Rookie curiosity here

[LowDrag]

Why is it that a BP&W is better for tech diving than a jacket/vest style BC? I am new to scuba (getting my OW cert in January) but I have been reading a lot and find myself curious over the hole BP&W vs jacket/vest BC. Thanks for the info.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

By placing this question in the Cave Diving sub-forum of Technical Diving Specialties, you are pretty much guaranteed to not have a very wide range of opinions, IMHO.

As a not yet certified diver, the forums most appropriate for your query might be New Divers and Those Considering Diving, Basic Scuba Discussions, Advanced Scuba Discussions and / or the Buoyancy Compensators (BC's) and Weight Systems sub-forum of The Equipment of Scuba Diving.

As you are from Oregon and are getting certified in January, it seems likely that your OW training will be in warm water with vest BC. Have you made "Intro Dives" yet?

 

[tstormdiver]

IMO, the BP/W affords rigidity needed to support the weight of commonly used double cylinders. Also being modular, it allows for a bit of a more custom fit. Wings of different sizes & shapes have different buoyancy characteristics that may be desirable to the diver. The single harness also tends to be cleaner, without the dangling "tags' of adjustable straps of BC's. These "tags can become an entanglement hazard, snagging on just about anything. A clean profile is most desired to prevent entanglement in an overhead environment.

 

[TSandM]

I think the biggest reason is that a backplate is a rigid support for backmounted double tanks, and therefore keeps them stable. In general, technical diving of any sort is done with an eye to redundancy, which means at least two tanks and two separate first stages. Sometimes they are manifolded together, so that either first stage can access all the gas in both tanks. In this setup, they sit on your back. It's a lot of weight and mass, and a fabric BC can have difficulty holding it all in place. A backplate supports it all nicely.

When you arrange the tanks differently (for example, on either side of your body, as sidemount divers do) then you don't require as sturdy a support, and it can sometimes even cause difficulties. So sidemount rigs generally do not involve a rigid backplate.

People who are doing deep dives, or going inside of wrecks or caves, think a lot about risks and benefits. They work to make their equipment streamlined (for easier swimming, and to avoid entanglement) and simple (to reduce things that can fail or cause problems). The simple BP/W setup has more or less evolved as a good solution to meet both of those criteria.

 

[LowDrag]

By placing this question in the Cave Diving sub-forum of Technical Diving Specialties, you are pretty much guaranteed to not have a very wide range of opinions, IMHO.

As a not yet certified diver, the forums most appropriate for your query might be New Divers and Those Considering Diving, Basic Scuba Discussions, Advanced Scuba Discussions and / or the Buoyancy Compensators (BC's) and Weight Systems sub-forum of The Equipment of Scuba Diving.

As you are from Oregon and are getting certified in January, it seems likely that your OW training will be in warm water with vest BC. Have you made "Intro Dives" yet?

I just figured this would be a good place to ask because caving is interesting to me. I realize that I am a long time from being capable of something like this but it still peaks my interest. As for where my OW dives will be, the Puget Sound area, Hoodsport in particular is where we do our dives. On the "Intro to Dives" question...if you are referring to my orientation with my dive instructor prior to class, the answer would be no. If you are talking about something else than I will need clarification on that question. I have spoken with two of the instructors at my LDS but nothing like an orientation yet. I guess it is still a bit far out yet for that. The only reason I am waiting for January is because my son (22) wants to certify at the same time but he has some school debt to pay off first which will be in December.

Part of the reason I asked this question here is also because I saw a pretty good argument start in the BC section and wanted to avoid that. It seemed like there are some seriously strong opinions here about which is better.

Rollin

 

[Dive-aholic]

Get in touch with View Profile: NWGratefulDiver - ScubaBoard or View Profile: Peter Guy - ScubaBoard. Both are in your area and both are cave divers.

 

[TSandM]

And then there's me . . . also in the area, and also a cave diver

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

As for where my OW dives will be, the Puget Sound area, Hoodsport in particular is where we do our dives. On the "Intro to Dives" question...if you are referring to my orientation with my dive instructor prior to class, the answer would be no. If you are talking about something else than I will need clarification on that question. I have spoken with two of the instructors at my LDS but nothing like an orientation yet. I guess it is still a bit far out yet for that. The only reason I am waiting for January is because my son (22) wants to certify at the same time but he has some school debt to pay off first which will be in December.

You are tougher than me; summer there would still feel cold to me. My coldest adult diving was caves in Florida, in the springtime; probably not colder than 65 degrees.

Intro Dives are "try it" diving before training dives. They are typically pool and easy dive site diving that might count towards certification, depending on where and when you certify afterwards.

Some people are not sure if they will like diving, so they try the Intro Dive to see if they want to actually learn to dive. Just like everything, there are pro's and con's.

 

[Dive-aholic]

And then there's me . . . also in the area, and also a cave diver

Sorry, Lynne! Didn't mean to slight you. I was referring him to instructors. But, yes, Lynne is another great source of information, and a divemaster as well.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

... but I have been reading a lot and find myself curious over the hole BP&W vs jacket/vest BC. Thanks for the info.

Since you are reading a lot, I will type this; in spring of 2001 I did my cave training in a SeaQuest vest BC. If I had continued past Intro to Cave, I would have needed to dive double tanks, and would have used BP/W. Since I don't really have any desire to stay under water for more than an hour and a half or make deco dives, double tanks are of no interest to me. Not sure if any instructors will teach up to Intro to Cave with a single tank anymore, but my cave instructor's web site is Cave Excursions.