Is it too Heavy???

[Triton]

Being another guy that will be making the transition to a BP/wings, I decided to do some research and I found I plate that I like (specially the price) from S & W Metal Products, but was wondering if it might be to heavy for a person like me.
The plate with harness weights in at 7.5 lbs.

Me:
I’m a short guy standing at 5’ 6” tall and weight 145lb.
I mainly dive the dark cool waters of Monterey, California
I dive wet – but that might change to a dry suit next year
And I use a PST HP 100 tank

So, with that information, would that plate be too heavy for me? Or should I be considering something a little lighter?

Pleeeaaaasssseeee Help.....

 

[matt t.]

Depending on your wetsuit, how much weight do you usually wear? Most people like to have some ditchable weight for safety reasons. With the steel tank you probably (already) don't have much weight on your belt. Using a 7 lb. SS backplate and steel tank may make you WAY to heavy. You may want to think about an aluminum plate. There is alot of info on this if you so a search.

 

[Arnaud]

An SS BP is usually about 6lbs. So you have to figure out how much ditchable weight that would leave you. You should also decide if you're going to use an STA. That would add more non ditchable weight.

 

[Triton]

Thanks for the input, right now I’m using 12 lbs so that would leave me with about 5 lbs of ditchable weight.

I’m also looking at the FredT BP since they have gotten so many good reviews.

I read somewhere in here that the plates on the link below might be FredT plates but could some one verify that.

http://www.aulinc.com/Htm_Files/SS Backplates.htm

 

[Dryglove]

Triton once bubbled...

I read somewhere in here that the plates on the link below might be FredT plates but could some one verify that.

http://www.aulinc.com/Htm_Files/SS Backplates.htm

Yes those are fredt plates. Chris at www.covci.com also sells fredt products. Your best bet would be to pm fredt directly on the board here and buy directly from him.