Short/small backplate

[D_Fresh]

@JaneyB I'll just add a couple things to the great advice from Zef....

Regarding STA, he's absolutely correct that if the wings cam-band slots line up correctly, and the wing has an anti-roll feature (the little round tubes sewn in at the cam slots). If you must use an STA, again, he's correct in that you can easily trim aluminum if their too long. I second his opinion on aluminum STA for an additional reason: weight. It's always best to keep any weight as close to your center of gravity, otherwise it can feel like it tips you over. There's also no real issue with bi-metal corrosion in the case of an AL STA over SS plate because the Aluminum is really only in contact with the fabric of the wing and the 2 SS bolts. If there ever is bi-metal corrosion, it will be the bolts and should not affect the SS plate in any way.

Personally, I just received the OxyCheq Mini STA, which is a two-piece design, much like 2nd STA picture posted by Zef. If you notice in that picture, the holes to mount the two-piece STA are centered in the material, the OxyCheq are slightly off center (vertically). This allows them to be arranged such that they can ride a little higher on the back, lower, wider, or more narrow just based on their orientation. Most people would have no real reason for such arrangements, but on a smaller plate, it could mean the difference between a well balanced rig and a "works ok rig".

Regarding Wing selection, again, Zef is right on the money, heed his advice. I'll add one more option, the DGX S1 wing. It's designed with like a "cross-hair" center panel, as opposed to slots. With this design, it's (almost) guaranteed to work with any plate/cam-band setup. (Also, in the pic, you can see the anti-roll feature right where the cam-band is set.)

 

[D_Fresh]

You can see in the last picture that the waist strap sits too low and the plate extends past her waist.
-Z

Yep, just a bit too long. Once I get my short plate made here, I'll get some pics of my wife wearing it. We're still in lock-down though, so it may be a few months.....

 

[JaneyB]

Zef, that kit your wife is wearing looks huge to me! Admittedly she's an inch taller, but I simply don't wear full sized cylinders if I can possibly avoid it; 12l dumpy for me. Fortunately I don't consume a lot of air, so that's plenty!
D-fresh - thank you for your advice too.
I'll be back!

 

[Zef]

Just a note on what @D_Fresh shared...as stated before, we have 2 HOG wings and 2 Dive Rite wings in our arsenal....the HOG wings have the roll control things and the Dive Rite wings do not....we have never had a problem with a tank moving out of position with the Dive Rite setup. While the "roll control" feature is nice to have, our experience is that it is superfluous and I don't specifically look for it as a feature....it just so happens that the HOG wings have it.

Zef, that kit your wife is wearing looks huge to me! Admittedly she's an inch taller, but I simply don't wear full sized cylinders if I can possibly avoid it; 12l dumpy for me. Fortunately I don't consume a lot of air, so that's plenty!
D-fresh - thank you for your advice too.
I'll be back!

You are right, in the pictures that I posted of her diving, the kit she is wearing is huge on her, especially the plate and the tank. That is why we invested in the small SubGravity plate.

Regarding the tank: The club we are a part of only has 12L tanks and the short ones are much heavier out of the water than the tall ones...that makes a difference, especially to my wife who has some low back issues.

The 32lb lift wing would seem a bit big too but it provides a margin of utility for switching between her wetsuit and drysuit.

Without the tank, the plate sits a bit higher on her back and she can reach back with one or both hands and touch the top of the plate....with the tank mounted it causes the rig to sit slightly lower due to its weight. With a wetsuit on I think it will sit better, and in the water, it should situate just fine.

We spent the early evening getting everything adjusted.
Here is the SubGravity small plate with hogarthian style harness, Dive Rite Voyager wing, and 12L tall tank (Bear in mind it has been quite warm here, so my wife wanted to kill me for merely asking that she don her rig for me to take pictures, let alone ones that will be posted online):

The only thing I would try differently is perhaps crossing the shoulder straps after they come over the top of the plate, so that the one coming from the left side forms the right shoulder strap and the one coming from the right forms the left shoulder strap. I may mark things with chalk and strip everything off, make the change and put it all back, but that is not happening tonight.

-Z

 

[JaneyB]

(A) Overall length is @ 35.5cm (just shy of 14inches)

(B) Distance between cam strap slots vertically is @ 8.3cm (bottom of upper slot to top of lower slot)

(C) Distance between left and right side cam strap slots is @ 5.3cm on center of slots.

(D) The pairs of holes for STA bolts are @28cm (11 inches) on center apart respectively.

(E) Distance from top of upper cam strap slot to center of upper STA bolt hole at top of plate is @ 7.0cm.

(F) Distance from top of upper cam strap slot to center of lower STA bolt hole at top of plate is @ 4.5cm.

View attachment 601317

-Z

Edit: Added a PDF of the embedded image so it can be zoomed in on and easier to see the data.

Hi Zef, as a point of interest, what is the length and width of your DiveRite SS backplate? There seems to be no data anywhere about backplate sizes. Seems to be an industry secret!! Cheers

 

[JaneyB]

Tnanks Zef (and wife). The new plate sits well doesn't it! I did wonder if the crossed straps would be a better option for those of us with narrow shoulders. I'll be interested to know if that's more comfortable for her, when you get to re-threading it. Jane.

 

[Zef]

Hi Zef, as a point of interest, what is the length and width of your DiveRite SS backplate? There seems to be no data anywhere about backplate sizes. Seems to be an industry secret!! Cheers

 

[D_Fresh]

So @Zef , what's the verdict on your wife's new backplate? Does it feel and dive better for her than the full size? Is there anything that she (or you) would alter or adjust?

 

[Zef]

So @Zef , what's the verdict on your wife's new backplate? Does it feel and dive better for her than the full size? Is there anything that she (or you) would alter or adjust?

Sorry...my wife and I have been working fulltime at our day jobs and going to school fulltime too, she is working on her first masters and I am working on my 2nd. We have not had any time to dive, and will probably not until the end of this month when we have a bit of breathing room between classes...for right now we are on a hiatus from diving. We purchased the plate with the expectation that it will be used in the future and wanted to be prepared when the opportunity becomes available.

That being said...the position of the waist belt sits in a better location relevant to her body than a regular size plate. I think it will work out well. The wing (dive rite voyager exp) seems to eclipse the plate but that does not matter as the 12L tank would hold the wing the same no matter the size of the plate.

If and when our schedules permit I will post a followup with any notes/comments/observations she has. Sorry I could not be of more help to you at this time.

Cheers,

-Z

 

[D_Fresh]

Sorry...my wife and I have been working fulltime at our day jobs and going to school fulltime too, she is working on her first masters and I am working on my 2nd. We have not had any time to dive, and will probably not until the end of this month when we have a bit of breathing room between classes...for right now we are on a hiatus from diving. We purchased the plate with the expectation that it will be used in the future and wanted to be prepared when the opportunity becomes available.

That being said...the position of the waist belt sits in a better location relevant to her body than a regular size plate. I think it will work out well. The wing (dive rite voyager exp) seems to eclipse the plate but that does not matter as the 12L tank would hold the wing the same no matter the size of the plate.

If and when our schedules permit I will post a followup with any notes/comments/observations she has. Sorry I could not be of more help to you at this time.

Cheers,

-Z

Oh no worries buddy, all of our schedules are messed up, especially as diving is concerned... LOL. Based on the dry fitting, with cylinder, would you like to see it a bit shorter or not necessary? My fabricator is hurting for business, so I'll have the first plate made pretty soon, and since our wives are pretty close to the same height, I think their fit will be totally compatible. I'm almost a bit worried that my current height might be a little too short. I'll PM you the current layout in about an hour.