New diver having trouble with the back plate wing BCD my instructor sold me.

[Water Boy76]

Unfortunately none of it has been from you.

Please remember you are in the Basic Forum and while some wandering of the thread is expected your contributions are in no wise beneficial to the OP. Hopefully her lack of follow up is indicative of a problem solved and not because of the less then helpful post of a few.

You pointing fingers is in no way beneficial to the OP either. So Pot, Kettle, Black
It's important for people to know opinions differ from the SB group think. Threads are read by more people than the OP. Funny we have not heard from her but we have over 50 posts... But the thread goes on....

 

[kelemvor]

My dive rite rec exp wing also has a butt dump on the right side. I don't think he has the wing on backwards. Even his jacket wearing instructor would have noticed that.

My wing also has a "pull dump" where you just pull on the inflator and air dumps right out of the top/back of the wing. Try and see if yours will do this as well. You don't have to pull very hard at all. If you do have a pull dump, then that may well be the easiest one to use.

 

[grf88]

It would appear that MrsP has not returned to the board since making her initial post.

 

[RJP]

I think if I took 10 random non diving friends and handed them a BP/W un-assembled, gave them written instructions and a youtube link, I estimate less than 50% would result in a fit I would call adequate.

So your point is that a jacket BCD is simpler than a BP/W for nondivers? Nondivers who's total dive training consists of a sheet of paper and a youtube link? Ooh boy...

If you handed those same non-divers a jacket BCD, a reg set, and a tank I'd bet they'd have just as much trouble.

All of this hypothetical stuff is interesting - to some, I suppose - but the reality is that even if someone doesn't want to accept that a BP/W might be simpler, they are certainly no more complicated than a traditional BCD.

The shop I DM'd at for years and did my IDC puts DSD and OW students in Halcyon BP/W setups. From 12yr old girl scout troops to former Marines and everyone in between. Over the course working with >100 students during those years I never once saw a single one struggle with the configuration. (Of course they had a bit more training than a printed instruction sheet and a youtube video.) To be clear, my personal experience in this regard (training brand new OW students in BP/W) is that they actually do far better than those who train in a recreational BCD. Weighting, trim, comfort, ease of use, etc. There are many other instructors on SB (and elsewhere) who have the same experience. On the other hand there are ZERO instructors training OW students in BP/W that I know of who have had the opposite experience. The only people who seem to suggest that a BP/W is "too confusing" for OW students don't seem to have any actual experience with OW students diving in a BP/W.

On the other hand, crewing on a dive boat and diving all over the world for the past ten years, I've seen plenty of ostensibly trained divers struggle to assemble a traditional BCD. Inside out. Backwards. Mis-buckled. Upside down on the tank. I even saw one guy trying to don his rig with the tank somehow attached to the INSIDE of his BCD.

 

[doctormike]

SB group think.

Can you tell me what you mean by this phrase?

 

[RJP]

It would appear that MrsP has not returned to the board since making her initial post.

Wait... are you suggesting that this might not be a big deal?!?

 

[Water Boy76]

Can you tell me what you mean by this phrase?

Sure - Scuba Board Group Think
The vast majority of SB members tend to think a certain product is better than other products. (BP/W, Shearwater, etc...) So that product is suggested by SB members to everyone in all situations.

I beleive it's a natural occuring phenominon in all boards and is not meant as an insult. My point is, "technically" the group think products may be the best, for some. But there are other products out there that will suffice and oftentimes are a better fit for someone with less experience. Im sorry, but a brand new diver does not need a Petrel. Most people do this for a few weeks a year and go about thier lives. They will never become cave divers.

 

[RJP]

Sure - Scuba Board Group Think
The vast majority of SB members tend to think a certain product is better than other products. (BP/W, Shearwater, etc...) So that product is suggested by SB members to everyone in all situations.

I think it's less "group think" than it is "a skewed perspective."

Group think specifically refers to a phenomenon where the group as a whole accepts one position or line of thinking in order to achieve harmony among the group, with the result being that no one in the group offers differing viewpoints. I don't think anyone would accuse SB members of seeking harmony.

 

[doctormike]

Sure - Scuba Board Group Think
The vast majority of SB members tend to think a certain product is better than other products. (BP/W, Shearwater, etc...) So that product is suggested by SB members to everyone in all situations.

I beleive it's a natural occuring phenominon in all boards and is not meant as an insult. My point is, "technically" the group think products may be the best, for some. But there are other products out there that will suffice and oftentimes are a better fit for someone with less experience. Im sorry, but a brand new diver does not need a Petrel. Most people do this for a few weeks a year and go about thier lives. They will never become cave divers.

I think that you are oversimplifying this. You are assuming that because we (in this case, BP/W advocates) give the same answer to the same question every time that it is asked, that we are just doing it because we have some psychological need to agree with each other. That IS an insult, actually (I know that you didn't intend it that way).

It's an insult because you are implying that a lot of very experienced divers are recommending a particular piece of gear without any good reason to do so. I'm certainly not going to retype the arguments here, if you have been on SB for a while you will have read them endlessly.

The reason that we recommend it when new divers ask about a particular brand of jacket BC is that the vast majority of new, casual divers have never even heard of a BP/W, let alone had the opportunity to try one. So this is the one place that they might be aware of that option. And I personally feel that if a diver is considering buying their own BC, there is NO ONE - no matter how infrequent or casual a diver - who would be better served by a jacket BC than a BP/W. This has nothing to do with tech diving, doubles, cave diving, etc...

You may not agree with that statement, and you are free (encouraged, actually) to make a counter argument. But please don't assume that just because someone has an opinion that is different than yours, that the only explanation is that he is just a fanboy who mindlessly gives the same advice to everybody because of "groupthink".

 

[uncfnp]

Unfortunately none of it has been from you.

Please remember you are in the Basic Forum and while some wandering of the thread is expected your contributions are in no wise beneficial to the OP. Hopefully her lack of follow up is indicative of a problem solved and not because of the less then helpful post of a few.

Since it appears we have lost the op I will respond.

You constantly jump into these threads with nothing beneficial to contribute except a broad complaint that many posters on SB like certain gear. If you don't like the recommendations fine. But instead of insulting all posters in a thread, make your own specific recommendations and why its a better choice. I agree that SB members are skewed toward high quality gear and toward the techies. Give us a balanced opinion instead of these sweeping condemnations that add nothing to the threads, often derail the threads and are indeed insulting to those of us that are genuienly trying to help.