I wonder if a BP/W setup might help me to love diving?

[divad]

Renting one from Silent World is a superb suggestion -- try the gear yourself and see what you think! QUOTE]




I totally agree . You may over-think this to the point of parallysis and, eventually,
petrification.

 

[TSandM]

We are very similarly sized.

I think you can sew a crotch strap onto some BCs. But why bother?

 

[cool_hardware52]

By the way, is it an option to fit a crotch strap to a jacket type BC, if I were to go that way? Of the half dozen I tried on (all they had in my size), I don't remember any of them having a crotch strap.

Usually there is no provision to add a crotch strap to a Jacket BC.

One can of course sew one on, but how easy that is depends on your resources.

Needing to "Fix" a flawed design of course raises the question "why?"

Tobin

 

[Van Isle]

Hi! As you have said that you were looking to that "like a fish" feeling and you also said you really enjoyed snorkeling, maybe what you are looking for isn't SCUBA at all.

You should check out what "free diving" is. AKA breath hold diving, free diving is where participants dive with no equipment on a single breath to depths of 20'-100'. Amateurs can easily get to 3 minutes at 60' under water all with just a wetsuit, mask, fins.

(of course, one does not have to "choose" between free diving and SCUBA!)

As far as BP/W goes, I've had mine for about 6 months and 50 dives. Cold water, drysuit, and 30+lbs of lead. It's way closer to perfection than either the jacket inflate or back inflate BCs I've used in my first 70 dives.

Good luck.

VI

 

[Blue Sparkle]

Hi VI,

You're in one of my favorite places! I spent some time living on the Saanich Peninsula (getting ready) and then a *cough*... summer... *cough* cruising up to northern BC. I joke about the weather, but I *loved* that place. I'd be living there now if I had a passport with a Maple Leaf on it

Free diving sounds great, but although I love being in and under the water, I am *lousy* at holding my breath, and don't really enjoy it. But I do admire it.

B.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

BP/wing divers are a very small but hugely vocal group. Probably 98% of all scuba divers do NOT use a plate.

I will second Nemrod's breakdown of worldwide BP/W users, and add that nearly all of them seem to be members of ScubaBoard.

So apparently you know how many BP&W users there are worldwide, and you can prove that they are all SB members? Total nonsense.

If you take a look at what I bolded above; Nemrod used the qualifier "probably" so by seconding that statement I too am saying "probably" and I used the qualifiers "nearly all" and "seem to be" so at no time did I claim to "know how many BP/W users there are worldwide" and since I am not guilty of what you charge me with I laugh at the idea that proof could become part of the conversation.

Your qualifier of "apparently" is what looks like total nonsense to me, or maybe a marketing ploy!

For the last 8 years I have worked as guide/instructor here in Hawaii, diving with thousands of divers and significantly less than 1% have used BP/W. I agreed to Nemrod's additional 1%+ due to the relatively few cold water dives made worldwide. As this is the Basic Scuba Forum I am only talking about basic recreational diving, which also fits the less than 25 dives and mostly warm water foreseeable future of the OP.

Second, how can you discount vest and/or back inflate BC's if you have never used one that fit?

Neither of these offers the advantages of a BP&W, namely the plate. Plates add stabilty, and provide ballast up over the divers lungs.

Are you saying that all divers need added stability and plate ballast up over their lungs? Seems I've seen trim pockets in both vest and back inflate BC's and for many divers it appears to me that's all they need. If I were an underwater videographer making movies I would want to be more stable, but I am not and I like being able to position my body in any orientation; diving is after all a three dimensional situation.

Looking at your reply regarding stability and ballast I again only see marketing, not intelligent debate.

Now that there are more BP/W supporters, there are more BP/W's being purchased new, and there are way more BP/W's available on eBay used. We have to assume some of those are being sold by divers who did not find that the BP/W was what they wanted.

Again more total nonsense. All types of scuba gear is more commonly available on Ebay simply because the economy is forcing many to give up diving.

If BP&W were not becoming more common you'd see fewer for sale used.

There's a lot more used Toyota Camrys for sale than Citroens *Precisely* because of their popularity.

I'll not argue that a BP&W is the only solution for every diver, but these sort of arguments are just plain silly.

Again, I used a qualifier (some) yet you call this "more total nonsense" so if I were to use the kind of illogic your post seems to use I would guess you think all used BP/W's for sale on eBay are being sold by divers who love BP/W. I for one think it is more logical to assume that some of those divers selling used BP/W's on eBay do not love BP/W; the economy simply can not be the only reason!

Salesmen offering gear buying advise is pretty much the reason ScubaBoard happened; the marketing propaganda in many of your posts is what I call just plain silly

 

[TSandM]

I don't think the fact that the majority of the divers in Hawaii don't use backplates has any relevance at all to a discussion of whether a backplate is appropriate for the original poster. She has some specific issues and some specific goals, and neither those issues nor those goals are universal in the diving population.

Being similar in size to the OP and having had experience with both more "typical" gear and backplates, I do think this is a very good option for her to consider. She apparently has a very reasonable way to go look at and handle and perhaps even dive the equipment, and she can make up her own mind as to whether it gets her closer to "fishness". I think she will conclude that it does, especially if she deals with Chris and he gets her set up properly.

 

[diver 85]

Probably your best bet......

 

[mdb]

The OP is just looking for advice, not lectures or sales pitches. It seems that she is an intelligent person who will form her own opinion after hearing from all of us "experts" here.

Trying and renting different rigs will help. Take your time VI-you are already ahead of the game by
not buying until you have a good feel for what will fit your dive profile.

Scott @ Zeagle is a good source of info-of course he wants to promote Zeagle-he is an honest guy with good info. The folks @ Scubatoys are also also very stand up folks. They will sell you whatever you want, they will also give you good advice along the way.

Check them all out do some e-mails, PM's etc. and wait, dive, try, and, most importantly, have fun!

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

I don't think the fact that the majority of the divers in Hawaii don't use backplates has any relevance at all to a discussion of whether a backplate is appropriate for the original poster.

I am not just talking about the fact that the VAST majority of recreational dives made worldwide are made in vest BC's, or the fact that including back inflate BC's in that number "probably" brings the number very close to the one Nemrod posted, especially if we confine the conversation to beginning divers in warm water (OP!!!). I am also talking about the way some BP/W proponents promote their gear choice.

I am saddened that you would post that you think the predominant gear usage in warm water locations around the world has NO relevance to a discussion of what gear to use in warm water; my respect for you as an adviser of beginning divers has dropped a notch.

Is it any wonder Nemrod, myself and a few others are the only SB'ers who try to offer the non BP/W information; a BP/W dealer calls my posting total nonsense and just plain silly and a unified team cave diver calls my discussion not relevant.

I'll leave it to the OP and interested lurkers to decide who is spewing silly irrelevant nonsense.