Harness or BC with a drysuit?

[pwwm]

I have done rather a lot of dives using a wing with my dry suit (used the wing since 1997), re the subject of an accident and the DS tears, yep I have seen it happen at Scap Flow in cold water, luckily the DS did not flood too quickly but the diver certainly needed his BC then, he was a member of my group.
But good luck in your choice

 

[Aquatech3]

After doing a little more research I decided to go with the OMS Harness and backplate with a 60lb bladder. Seems to be the same as the Dive Rite harness but a little cheaper and I didn't want all that extra padding on the shoulders and back so it ends up being a bit cheaper. I am going to do a couple shallow dives with and without using the bladder to see the difference but more than likely will keep the bladder on as a fail safe.

 

[Pathfinder]

I'm using a Seaquest Raider (I know it's not BP/W, but it does have wings ) and I used light bungie chord to pull the wings in when they're not inflated. Made a big difference not having them flapping around.

Dave

 

[dsteding]

After doing a little more research I decided to go with the OMS Harness and backplate with a 60lb bladder.

Are you diving single tanks? If so, 60lbs of lift seem to be a bit much-30 pounds or so should work. In quickly reading this thread it seems that one of your reasons for diving without a bladder at all was to be streamlined, if you get a wing that is the right size for your rig then you will indeed find yourself to be very streamlined-especially if you came from a jacket BC

[now is the time that Tobin comes along and cut-and-pastes his excellent wing sizing discussion-but also check out the thread below]

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?p=2151342#post2151342

 

[RJP]

After doing a little more research I decided to go with the OMS Harness and backplate with a 60lb bladder.

60lbs sounds like a lot of lift unless you're diving doubles.

 

[Aquatech3]

I am diving singles currently but this winter will be diving double steel 72's so I figured it wouldn't hurt.

 

[wmspdi]

If you get a Dive Rite REC wing you can snug up the bungee cord when you dive a single tank and unclip the cord when you dive doubles. The bungee will draw the wing in a bit, and avoid the "taco" effect common with oversized wings and single tanks. IMHO the best way to go would be a BP and a Venture wing (or 30 lb wing) for single tanks and a REC wing (or 60 lb wing) for doubles. That is what I did. My son has a Transpac (he didn't like the hard plate on this back) and uses my Venture wing when we dive together.

BTW- I tried the PADI way of using just the DS for inflation and agree with eveyone else. Use enough air in the suit to avoid squeeze and your BC/wing for control. Good luck.

 

[Aquatech3]

Wmspdi, Thanks for the additional info....I have already bought the OMS but the Recwing I do agree looks much more streamline...I will try to find an OMS comparable. I see you are from my neck of the woods, do you know of any other good sites in Ohio other than Gilboa, Portage and Whitestar?

 

[wmspdi]

Those are big 3... unless you add Lake Erie for some wreck diving. If you do any Great Lakes boat dives plan on diving dry, or at least have a 7mm Farmer John (or full length) wet suit. Water temps get down around 40F on some of the wrecks.

 

[terrasmak]

A 60 pound wing is probably still way to much for a pair of steel 73's