Old Diver New Diver Equipment Reality Check

[WVRICK]

Luckily my friend with the BP/W is my height and build give or take 5 pounds so it should be a close fir. The Stiletto is a brand new, only a week old. He was bragging about the BX inflator. I was wondering about the mechanism on the Dimension. It seems like it might be over engineered.

 

[freewillie]

I also dive the Stiletto and personally think it is a great BC. Little bulky for travel but is not too different in weight from many "travel" BC's and still has more than enough lift for local California diving with 7 mm, hood, gloves and booties. Very comfortable and lots of D rings for attaching gear. I'm not too familiar with backplate/wing set ups but I've seen threads here about where and how to attach accessories to the webbing since they lack D rings. Also as pointed out the power inflator comes off for rinsing and you simply attach garden hose to flush the bladder. It is very convenient and easier than holding down the inflator button running water into the power inflator for most BC's.

 

[BlackPatch]

WVRICK

Great to see you back into the sport.

I can only say great things about the BP/W set up.
Mine is an Aluminum Plate / Oxycheq 30lb donut wing / Hogarthian harness.
It weighs very little.
BP/W are easy to dive, transition time is not high.

I use old US Divers / Aqualung Regs from 75 and 76 respectively with a Hollis DC1 1st Stage. I cannot fault the second stages at all. Aqualung seem to make some pretty bombproof regs.

I dive a wrist mount computer instead of a console system to eliminate "Danglies". The SPG is at my left Hip telling me how much Gas I have.

The only reason I point out these alternatives is as a different way of doing things and helping streamlining the rig in the water.

Good luck and I hope you find the gear you really want the first time.

Pete.

 

[WVRICK]

Pete,

Thanks for the information. I have almost totally changed my equipment list since my first post. This was based on a long phone conversation with Keith in Texas and reading lots of posts on SB. Last but not least Tobin gave me some great information about the DSS BP/W. Long story short, it appears my choices are as follows:


DSS Large SS Plate, Torus 17 Wing, Hogarthian Harness

Hollis DC2/212 regs. Better or equal to the tests on regs costing $300 to $400 more.

Zoop Computer wrist mount with a separate SPG.

I will be diving mostly warm water with my 3mm wetsuit or a 3mm shorty.

Does this seem reasonable for a good set up?

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Of the BCD's you mentioned, the Zeagle would be my choice. Not too fancy, rugged and smallish. The Zeagle ripcord system is the only integrated weight system I trust for cold water dives with lots of lead. If you are going down the BP/W road, check out the Express Tech, it has sliding shoulder straps and it packs small if you travel. Traditional BP/W are a very good option, but you won't find many used because the people that have them, keep them and dive the cr-p out of them.

The only bad thing about the Suunto Zoop is its a touch more conservative than others. If you don't mind ascending a bit earlier than your buddies it fine. I tend to stay with oceanic, which is more liberal and I just don't dive it to the limits (or I dive 32% while having the computer set to air). Smart choice going to a write computer + spg, its a good value and very robust.

Check out the newer LED dive lights, they have really improved over 10 year old technology.

 

[BVickery]

Pete,

Thanks for the information. I have almost totally changed my equipment list since my first post. This was based on a long phone conversation with Keith in Texas and reading lots of posts on SB. Last but not least Tobin gave me some great information about the DSS BP/W. Long story short, it appears my choices are as follows:


DSS Large SS Plate, Torus 17 Wing, Hogarthian Harness

Hollis DC2/212 regs. Better or equal to the tests on regs costing $300 to $400 more.

Zoop Computer wrist mount with a separate SPG.

I will be diving mostly warm water with my 3mm wetsuit or a 3mm shorty.

Does this seem reasonable for a good set up?

Sounds great. You may want to look at picking up the tri-glide for the BP. Talking with another member here, and some posts, it's an excellent addon to help doffing and donning the BP easier.

 

[BlackPatch]

Pete,

Thanks for the information. I have almost totally changed my equipment list since my first post. This was based on a long phone conversation with Keith in Texas and reading lots of posts on SB. Last but not least Tobin gave me some great information about the DSS BP/W. Long story short, it appears my choices are as follows:


DSS Large SS Plate, Torus 17 Wing, Hogarthian Harness

Hollis DC2/212 regs. Better or equal to the tests on regs costing $300 to $400 more.

Zoop Computer wrist mount with a separate SPG.

I will be diving mostly warm water with my 3mm wetsuit or a 3mm shorty.

Does this seem reasonable for a good set up?

Sounds Great WVRICK.

I run a long primary reg hose (7') purely down to the ease of sharing air with a buddy if it comes down to it. (Try sharing air really comfortably on standard length hoses that leave you 2" away from another person on your refresher course and you may want to try this 7' setup) If you are not running a Can Light then the portion of the 7' hose that seems to want to have a mind of its own is tucked into the waist belt of the harness.

Other than that I run a regulator necklace to keep my secondary reg (which is the same make / model as my first) close under my chin. I can locate it regardless of what I am doing.

These are just tips and pointers. Ultimately what I run, might not work for you. I hope you have the opportunity to run a couple different rigs to get what you want. That way you have equipment that will last a long time and you are comfortable.

Take it easy.

Pete.

 

[Crass3000]

The only thing I would mention is that the Aqualung Titan is their lowest line of reg from my recollection and is not advisable if you see much cold water in your future. Before buying things look them up on the manufacturers website.

 

[Banyan]

Pete,

DSS Large SS Plate, Torus 17 Wing, Hogarthian Harness

Hollis DC2/212 regs. Better or equal to the tests on regs costing $300 to $400 more.

Zoop Computer wrist mount with a separate SPG.

I will be diving mostly warm water with my 3mm wetsuit or a 3mm shorty.

Does this seem reasonable for a good set up?

Man! If I had started with this rig, I wouldn't have spent the past four years slowly swapping out the gear I initially bought.

You're probably down to details at this point. Are you going for a long hose primary reg and bungeed backup, which is now a possibility with a backplate? (If so, it'd be worth hooking up with some long hose users do go over how to stow it and deploy it.) Also, brass and glass SPG? If you want/eventually need a compass, DSS makes a great bungeed wrist mount as well. If you get a dive light, I'd recommend clipping it off on the left chest D-ring, and getting a high quality light that will work for technical/low viz conditions. (I'm on, literally, my fourth dive light purchase because I kept buying lights just 'good enough' for the diving I was doing at the time.)

In any case, the gear you list will serve you well for your identified diving environment, and will be a good foundation if you eventually want to venture into more aggressive environments.

 

[WVRICK]

Pete,

Thanks for the information, I will definitely do the 7' hose. I will take all of the good advice I can get.

Rick

---------- Post added July 3rd, 2013 at 06:21 PM ----------

Thanks Banyan, I thought about getting a cheap package deal then thought it didn't make sense because I would spend time and extra money getting things replaced as I became dissatisfied with them. In the long run it would cost me more to cheap out up front. I realize the items I picked are not expensive nor cheap but they seem to be a good dollar value and something I will be happy to dive in the coming years. I am definitely doing the brass and glass SPG. I have a dive light from my old set up and it still works so I definitely put it on the left D-ring. It isn't the best light but good enough until I recover from this coming purchase. I don't want to be in a position of having great equipment and no money to dive.

Rick

---------- Post added July 3rd, 2013 at 06:25 PM ----------