I have never had a problem keeping station in inverted position, on my side, or on my back, with a BP/W. But, I can also do all those things with a jacket. So, I have trouble saying one has advantages over the other. Good dive skills, proper weighting, etc. make far more difference than the style of BCD.I'm currently wrestling with a few choices. I've only ever dived with (often older, middle-of-the-pack) rental jacket BCDs, but the freedom of a backplate/wing setup, or a rear inflate jacket BCD sounds very appealing. . . . What I'm mostly curious about is how easy it is to keep station in 'odd' positions with a backplate/wing system
Yes, it would. But, a SS plate probably would as well.We travel a lot when diving, so weight and transport is a key concern, and we're warm water recreational divers, so the option for full-on multi-tank support is a non-issue, at least for the foreseeable future. I think an aluminum plate and Hogarthian harnass single tank/donut wing should yield a fairly easy to travel with setup.
The idea of the benefit of padding is, frankly, much greater than the reality, and I would not make a decision to add padding because of plans for regular shore diving. I dive on Bonaire for a week each year. I travel there with a SS BP, with a single piece, unpadded harness. I have never had a problem with weight issues in checked luggage, but I seldom take much beyond shorts and shirts for land wear, and scuba gear. I always wear a full 1mm suit when I dive coral reefs (and even if the water temperature is 82 degrees, that is still a substantial gradient compared with body temperature, so I prefer some thermal protection for the '5-a-day' diving). Yes, there are some Bonaire sites with notable 'walks' to the water entry - Thousand Steps comes to mind, Karpata to some extent, La Dania's Leap actually has one of the longer walks, in my opinion. But, I have never had any problem with discomfort from shoulder straps on those walks, that caused me to think that padding would be of any value.I do wonder whether a minimalist no padding, single webbing harness system is ideal considering the fact I do quite a lot of shore diving - my girlfriend has family on Bonaire, so we've been going almost every year, and that means a lot of shore diving, long walks, etc. . . . That's where a little padding on the straps (a la Transplate) might provide a bit of comfort.
I think I understand what Rob is saying - about the BP 'hype' - although I would not necessarily use the same word. Basically, a good diver can work with a variety of gear configurations, for recreational diving, underwater photography, even technical diving to a certain extent. A BP/W is not a magical ticket to perfect horizontal trim, good buoyancy control, etc. Personally, I do prefer a BP/W for recreational and technical (backmount) diving. But, I am quite comfortable in my jacket BCD (a simple, non-weight-integrated AquaLung Wave). I do see several advantages to a BP: a) fabric BCDs, be they jacket or back-inflate, are generally positively buoyant. That translates to an additional weight requirement for the diver, unless they are inherently negatively buoyant, which most of us are not. In contrast, metal backplates with simple harnesses are usually negatively buoyant - unless that is altered by the additional of (unnecessary) padding- and the total weight obligation for the diver is less; b) a metal backplate places much of the weight of the BCD where it optimally belongs, adjacent to the diver's center of lift (thorax / lungs). If you have a 'floaty' fabric BCD, even if it is weight-integrated, the weight is usually placed below that center of lift (e.g. on the waist on a belt, or in pockets at the bottom of the BCD). The use of trim pockets on cam bands - for jackets, 'soft' back-inflates. and BPs - has helped correct this to some extent, but it remains an issue with regard to trim. You can be perfectly weighted, but the distribution can still be 'off' and create a foot-low diver - a 'Forty-fiver', if you are adding a substantial amount of weight to compensate for the 'floaty' fabric; c) wearing a SS BP i need virtually no added weight in certain configurations (fresh water, salt water with AL cylinder and 1 mm exposure suit), or i only need a minimal amount of added weight; d) the plate is versatile, and allows for changing the lift (wing), to suit different exposure suit / weight combinations (e.g. diving both warm and cold water); e) the BP is amenable to easy addition of a crotch strap, which serves to enhance the security of the scuba unit to the diver, and the overall stability of the rig. Yes, you can add a crotch strap to a jacket BCD with a little sewing (yourself or a shoe repair shop) and I have done this with two jacket BCDs over the years, so that is not an exclusive advantage of a BP. But, it is easier to add a crotch strap to a BP than a jacket; f) I find it much easier to properly fit a BP with a single piece harness to a variety of torsos (mine included) than it is with a jacket. A perfectly fitting jacket is great. Getting a perfect fit with a jacket may be a bit more challenging than with a BP.
I encourage you to seriously consider a BP/W. Ideally, you should try one and dive it before buying. But, that may not be practical.
Last edited: