrin cinch plate bolted on and you have to carry the STA so the CF will save some space in the bag.

I think the OP is concerned about travel weight so the Infinity padding doesn't add much to that. However, it is quite positively buoyant. I weighted it at 1.4 pounds in fresh water so one would probably need a 2 pound weight in salt water to offset it.

I agree on ditching the ACB pockets. They are good for cold water if you don't want to wear a weight belt but for warm weather I like trim pockets on the cam straps like in the video I uploaded. The can be resold pretty easily in the US.

I think Carbon Fiber does have its place. I know some cave divers use them because they dive cave filled low pressure steel doubles so they need a light plate.

I still cannot see the practical argument. The in water weight, or buoyancy characteristics is scale by this ratio

(density of material - density of water)/density of material. assuming no hallow cavity.

My estimate of CF density based on STA measurement is abotu 80% of AL. AL is 2.7, makes CF about 2.16

In water:
AL plate is (2.7-1)/2.7 * 1.45lb = 0.9lb or 408g
CF plate: (2.16-1)/2.16 * 1.45*0.8 = 0.62lb or 281g

different is 0.28lb or 128g in water, about 22 US quarter corns. Average human breath is 600L, or about 600g. 1/5 of our breath, simple as breathing technique.

Again, not again CF, I have a some. It is entirely ok to spend money on cool factor.

 

[JoeTPhilly]

I still cannot see the practical argument. The in water weight, or buoyancy characteristics is scale by this ratio

(density of material - density of water)/density of material. assuming no hallow cavity.

My estimate of CF density based on STA measurement is abotu 80% of AL. AL is 2.7, makes CF about 2.16

In water:
AL plate is (2.7-1)/2.7 * 1.45lb = 0.9lb or 408g
CF plate: (2.16-1)/2.16 * 1.45*0.8 = 0.62lb or 281g

different is 0.28lb or 128g in water, about 22 US quarter corns. Average human breath is 600L, or about 600g. 1/5 of our breath, simple as breathing technique.

Again, not again CF, I have a some. It is entirely ok to spend money on cool factor.

They sure are cool looking. Does CF really get ratty looking after a while?

 

[eelnoraa]

They sure are cool looking. Does CF really get ratty looking after a while?

I think after a while all dive gears look like crab. Soft water, sun, sand, bump around …. For CF STA I have, the main additional wear is the edges and corners. Rub by cambad, tanks. It doesn’t wear like metal. After all it is some type raisin gluing the CF together. Mine is still ok, just not sure if it will take the same beating as metal over time. But then for a piece of vacation gear, it will never see the same usage as my local STA ( weighted SS 6lb sta)

 

[mtnpool]

I don’t know about weight saving in practical sense. I was bored many years ago and measure every piece of my dive gears. If you search here, you can find it. Here is a few items

1. Al STA: 110g/0.24lb
2. CF STA: 89g/0.20lb
3. Ti STA: 180g/0.40lb

They are all the same shape, design, and thickness. So difference is material density. I don’t have CF or Ti plate l, but let me use AL plate as reference

Halcyon regular size plate: 1.45lb (advertised 2lb). A CF plate will be 1.17kb. 0.28lb or127g saving.

If one really need to saving weight, first ditch all the padding from Infiniti. Way more than 0.28lb. Then ditch the ACB weight pocket, use a weight belt at destination. And use a light way luggage instead of those large dive gear roller case.

One more note. As much as CF is strong under certain load, it is not good against aberrations or abrasions, it is mine or stress dive gear see a lot. Sure if you like CF, buy CF, just want yo point out in practice, it does very little for bp/w beside cool factor

Thanks for the numbers! I saw that the Adventurer was 1.3 kg lighter than the Infinity, so it's saving weight on not just the backplate apparently, maybe because it doesn't need the STA. I've mountain biked with many CF parts including the frame itself and it's taken a beating but been fine structurally. I'm still on the fence and will consider the Infinity as well.

 

[mtnpool]

Haha, the crotch strap holds everything in place. With those comments I think you need to find a new shop. Some dive ops are going to BP/Wing at the start of open water training.

I am going to try other shops as well, i like the divemaster I've been diving with but they seem to forget a bunch of things, nice guys but they seem like they might be short handed and so some things fall thru the crack.

 

[mtnpool]

So I’m in Bali this week, and my first dive here was in Tulamben on a day trip, and guess what my freelance dive guide is wearing…a Halcyon Infinity. He said some of his guests helped him get a second hand one sent from the states. They don’t make much here, surprised he was able to get such nice gear, maybe the guests were very generous.

 

[mtnpool]

Meanwhile I was using a rental - very basic Aqua Lung! I’ve noticed the cheaper bcd’s don’t have very fine control on the power inflator - you have to press harder and then all of a sudden you get a burst of air, while the HOG that I rented the other day was much better, light press for a little air, much better for modulation. I assume the Halcyon inflator is also very good?

 

[mtnpool]

The dive shop offered another option - the Deep6 backplate wing (30lb). About $600…anyone have any opinions on this one? I tried going to the deep6 website but it seems like they’re all out of stock, and the forums don’t say much about their bcd’s, mainly good thing about their regs.
If it’s as good as their regs then maybe it’s worth it?