New bp/w

[c555]

I am planning to get a bp/w this fall. Right now I am thinking about the halcyon pioneer 36 with ss bp. I havent dove one yet but am going to fifth d in the next few weeks and will hopefully be able to try one out. Any thoughts on this setup or any recommendations would be great. Thanks in advance.

 

[SparticleBrane]

I have an Eclipse and love it. I'm sure you'll like the Pioneer...although I prefer the Eclipse since it's two layers as opposed to one.

 

[c555]

Do you know how big a difference there is in the durability between the two? The eclipse looks good but it is $100 more. I'm noot sure if the better durability is worth $100. Thanks.

 

[*Floater*]

Do you know how big a difference there is in the durability between the two? The eclipse looks good but it is $100 more. I'm noot sure if the better durability is worth $100. Thanks.

A DM friend of mine said his pioneer lasted about 500 or 600 warm water dives before it began developping little pinhole leeks. He'd repair them with aquaseal, but new leaks would develop and he later upgraded to a double-layered wing. His budding DM buddy still dives the pioneer but it's full of aquaseal now. That was with the old pioneer. I think the new ones are tougher to meet European market requirements.

The thing about single-layered wings though is that they will eventually wear out in active use and then you have the toss them, whereas with the double-layered wings you can just replace the inner bladder, and the inner bladders aren't that expensive as far as I know though maybe you should check with Halcyon on that. H gear is often a little more expensive than other brands.

However, even though single-layered wings are less durable than double-layered ones they still have their place in scuba and aren't worse per se. A lot of people, for example, prefer to use a small single-layered wings for warm water vacation diving.

 

[SangP]

Although I own a halcyon eclipse, I would opt for either a oxycheq, golem or dss setup due to them being cheaper with tougher designs and materials.

SangP

 

[wunat]

Yep, there are lots of other good BP+Wing setups out there other than Halcyon.

Enjoy!!!

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Eric Sedletzky uses Oxycheq wings with his backplates. The plate feels a lot more comfortable than the flat Halcyon style plates.
http://www.pacificcoastmarine.net/freedom plate.htm

 

[PerroneFord]

Eric Sedletzky uses Oxycheq wings with his backplates. The plate feels a lot more comfortable than the flat Halcyon style plates.
http://www.pacificcoastmarine.net/freedom plate.htm

:lol:


Well, I'll leave Eric alone to do his thing with that... Sure is shiny though!

 

[BSea]

My only advise it to check out all brands of wings & BPs. When I bought my BP/W, I spent several weeks going over all the brands. (I kind of see what my wife sees in the shopping thing.....sort of) There have been several complaints about the inflators on Halcyon wings, so you might want to check out some other threads on that problem. But, if you are one of those that has to have the Blue H everywhere, then by all means get the Halcyon. After all, buying the gear is half the fun.

As far as using a single bladder wing, if you only get 500 to 600 dives on the wing, then you only spent about 50¢ per dive for your wing. Not bad. I'm betting most people would have upgraded long before they wear out the wing.

 

[TSandM]

I really like the DSS singles setup for a number of reasons. The webbing slots in the plate are lined with a plastic that acts as a resistor to movement of the webbing, so you don't have to use triglides to stabilize the harness. The wing includes a form of STA, so you don't have to use one -- this makes it easier to reach your valve in a single tank. (On the other hand, given how much weight we dive around here, a weighted STA may be a desirable part of your rig.) The DSS inflators don't have a self-inflating problem and don't require constant maintenance and lubrication. And the whole rig is relatively inexpensive, especially compared with Halcyon.