Sanity check please - Chinese BP/W setup

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OP
Barmaglot

Barmaglot

Contributor
Messages
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Location
Israel
# of dives
200 - 499
I'm looking for something cheap to replace my Cressi Travelight which met an untimely end courtesy of an... ignorant person. Got a liveaboard trip to Myanmar coming in a month - I could just rent a jacket, but perhaps it's time to transition to a BP/W setup. However, money is somewhat tight, as I'm about to replace my camera rig as well, so I'd rather not go the XDEEP/Halcyon/whatever route. I also have an inexplicable urge to get it bright canary yellow.

For what it's worth, I dive purely in the tropics, 3mm full wetsuit, always carrying a camera (but the camera rig is very close to neutral), about 10 pounds of lead.

Looking at Aliexpress, I've come up with this:

Backplate - 53.52€ 22% OFF|Aluminium Legierung Technik Tauchen Backplate Flügel BCD Ultraleicht backplane Für Scuba Tauchen Harness System Hardware Backmount|Pool und Zubehör| - AliExpress
Wing - Page Not Found - Aliexpress.com
Harness - 54.84€ 32% OFF|HALTEN TAUCHEN Scuba Tauchen Backplate Harness Set BCD Ultraleicht Backplane Zubehör Gabelung Strap Gewicht Gürtel Dive Zubehör|Pool und Zubehör| - AliExpress
Single tank adapter - 56.76€ 30% OFF|Aluminium Legierung Tauchen Einzigen Tank Adapter Set Für BCD Backplate Halter STA Scuba Tauchen Tank Halterung Ultraleicht Getriebe Ausrüstung|Pool und Zubehör| - AliExpress
Regulator holder - 5.62€ 30% OFF|Halten Sie Tauch schlauch halter Regler Messgerät Oktopus Halter & Clip für Unterwasser Tauchen Taucher bcd Zubehör| | - AliExpress

Am I missing anything for a full working system here? The harness system appears to be complete, the STA comes with bolts and tank bands, the wing doesn't have webbing slots, but with the STA I shouldn't need those, correct?

Is there a good way to add pockets to this? I typically carry a spare mask, DSMB, torch, hat (for sun protection on the surface) and a wet lens or two in my pockets, using both BCD pockets and tech shorts. Moving to this setup would leave me with just the thigh pockets.

Also, I'm pretty partial to using right shoulder dump to vent air from the BCD, and this wing appears to only have it only on the back left. How difficult, if at all possible, would it be to retrofit it with an additional dump valve?
 
The power inflator fills the wing VERY fast
when fully inflated on the surface
Are you sure you a weighted properly ?
Even with all the camera gear you carry do you need to fill your BC that much?
Just for the hell of it, do another [proper] weight check, you may be surprised.
Now don't take offence and think " I know what I am doing, I have blah blah number of dives etc", if that is the case , carry on.
The number of divers I see today that are overweighted is scary, do not be one of them.

Just my 2 bubbles.
 
I somehow find the corrugated hose easier to use than the butt dump. Maybe because I'm always carrying a large camera, so both my hands are in front, and it's a shorter movement to grab the hose rather than reach back and find the dump valve string.
Makes sense.

Give us some pics!
 
Are you sure you a weighted properly ?
Even with all the camera gear you carry do you need to fill your BC that much?
Just for the hell of it, do another [proper] weight check, you may be surprised.
Now don't take offence and think " I know what I am doing, I have blah blah number of dives etc", if that is the case , carry on.
The number of divers I see today that are overweighted is scary, do not be one of them.

Just my 2 bubbles.
I'm carrying two small (either 2lb or 1kg, not sure) weights on my belt, and a large one (4lb/2kg) on upper tank band. With an empty wing, at the end of dive, I float with just the top of my head breaking the surface,which indicates a very slight overweight that I'm comfortable with. Full wing inflation is for floating on the surface, not for any point during the dive.
 

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