SeaJay
Contributor
The destination: Forty Fathom Grotto, Crystal River (King Spring and Three Sisters). All of these outside of Gainsville, Florida.
The product: Halcyon's stainless steel backplate, DIR-style "continuous loop" harness, with the Pioneer 27 wing. Interestingly, Extreme Exposure recommended using a single tank adapter to go with our AL80's, despite the fact that the Pioneer 27 has a built-in, "integrated" STA.
The story: I went with my University Scuba Club, but both myself and my sweetheart left a day early to stop and shop at Extreme Exposure, the Halcyon dealer (and closely related to the manufacturer) to get gear. She's 5'3", 98 lbs, and I'm 6'1" and 220. Both of us are experienced Rescue Divers, and shopping for new BC's. I'm considering a backplate and wing, and have heard incredible things about this particular rig. She's pretty sold on a new SeaQuest Libra, but since we needed gear, was very interested in trying a bp/wing.
We stayed in High Springs Friday night and hit EE Saturday morning, before our dives.
EE had very polite salespeople, if a little "professional." No complaints here! I requested two complete rigs, and asked one of the salespeople if he'd fit us, since it had been such an issue in the past. I also told him that I'd be taking the DIR-F class in two weeks, and he seemed to reinforce all of the awesome things that I've heard about the class.
Interestingly, when I told him that I knew about bp/wings "from the internet," he recommended "steering clear" of the internet. He politely informed me that there's a lot of misinformation going around out there. Hmmmm. No kidding.
The salesperson recommended a 36 pound wing for me instead of the 27, but I hadn't shopped a 36 pound wing... I was interested in the 27. So at my request, he got me the 27. I'm glad that I stuck to my guns on that one, which frankly, felt wrong at the time... After all, he knows these rigs better than I do. But he said that my size should warrant a 36 pound wing. Hmmmm... The concept of proper weighting, and the irrelevance of my size to the size of the wing I chose didn't seem to cross his mind.
We then proceeded to get fit for the rigs. He was very corduial and helpful, but let me be frank on this one... The resulting fit was terrible. Her crotch strap hung halfway to her knees, and my shoulder straps were so tight I couldn't even move in the rig. We decided to take our chances and do a better job at fitment later.
For grins, I also rented ACB pockets for both of us, the right amount of weight, and a reg with a 6' hose (again, his recommendation... I asked for a 7', but he strongly recommended a 6'.)
Forty Fathom Grotto was our first destination. We arrived just in time to meet up with our buddies, and there was quite an interest in our "cave diver" rigs. Many people seemed be wowed by the very high-tech looking stainless plates, but everyone commented that they looked terribly uncomfortable. People were completely shocked when I cut some excess strap off of her harness and burned the end with a cigarette lighter. No matter of explaining the comfort level of the rig and the fact that all new webbing costs only a couple of dollars and that it was okay to cut and burn convinced anyone. Ah, well. You should have seen the reaction I got when I hooked up 6' of hose, wrapped it correctly, and began breathing from the long hose. They were wondering if I'd ever dived before.
I've dived a bp/wing before, but she hasn't... So most of my time went into helping her. She was diving a standard-issue reg, and we had some problems figuring out exactly where to put her console and her secondary, since these rigs came equipped without side D-rings. The problem was solved on one side by attaching the ACB pockets that were provided for us (which had a D-ring permenantly attached to the left side one), and she let the other dangle. Sheesh. Good thing nobody's taking pictures.
We had some initial weighting issues... Neither of us had ever dived these particular rigs before, and were a little off with our initial estimates. However, we did get that sorted out on our second dive, and used our surface interval to make the adjustments to the rigs that we really needed. Simply put, the Halcyon owner's manual says that a snug belt and crotchstrap should be the rule, and the chest straps should be just loose enough to allow for a couple of fingers to be slipped under them.
A couple of important notes on this procedure: Correct fit is absolutely vital to make this rig comfortable. EVERYTHING is adjustable, since it's a completely modular rig. I adjusted the shoulder straps on each of our rigs such that the "belt" would be basically level when the rig was worn. The belt was then snugged, and the crotchstrap was also snugged comfortably. The D-rings at the shoulders then needed to be adjusted. This whole procedure is very time consuming and basically a complete pain in the neck, as it has to be done off the body. We must have tried on and then taken off the rig 100 times to get it right. Even after the entire weekend of diving, there were still all kinds of small adjustments to be made.
Another interesting point, particularly about the crotchstrap. We both used a 2" crotchstrap, and neither of us had any problems with it, despite the fact that I've had plenty of "inner thigh stabbing" problems with a 2" strap before. The difference between then and now was the fact that EE used a much softer webbing for this particular strap. It was soft and flexible, whereas the rest of the harness was your standard-issue, stiff and durable stuff. Ah, so that's the secret!
On our second dive, things really started to come together. The whole rig felt awesome in the water. I had completely removed my ACB pockets, as I seemed to be perfectly weighted in a 3/2 mil (with hood), a stainless plate, and stainless 2 pound STA. Once weightless in the water, the rig virtually disappeared, and held me snugly and comfortably. She reported the same, and we were both in awe of the perfect sense of stability, streamlining, and practicality of the rig. I was especially thrilled, as I'd taken the ACB pockets off.
That's when I got to play around with my new long hose. Firstly, despite everybody's opinion of, "that thing's gonna get in the way," it was far from it. In fact, wrapped under the right arm, across the chest, and behind the head, I found that the hose stayed out of my way BETTER than your average 36" primary hose, since it does not create this huge loop over the right shoulder. The Scubapro setup was completely phoenominal in the water at depth, too. I could not give enough accolades for the performance of the reg.
After seeing me use the long hose, my gorgeous counterpart decided she wanted to give it a try... So we swapped regs on the next dive. Even with her tiny frame, she loved the reg.
There was just one thing that she and I disagreed on. She liked the necklace-bound secondary. I loathed it. I found that it did not sit in the center of my chest like so many people say... I found that with the pull of the secondary's hose, it sat more or less over my right shoulder D-ring, and annoyingly prevented full range of motion of my head. If I looked down and to the right, my primary and secondary interfered with each other. We believe that the major reason why it didn't seem to interfere with her was because her neck is so much smaller than mine. However, I feel that if I had a longer necklace, it might resolve the interference problem, but now simply be an annoying "dangly" on my chest, a particular pain when gliding over a silty bottom. Frankly, despite the fact that it's not what's taught anywhere, I would prefer my secondary to be clipped securely behind my right hip, ready to fall to hand when I need it, and totally out of the way the rest of the time. She liked the necklace.
I have to tell you guys about the performance of this rig, relative to buoyancy and trim... It's simply the best I've ever seen. There was positively no BC mistrim influence, no matter what position my body was in. I was able to do horizontal ascents and horizontal decents with no effort whatsoever, and I was positively able to obtain any body position I chose... And stay there... Without effort. The rig was completely secure, totally comfortable, and solid as a rock. Inflate and deflate was dead-on every time, and I could easily trim myself correctly and control small depth changes with my breath alone. I was able to maneuver within inches of anything underwater, without touching and without having to scull with hands or fins. Absolutely brilliant!
Surface time with the rig was more like a jacket-style BC than a back inflate BC. I found no "face forward" push whatsoever. I simply inflated at the surface and was able to relax and enjoy.
My entire experience wasn't completly positive, though. For one, the water was quite chilly, and I was a bit less protected that I'd prefer to be. Thus... And how do I say this... Uhhhhh... Shrinkage. Bigtime. Well, this put my uhhhhh... "Jewels" in a very wrong spot for that crotchstrap. In another world, I might have actually enjoyed the pressure. Unfortunately, when things are cold and the uhhhhhh... "Boys..." Go and uhhhhhh... "Hide..." Well, the pressure produced at the lower ab ("hernea") region can be a little uncomfortable. And it was. I played around with adjusting the strap, but the only way to really get the discomfort to subside completely was to loosen the strap so completely as to make it ineffective. To be fair, I have to admit that this would probably be less of an issue on a warmer day or with better protection, but let's just say that it was an issue on this chilly day.
Now, the rig can be used without a crotchstrap... Like many BC's are. However, this particular style of rig, with it's lack of any structure other than the webbing itself, is much more effected by a missing crotchstrap than many BC's are. I don't think I'd recommend a bp/wing without one... Although many do use theirs that way.
There's more, too... Topside, the ol' throw-your-BC-over-one-shoulder-and-walk-to-the-truck-to-get-another-tank is quite the lesson in torture. With no padding whatsoever, walking around with a bp/wing on, when there's a tank and maybe even weight involved, is quite uncomfortable. Sure, the rig disappears underwater, and one of the reasons is because there's no padding. However, you really miss that padding when you're topside and looking to move the rigs around. The problem is solved by either bringing all of your tanks with you at the same time (which is time consuming when you just want to get in the water), wear the rig over to the truck rather than slinging it over one shoulder (which helps, but still isn't all that great), or by keeping your wetsuit on (not always a comfortable option). In short, there is a price to pay for no padding... Although it can be avoided if you plan ahead. Many people complain about bruising on their shoulders from this. I didn't bruise, but I can see how it would.
The complete lack of any sort of quick-release buckles on the rig means that there is a streamlined and very problem-free rig. However, this also means that getting into a bp/wing can mean that you're going to have to do a little dance. I personally have no problem doing the over-the-head don like George Irvine does, but my sweetie can't. She either waits for me to help her or sits the rig upright on a chair or bench and squats to get into it. She complained multiple times about the fact that it was more difficult than necessary to don her gear... And more difficult than necessary to doff the gear as well. I agree with the latter... It's not impossible to get out of the rig, but my opinion is that it's really nice when you can sit down, unclip, and you're out. It's especially nice when you're on a rocking boat, in cold weather, or are exhausted from lots and lots of diving. The simplicity of the rig was beautiful, but the beauty does not come for free.
Another thing about the rig which really bothered me is this: With many BC's, Scubapro BC's in particular, mating your tank and BC can be an easy and quick affair. You can simply "hang" your BC on the tank via a "hang" strap, and then cinch the buckle on the tank strap. For all the beauty and utilitarianism associated with this backplate and wing, there was no hang strap, there were two tank straps to have to deal with, and cinching them was more difficult than it had to be. Simply put, assembly was a pain with this bp/wing.
Later, in cleaning up, there were two other things that struck us about the rigs... Firstly, it certainly was nice to have a rig that was dry in ten minutes... Brought to us in part from the lack of excess material in a bp/wing. Secondly, the long hose has to be minded, or else you'll drag in on the ground when you get out of the water.
An interesting thing happened on our second dive which you guys will get a kick out of... We were there with an instructor buddy of mine, and he was doing an Advanced class that day. For those of you unfamiliar, Forty Fathoms is 240 feet deep (hence the name) and can be very dangerous to people with little buoyancy control. We dove nearby the class "just in case." On entering, my long hose and my short hose did some sort of funky dance together, and they became entangled. I asked the closest person to me to "help me out back there," which happened to be the instructor. I could just sense the complete confusion as I asked for my secondary first, over my right shoulder, then my primary, which I promptly wrapped around my neck. He became concerned, and told me that "Jeez, are you sure this is how this thing goes?" I laughed, and said, "That's perfect."
Anyway, one of his students later got away from him. This student found herself suddenly sprialing downward in a narced fit of pleasure, and he took off after her. A Divemaster candidate working with him kept the rest of the group while he retrieved the diver before she hit 130 feet. However, it took a while to get her to the surface, and not long thereafter, at 60 feet, Mr. Instructor himself began to look around for an experienced diver. I was within eyeshot, and noticed the commotion and perfectly-buoyanced myself over to him. He promptly asked three or four surrounding divers how much air each of us had. We all responded, wondering, "What's the deal?" He then looked at me and said, "You... Me... Swim... That way... Out of air." Naturally, I thought he wanted to test the concepts of donating the long hose, but he continued to sign. "You... Me... Share air... Out of air..." And he wasn't swimming away. He had bubbles coming from his reg in a regular pattern, but just for the hell of it I grabbed my primary and shoved it in his face. He began to look at the other divers, but when I tapped my purge valve, he nearly ate my reg. Realizing that he was out of air, I grabbed his BC and let him breathe a few times before grabbing my secondary (on the necklace) and purging my own. There was a platform nearby, so we headed over there so as to assure depth, and I got negative on the platform to keep him down. He grabbed for his air integrated computer, which had a big, fat, blinking zero on it... And a STOP symbol on it, telling me that we still had several minutes of deco time before we could make a safe ascent. Okay signs went all over the place, and he seemed to relax a little. What a great thing to have that long hose! We were still able to work a bit because of the length, and he was able to regain composure without also having to deal with the fact that I'm a foot away from his face. I'm sold on the long hose, even if you do have to mind it when you get out of the water, and even though it's a little more complicated to find when you drop it at the surface.
Now I'm just a bit worried that this guy's instructing. In fact, he taught ME both my OW and AOW. Hmmmm... Well, I suppose that we all make mistakes... And he's alive, so he at least taught me adequately, right? Hm.
The next day she and I did a bit more fine-tuning of our gear, and did an early-morning dive at King Spring in Crystal River. The Spring was already badly silted from newbie divers, but we enjoyed it anyway. Why is it that anymore, I end up diving for everyone else recently? I mean, I wanna go dive... And instead I'm helping someone find their fins, which they lost in a complete silt-out, because they didn't know how to attach the fin straps? Why am I helping others constantly with their weight, trim, and buoyancy issues? Why is it that nobody's own spit seems to keep thier mask clear? I need to learn to look the other way... But I just can't.
Anyway, our first dive was pretty good... Saw a couple of manatees, which were friendly and wanted to be pet by divers. If you haven't ever done this before, you must go dive with the manatees of Crystal River. Too cool! My girl and I decided to check out the little "pass through" cavern in the spring, but when I got to the center and turned around to make sure she was okay, she was gone. I hung out, looking around and waiting for her for a while, but had to surface when she didn't return. She explained that she was diving, and that she suddenly felt that she was in a strong upcurrent. It apparently took her to the surface, while she battled trying to dump air from her wing. Pretty scary stuff. We still don't know what happened, but it sounds to me like she got her inflator button hung on something. The problem is that she was unable to dump when she most needed it. And that problem came from her attitude in the water... Apparently perfectly horizontal. One thing that we hadn't noticed about the bp/wing combo was that the inflator/deflator hose, if properly routed through a bungee or surgical tube "keeper", will not dump air at all in a horizontal position. What's worse is that if you try to hold the inflator/deflator handpiece up high in order to dump, it will kink the hose in such a fashion as to prevent air from escaping. When I asked her why she didn't use her bottom dump, she told me that she'd been unable to locate the valve quick enough, due to some numbskull having cut the little ball off of the end of the string. Sure, cavers might get all weird about the extremely remote possibility that something like that could get snagged, but the truth is that that string needs to be easy to find in a hurry. It really scared her. Good thing we were only in like 30 feet of water.
We took her inflator/deflator hose out of it's keeper for the rest of the day, but flat-out, both of us miss the simplicity of a pull dump. It uses a distinctive pull action that's very different from the push of the inflator button, and there's no mistake, even if you're narced or are mid-Rescue and totally task loaded. Also, a pull dump would have worked just fine in a horizontal position. This simple feature is once again on my "Top 10" list of "wants" in a BC.
Our last dive of the weekend was in Three Sisters, another set of springs in Crystal River. The water was much shallower there, but we dove anyway, rather than snorkeled. The water was about five degrees warmer than the rest of Crystal River, and clarity was off the chart. I can't tell you our elation when we stumbled across a herd (is that the right word?) of manatee sleeping in the perfectly clear waters of the spring. There were several mothers with young, too, and some of the males who weren't napping hovered nearby, watching us with a very careful eye. Needless to say, we didn't disturb them, but we were delighted by a young adolescent who wanted to play and have his belly scratched.
In looking around at the other divers, we were amazed at the other diver's lack of buoyancy skills and in-water control. She and I simply hovered, perfectly centered between ceiling and floor n the six-foot depths, with perfect trim and streamlining. Outstanding.
So what's the bottom line? Well, I've never seen any BC perform better than this setup. It's got some real advantages, but those don't come for free. I certainly learned a lot, and many of the bp/wing's features I definitely want. However, after using what was basically the exact rig that I wanted, I'm going to say that the rig's missing a few things that I'd like to have: 1. I still want a pull dump, and one that works. No dive-rite pull dumps, please. 2. It's great in the water, but let's face it... It spends most of it's life on land. I'd like something that was a bit friendlier to the diver on land as well. 3. Quick-releases and adjustments are nice, so long as they don't break. Sure, they're a failure point. So is everything else you own and dive with. The point is that adjusting this thing is a real chore. A little user-friendliness, please. Also, I've mentioned before that "once your harness is adjusted properly, you won't have to deal with it again." Well, that's wrong. There were times when I wanted my rig to fit tighter to me, and times when I wanted it to fit looser. Sometimes, certain muscles simply get tired or cramped, and you may adjust your rig so as to alleviate pressure in one area and transfer it to another. That can't be done in a bp/wing setup, at least not one with a continuous loop. And that could be a big deal to someone who's diving for many hours on end. 4. Many BC's have the capacity to handle both double tanks and single tanks. With a bp/wing, you're going to have to buy two wings, at least, and those can run into the hundreds of dollars.
In short, I still like the bp/wing... I simply don't agree that it's the best BC in the world today. Maybe in some circumstances, but not all of them. At least, that's my opinion, take it or leave it.
The product: Halcyon's stainless steel backplate, DIR-style "continuous loop" harness, with the Pioneer 27 wing. Interestingly, Extreme Exposure recommended using a single tank adapter to go with our AL80's, despite the fact that the Pioneer 27 has a built-in, "integrated" STA.
The story: I went with my University Scuba Club, but both myself and my sweetheart left a day early to stop and shop at Extreme Exposure, the Halcyon dealer (and closely related to the manufacturer) to get gear. She's 5'3", 98 lbs, and I'm 6'1" and 220. Both of us are experienced Rescue Divers, and shopping for new BC's. I'm considering a backplate and wing, and have heard incredible things about this particular rig. She's pretty sold on a new SeaQuest Libra, but since we needed gear, was very interested in trying a bp/wing.
We stayed in High Springs Friday night and hit EE Saturday morning, before our dives.
EE had very polite salespeople, if a little "professional." No complaints here! I requested two complete rigs, and asked one of the salespeople if he'd fit us, since it had been such an issue in the past. I also told him that I'd be taking the DIR-F class in two weeks, and he seemed to reinforce all of the awesome things that I've heard about the class.
Interestingly, when I told him that I knew about bp/wings "from the internet," he recommended "steering clear" of the internet. He politely informed me that there's a lot of misinformation going around out there. Hmmmm. No kidding.
The salesperson recommended a 36 pound wing for me instead of the 27, but I hadn't shopped a 36 pound wing... I was interested in the 27. So at my request, he got me the 27. I'm glad that I stuck to my guns on that one, which frankly, felt wrong at the time... After all, he knows these rigs better than I do. But he said that my size should warrant a 36 pound wing. Hmmmm... The concept of proper weighting, and the irrelevance of my size to the size of the wing I chose didn't seem to cross his mind.
We then proceeded to get fit for the rigs. He was very corduial and helpful, but let me be frank on this one... The resulting fit was terrible. Her crotch strap hung halfway to her knees, and my shoulder straps were so tight I couldn't even move in the rig. We decided to take our chances and do a better job at fitment later.
For grins, I also rented ACB pockets for both of us, the right amount of weight, and a reg with a 6' hose (again, his recommendation... I asked for a 7', but he strongly recommended a 6'.)
Forty Fathom Grotto was our first destination. We arrived just in time to meet up with our buddies, and there was quite an interest in our "cave diver" rigs. Many people seemed be wowed by the very high-tech looking stainless plates, but everyone commented that they looked terribly uncomfortable. People were completely shocked when I cut some excess strap off of her harness and burned the end with a cigarette lighter. No matter of explaining the comfort level of the rig and the fact that all new webbing costs only a couple of dollars and that it was okay to cut and burn convinced anyone. Ah, well. You should have seen the reaction I got when I hooked up 6' of hose, wrapped it correctly, and began breathing from the long hose. They were wondering if I'd ever dived before.
I've dived a bp/wing before, but she hasn't... So most of my time went into helping her. She was diving a standard-issue reg, and we had some problems figuring out exactly where to put her console and her secondary, since these rigs came equipped without side D-rings. The problem was solved on one side by attaching the ACB pockets that were provided for us (which had a D-ring permenantly attached to the left side one), and she let the other dangle. Sheesh. Good thing nobody's taking pictures.
We had some initial weighting issues... Neither of us had ever dived these particular rigs before, and were a little off with our initial estimates. However, we did get that sorted out on our second dive, and used our surface interval to make the adjustments to the rigs that we really needed. Simply put, the Halcyon owner's manual says that a snug belt and crotchstrap should be the rule, and the chest straps should be just loose enough to allow for a couple of fingers to be slipped under them.
A couple of important notes on this procedure: Correct fit is absolutely vital to make this rig comfortable. EVERYTHING is adjustable, since it's a completely modular rig. I adjusted the shoulder straps on each of our rigs such that the "belt" would be basically level when the rig was worn. The belt was then snugged, and the crotchstrap was also snugged comfortably. The D-rings at the shoulders then needed to be adjusted. This whole procedure is very time consuming and basically a complete pain in the neck, as it has to be done off the body. We must have tried on and then taken off the rig 100 times to get it right. Even after the entire weekend of diving, there were still all kinds of small adjustments to be made.
Another interesting point, particularly about the crotchstrap. We both used a 2" crotchstrap, and neither of us had any problems with it, despite the fact that I've had plenty of "inner thigh stabbing" problems with a 2" strap before. The difference between then and now was the fact that EE used a much softer webbing for this particular strap. It was soft and flexible, whereas the rest of the harness was your standard-issue, stiff and durable stuff. Ah, so that's the secret!
On our second dive, things really started to come together. The whole rig felt awesome in the water. I had completely removed my ACB pockets, as I seemed to be perfectly weighted in a 3/2 mil (with hood), a stainless plate, and stainless 2 pound STA. Once weightless in the water, the rig virtually disappeared, and held me snugly and comfortably. She reported the same, and we were both in awe of the perfect sense of stability, streamlining, and practicality of the rig. I was especially thrilled, as I'd taken the ACB pockets off.
That's when I got to play around with my new long hose. Firstly, despite everybody's opinion of, "that thing's gonna get in the way," it was far from it. In fact, wrapped under the right arm, across the chest, and behind the head, I found that the hose stayed out of my way BETTER than your average 36" primary hose, since it does not create this huge loop over the right shoulder. The Scubapro setup was completely phoenominal in the water at depth, too. I could not give enough accolades for the performance of the reg.
After seeing me use the long hose, my gorgeous counterpart decided she wanted to give it a try... So we swapped regs on the next dive. Even with her tiny frame, she loved the reg.
There was just one thing that she and I disagreed on. She liked the necklace-bound secondary. I loathed it. I found that it did not sit in the center of my chest like so many people say... I found that with the pull of the secondary's hose, it sat more or less over my right shoulder D-ring, and annoyingly prevented full range of motion of my head. If I looked down and to the right, my primary and secondary interfered with each other. We believe that the major reason why it didn't seem to interfere with her was because her neck is so much smaller than mine. However, I feel that if I had a longer necklace, it might resolve the interference problem, but now simply be an annoying "dangly" on my chest, a particular pain when gliding over a silty bottom. Frankly, despite the fact that it's not what's taught anywhere, I would prefer my secondary to be clipped securely behind my right hip, ready to fall to hand when I need it, and totally out of the way the rest of the time. She liked the necklace.
I have to tell you guys about the performance of this rig, relative to buoyancy and trim... It's simply the best I've ever seen. There was positively no BC mistrim influence, no matter what position my body was in. I was able to do horizontal ascents and horizontal decents with no effort whatsoever, and I was positively able to obtain any body position I chose... And stay there... Without effort. The rig was completely secure, totally comfortable, and solid as a rock. Inflate and deflate was dead-on every time, and I could easily trim myself correctly and control small depth changes with my breath alone. I was able to maneuver within inches of anything underwater, without touching and without having to scull with hands or fins. Absolutely brilliant!
Surface time with the rig was more like a jacket-style BC than a back inflate BC. I found no "face forward" push whatsoever. I simply inflated at the surface and was able to relax and enjoy.
My entire experience wasn't completly positive, though. For one, the water was quite chilly, and I was a bit less protected that I'd prefer to be. Thus... And how do I say this... Uhhhhh... Shrinkage.
Bigtime. Well, this put my uhhhhh... "Jewels" in a very wrong spot for that crotchstrap. In another world, I might have actually enjoyed the pressure. Unfortunately, when things are cold and the uhhhhhh... "Boys..." Go and uhhhhhh... "Hide..." Well, the pressure produced at the lower ab ("hernea") region can be a little uncomfortable. And it was. I played around with adjusting the strap, but the only way to really get the discomfort to subside completely was to loosen the strap so completely as to make it ineffective. To be fair, I have to admit that this would probably be less of an issue on a warmer day or with better protection, but let's just say that it was an issue on this chilly day.Now, the rig can be used without a crotchstrap... Like many BC's are. However, this particular style of rig, with it's lack of any structure other than the webbing itself, is much more effected by a missing crotchstrap than many BC's are. I don't think I'd recommend a bp/wing without one... Although many do use theirs that way.
There's more, too... Topside, the ol' throw-your-BC-over-one-shoulder-and-walk-to-the-truck-to-get-another-tank is quite the lesson in torture. With no padding whatsoever, walking around with a bp/wing on, when there's a tank and maybe even weight involved, is quite uncomfortable. Sure, the rig disappears underwater, and one of the reasons is because there's no padding. However, you really miss that padding when you're topside and looking to move the rigs around. The problem is solved by either bringing all of your tanks with you at the same time (which is time consuming when you just want to get in the water), wear the rig over to the truck rather than slinging it over one shoulder (which helps, but still isn't all that great), or by keeping your wetsuit on (not always a comfortable option). In short, there is a price to pay for no padding... Although it can be avoided if you plan ahead. Many people complain about bruising on their shoulders from this. I didn't bruise, but I can see how it would.
The complete lack of any sort of quick-release buckles on the rig means that there is a streamlined and very problem-free rig. However, this also means that getting into a bp/wing can mean that you're going to have to do a little dance. I personally have no problem doing the over-the-head don like George Irvine does, but my sweetie can't. She either waits for me to help her or sits the rig upright on a chair or bench and squats to get into it. She complained multiple times about the fact that it was more difficult than necessary to don her gear... And more difficult than necessary to doff the gear as well. I agree with the latter... It's not impossible to get out of the rig, but my opinion is that it's really nice when you can sit down, unclip, and you're out. It's especially nice when you're on a rocking boat, in cold weather, or are exhausted from lots and lots of diving. The simplicity of the rig was beautiful, but the beauty does not come for free.
Another thing about the rig which really bothered me is this: With many BC's, Scubapro BC's in particular, mating your tank and BC can be an easy and quick affair. You can simply "hang" your BC on the tank via a "hang" strap, and then cinch the buckle on the tank strap. For all the beauty and utilitarianism associated with this backplate and wing, there was no hang strap, there were two tank straps to have to deal with, and cinching them was more difficult than it had to be. Simply put, assembly was a pain with this bp/wing.
Later, in cleaning up, there were two other things that struck us about the rigs... Firstly, it certainly was nice to have a rig that was dry in ten minutes... Brought to us in part from the lack of excess material in a bp/wing. Secondly, the long hose has to be minded, or else you'll drag in on the ground when you get out of the water.
An interesting thing happened on our second dive which you guys will get a kick out of... We were there with an instructor buddy of mine, and he was doing an Advanced class that day. For those of you unfamiliar, Forty Fathoms is 240 feet deep (hence the name) and can be very dangerous to people with little buoyancy control. We dove nearby the class "just in case." On entering, my long hose and my short hose did some sort of funky dance together, and they became entangled. I asked the closest person to me to "help me out back there," which happened to be the instructor. I could just sense the complete confusion as I asked for my secondary first, over my right shoulder, then my primary, which I promptly wrapped around my neck. He became concerned, and told me that "Jeez, are you sure this is how this thing goes?" I laughed, and said, "That's perfect."
Anyway, one of his students later got away from him. This student found herself suddenly sprialing downward in a narced fit of pleasure, and he took off after her. A Divemaster candidate working with him kept the rest of the group while he retrieved the diver before she hit 130 feet. However, it took a while to get her to the surface, and not long thereafter, at 60 feet, Mr. Instructor himself began to look around for an experienced diver. I was within eyeshot, and noticed the commotion and perfectly-buoyanced myself over to him. He promptly asked three or four surrounding divers how much air each of us had. We all responded, wondering, "What's the deal?" He then looked at me and said, "You... Me... Swim... That way... Out of air." Naturally, I thought he wanted to test the concepts of donating the long hose, but he continued to sign. "You... Me... Share air... Out of air..." And he wasn't swimming away. He had bubbles coming from his reg in a regular pattern, but just for the hell of it I grabbed my primary and shoved it in his face. He began to look at the other divers, but when I tapped my purge valve, he nearly ate my reg. Realizing that he was out of air, I grabbed his BC and let him breathe a few times before grabbing my secondary (on the necklace) and purging my own. There was a platform nearby, so we headed over there so as to assure depth, and I got negative on the platform to keep him down. He grabbed for his air integrated computer, which had a big, fat, blinking zero on it... And a STOP symbol on it, telling me that we still had several minutes of deco time before we could make a safe ascent. Okay signs went all over the place, and he seemed to relax a little. What a great thing to have that long hose! We were still able to work a bit because of the length, and he was able to regain composure without also having to deal with the fact that I'm a foot away from his face. I'm sold on the long hose, even if you do have to mind it when you get out of the water, and even though it's a little more complicated to find when you drop it at the surface.
Now I'm just a bit worried that this guy's instructing. In fact, he taught ME both my OW and AOW. Hmmmm... Well, I suppose that we all make mistakes... And he's alive, so he at least taught me adequately, right? Hm.
The next day she and I did a bit more fine-tuning of our gear, and did an early-morning dive at King Spring in Crystal River. The Spring was already badly silted from newbie divers, but we enjoyed it anyway. Why is it that anymore, I end up diving for everyone else recently? I mean, I wanna go dive... And instead I'm helping someone find their fins, which they lost in a complete silt-out, because they didn't know how to attach the fin straps? Why am I helping others constantly with their weight, trim, and buoyancy issues? Why is it that nobody's own spit seems to keep thier mask clear? I need to learn to look the other way... But I just can't.
Anyway, our first dive was pretty good... Saw a couple of manatees, which were friendly and wanted to be pet by divers. If you haven't ever done this before, you must go dive with the manatees of Crystal River. Too cool! My girl and I decided to check out the little "pass through" cavern in the spring, but when I got to the center and turned around to make sure she was okay, she was gone. I hung out, looking around and waiting for her for a while, but had to surface when she didn't return. She explained that she was diving, and that she suddenly felt that she was in a strong upcurrent. It apparently took her to the surface, while she battled trying to dump air from her wing. Pretty scary stuff. We still don't know what happened, but it sounds to me like she got her inflator button hung on something. The problem is that she was unable to dump when she most needed it. And that problem came from her attitude in the water... Apparently perfectly horizontal. One thing that we hadn't noticed about the bp/wing combo was that the inflator/deflator hose, if properly routed through a bungee or surgical tube "keeper", will not dump air at all in a horizontal position. What's worse is that if you try to hold the inflator/deflator handpiece up high in order to dump, it will kink the hose in such a fashion as to prevent air from escaping. When I asked her why she didn't use her bottom dump, she told me that she'd been unable to locate the valve quick enough, due to some numbskull having cut the little ball off of the end of the string. Sure, cavers might get all weird about the extremely remote possibility that something like that could get snagged, but the truth is that that string needs to be easy to find in a hurry. It really scared her. Good thing we were only in like 30 feet of water.
We took her inflator/deflator hose out of it's keeper for the rest of the day, but flat-out, both of us miss the simplicity of a pull dump. It uses a distinctive pull action that's very different from the push of the inflator button, and there's no mistake, even if you're narced or are mid-Rescue and totally task loaded. Also, a pull dump would have worked just fine in a horizontal position. This simple feature is once again on my "Top 10" list of "wants" in a BC.
Our last dive of the weekend was in Three Sisters, another set of springs in Crystal River. The water was much shallower there, but we dove anyway, rather than snorkeled. The water was about five degrees warmer than the rest of Crystal River, and clarity was off the chart. I can't tell you our elation when we stumbled across a herd (is that the right word?) of manatee sleeping in the perfectly clear waters of the spring. There were several mothers with young, too, and some of the males who weren't napping hovered nearby, watching us with a very careful eye. Needless to say, we didn't disturb them, but we were delighted by a young adolescent who wanted to play and have his belly scratched.
In looking around at the other divers, we were amazed at the other diver's lack of buoyancy skills and in-water control. She and I simply hovered, perfectly centered between ceiling and floor n the six-foot depths, with perfect trim and streamlining. Outstanding.
So what's the bottom line? Well, I've never seen any BC perform better than this setup. It's got some real advantages, but those don't come for free. I certainly learned a lot, and many of the bp/wing's features I definitely want. However, after using what was basically the exact rig that I wanted, I'm going to say that the rig's missing a few things that I'd like to have: 1. I still want a pull dump, and one that works. No dive-rite pull dumps, please. 2. It's great in the water, but let's face it... It spends most of it's life on land. I'd like something that was a bit friendlier to the diver on land as well. 3. Quick-releases and adjustments are nice, so long as they don't break. Sure, they're a failure point. So is everything else you own and dive with. The point is that adjusting this thing is a real chore. A little user-friendliness, please. Also, I've mentioned before that "once your harness is adjusted properly, you won't have to deal with it again." Well, that's wrong. There were times when I wanted my rig to fit tighter to me, and times when I wanted it to fit looser. Sometimes, certain muscles simply get tired or cramped, and you may adjust your rig so as to alleviate pressure in one area and transfer it to another. That can't be done in a bp/wing setup, at least not one with a continuous loop. And that could be a big deal to someone who's diving for many hours on end. 4. Many BC's have the capacity to handle both double tanks and single tanks. With a bp/wing, you're going to have to buy two wings, at least, and those can run into the hundreds of dollars.
In short, I still like the bp/wing... I simply don't agree that it's the best BC in the world today. Maybe in some circumstances, but not all of them. At least, that's my opinion, take it or leave it.
