I'm a new diver in California(only Monterey up to this point) and I'm slowly starting to put together my own diving rig(I don't love every rental being a new experience in figuring out my gear). I've got a dive computer and regs ordered from my LDS, and I'm slowly starting to look into wetsuit and BCD options. The BCD and weight system is what I'm the most confused about. Apologies in advance, as I know this subject has been covered extensively in this thread, but I still have a few questions.
First, here is a bit on me for reference:
- Weight: 195 lbs
- Height: 5'11"
- Typical exposure suit: 8/7mm semidry (dry suit may be something I'll investigate in the future, but the semidry suits my needs for now)
- Optimal weight on AL80 tank with jacket BCD: 30 lbs
- I'm interested in a setup that can support single tank dives within recreational limits(130 ft max depth, within NDL, etc)
I'm interested in the BP/W options since those intuitively seem like they would be easier to manage during a dive.(although I haven't been able to dive with one) However, there seem to be more considerations to buying them.
- Wing lift capacity Based on the fact that I needed 30 lbs of weight for an AL80 tank, if I were to distribute most of that weight onto the BC (more questions on this later) it seems like the DGX single BP/W setup with 30 lbs lift capacity may be marginal.(for the rig being able to float at the surface on its own) As a result, I'm wondering if a 35 or 40 lbs wing is more appropriate (thinking dive rite voyager wing) to give me a bit more margin. Also, other than having sufficient lift capacity at depth and being able to float the BCD at the surface, is there any other consideration for minimum lift capacity?
- Backplate material Seems like stainless steel is the best option since I'll most likely be carrying a lot of weight on local dives if I'm renting AL80 tanks. Is it worth also getting an aluminum backplate in case I use a steel cylinder?
- Weight distributionIn my last few dives, I have been able to transfer all of the weight into the jacket BCD in ditchable integrated weight pockets and some trim pockets on the tank strap. This was pretty convenient, I was pretty happy to be free of the weight belt since it kept riding up under the BCD on earlier dives, and I was able to maintain decent trim. The only noticeable downside was the BCD was a bit heavy and cumbersome out of the water. However, after reading a bit more, a decent number of folks advocate for wearing a weight belt to allow a diver to remain relatively neutrally buoyant if they need to get out of their BCD for some reason during a dive and also to give a bit more control of how much weight they ditch in case of an emergency. So here are some questions:
- Is it inherently bad/unsafe to try and fit all of my weight onto the BCD out of convenience? (I was initially thinking of 20lbs capacity in ditchable dive rite pockets augmented by a few trim pockets)
- If I were to go back to a weight belt, is there an option which might ride up less? So far I've only tried somewhat worn out webbing belts with with velcro pockets.
- Aside from trim considerations, what should I be thinking about in how I distribute weights in the various ditchable vs non-ditchable locations? I'm aware of the possibility of a BC failure at depth and needing to possibly drop weights in order to swim up. I've looked at the optimal buoyancy calculator but I'm not sure I'm grasping all of the details in the wetsuit tab. My general understanding is in in a BC failure scenario you would want to drop just enough weight so you can swim up but not so much that you have an uncontrolled ascent, but not sure how you would best plan for this in practice.
Any feedback would be much appreciated!
Georg