questions on first BP/W

[stepfen]

Hi,

I am considering buying my first BP/W and I have few questions as a newby. But first my background:

I usually dive with 5mm full wetsuit (but occasionally 3mm shorty and rarely 7mm - never drysuit) and 15lt steel tank (but also 11.1 AL). My weight needs usually vary between 11kg (24lbs) for 7mm with 11.1AL down to 3kg(7lb) for 3mm shorty with 15lt steel tank. All these with rented equipment (jacket BCD, weight belts, suits etc).
I am 1.90m (6.2feet) tall, and a bit chubby about 100kg (220lbs).
I plan to take my BP/W with me to trips so I’d go for a standard AL plate. I only do rec dives.

Here are my questions:

1. According to the distributor since I dive 15lt steel tanks I need a wing with at least 17kg (37lbs) of lift. On the other hand according to the lift calculator that I fount here in SB (assuming I have done all the conversions to imperial units correctly and that I haven’t missed anything major) a 15kg (33lbs) wing (which is usually used locally) will be more than enough. Even a 13kg (28lbs) covers my needs but it is getting close to the margins. Any suggestions?

2. I am wondering about the height of the plate. Since I am tallish, if I put the plate high enough so that I can reach the top of it with my fingertips, can the buckle/waist band get too high (eg on or higher than my belly button)? I prefer my belt bellow my tummy. Can that be an issue?

3. In the future I plan to get a streamlined (long hose) reg setup, but for now (including a coming trip) I will stick with the standard rented reg sets. Is there a neat way of combining those with BP/W? e.g. how to hold the octo? Do I need to get an octo holder to my right hand d-ring or something? Would just looping the octo hose through the d-ring do the job?

My local dive store where BP/W are used by several instructors/guides is too busy at the moment to discuss such things and I need to get the BP/W soon so that I have some time to experiment with it before my trip (which starts in November).

Thanks in advance

 

[taimen]

1. I am close to your size. I like my xDeep Zen that has 17 kg lift. It performs very well with 10-15 l steel tanks, 7 mm wetsuit and drysuit. I don't see any reason to choose a smaller wing. Some people claim that the Zen is an exceptional wing design. That is probably just sales speech, but anyway I can recommend it.

2. The belt may end up higher than you are used to, but that should not be a problem. Try it.

3. Looping the octo hose through D ring works fine.

 

[dmaziuk]

2. I am wondering about the height of the plate. Since I am tallish, if I put the plate high enough so that I can reach the top of it with my fingertips, can the buckle/waist band get too high (eg on or higher than my belly button)? I prefer my belt bellow my tummy. Can that be an issue?

3. In the future I plan to get a streamlined (long hose) reg setup, but for now (including a coming trip) I will stick with the standard rented reg sets. Is there a neat way of combining those with BP/W? e.g. how to hold the octo? Do I need to get an octo holder to my right hand d-ring or something? Would just looping the octo hose through the d-ring do the job?

2. When I set it up that way I tend to bump my head on the 1st stage too much, so I put it a bit lower. Where I need to open the belt buckle and push the tank up a bit to reach the valve.

3. I have a standard silicone loop octo holder on my top right D-ring. Works fine.

Also, after using a Al plate for a while I came to the conclusion that saving a kilo in plate weight in the airport is not much of a trade-off for needing an extra kilo of lead underwater. But then I almost always dive in the tropics where 3-4 kg is all I need. So I recently bought a steel plate, but I'm yet to see how it works out.

 

[stuartv]

Hi,

I am considering buying my first BP/W and I have few questions as a newby. But first my background:

I usually dive with 5mm full wetsuit (but occasionally 3mm shorty and rarely 7mm - never drysuit) and 15lt steel tank (but also 11.1 AL). My weight needs usually vary between 11kg (24lbs) for 7mm with 11.1AL down to 3kg(7lb) for 3mm shorty with 15lt steel tank. All these with rented equipment (jacket BCD, weight belts, suits etc).
I am 1.90m (6.2feet) tall, and a bit chubby about 100kg (220lbs).
I plan to take my BP/W with me to trips so I’d go for a standard AL plate. I only do rec dives.

Here are my questions:

1. According to the distributor since I dive 15lt steel tanks I need a wing with at least 17kg (37lbs) of lift. On the other hand according to the lift calculator that I fount here in SB (assuming I have done all the conversions to imperial units correctly and that I haven’t missed anything major) a 15kg (33lbs) wing (which is usually used locally) will be more than enough. Even a 13kg (28lbs) covers my needs but it is getting close to the margins. Any suggestions?

2. I am wondering about the height of the plate. Since I am tallish, if I put the plate high enough so that I can reach the top of it with my fingertips, can the buckle/waist band get too high (eg on or higher than my belly button)? I prefer my belt bellow my tummy. Can that be an issue?

3. In the future I plan to get a streamlined (long hose) reg setup, but for now (including a coming trip) I will stick with the standard rented reg sets. Is there a neat way of combining those with BP/W? e.g. how to hold the octo? Do I need to get an octo holder to my right hand d-ring or something? Would just looping the octo hose through the d-ring do the job?

My local dive store where BP/W are used by several instructors/guides is too busy at the moment to discuss such things and I need to get the BP/W soon so that I have some time to experiment with it before my trip (which starts in November).

Thanks in advance

1) Anything in the 30 - 35 # range sounds like it will be fine.

2) I'm 6'1". I just set my plate so the waist belt goes around my waist, where I want it. No problem.

3) You can use any ordinary octo keeper and attach it to your right chest D-ring. I would definitely not stick a loop of the octo hose through the chest D-ring. OR, you can go with the "Streamlined OW" config, where you put your primary 2nd stage on the longer hose, using an angle adapter, to let the hose run down from the reg, under your right arm, and up to your 1st stage. Your secondary 2nd stage (aka octo) goes on a bungee necklace and hangs just below your chin. If you have to share air with someone, you give them the reg that's in your mouth and switch to the one on the bungee necklace. If you go with that arrangement, the angle adapter for your primary 2nd stage can be a 90 degree, a 110/70 degree, or you can get a 360 degree swivel like that one that is $25 from CaveAdventurers.com. I've tried the 70/110 and the CA one and I have settled on using the CA one. I like it better, but it is a little more expensive than a 90 or 70/110.

 

[stepfen]

Thanks for all the replies.

OR, you can go with the "Streamlined OW" config,

I'm aware of the streamlined setup and I'll probably go that way soon, but as I said in my post for the time being I'll have to keep renting standard/sort hose regs.

Many thanks

 

[stuartv]

Thanks for all the replies.


I'm aware of the streamlined setup and I'll probably go that way soon, but as I said in my post for the time being I'll have to keep renting standard/sort hose regs.

Many thanks

Cool.

I forget to mention - instead of using any kind of "standard" octo holder, you CAN make your own out of bungee and attach that to a chest D-ring. If you want more of a DIR/DIY look. But, at my shop the plain silicone ones are something like $1.50 and work very well. Plus, they're yellow, which is maybe good for this particular application. Anyway, just another thought.