I prefer my SS plate over the Aluminum. In VA at Rawlings I use only 10lbs on my waist instead of 16. It may not sound like much, but it sure does feel different. When I was in the Cayman Islands I used zippo, zero nadda weight and it was great. I felt like I was flying. BTW I'm short and stalky so I sink like a rock, and in Cayman I was wearing a 3mm shortie.
Stainless backplate
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DrDuktayp
Guest
If you are concerned about wear from the harness to your exposure suit, you can either make or purchase some neoprene pads that go around the straps up at the shoulders. We have two SS plates in our family and I have the ones made by Dive Rite and my wife has thicker ones that were made by one of the local dive masters.
Someone already mentioned that really the differance between aluminum and SS is really just a weight issue. I've tried both and would be happy with either...except we do dive dry here so the extra couple of negative pounds were nice.
You mentioned diving with an Al tank. They are a little bouyant at the end of the dive so you might think about 'dialing' in your weight at the end of a dive when you have little air in about 15 feet of water.
DrDuktayp
Someone already mentioned that really the differance between aluminum and SS is really just a weight issue. I've tried both and would be happy with either...except we do dive dry here so the extra couple of negative pounds were nice.
You mentioned diving with an Al tank. They are a little bouyant at the end of the dive so you might think about 'dialing' in your weight at the end of a dive when you have little air in about 15 feet of water.
DrDuktayp
Wijbrandus
Contributor
I use stainless all the way. In salt water with no suit I still need about 8 pounds over my plate, so stainless just makes sense. In fresh water and no suit, I'm just fine with the plate and no weight at all. For me, since I always need at least seven pounds, stainless just made sense. It takes more weight off the belt, and has improved my trim. I prefer to keep as much weight as possible on my rig, and keep my belt to about ten pounds max. I don't mind the weight on my back.
My wife on the other hand is quite happy with an aluminum plate for the opposite reasons. She uses 6 pounds over and above in warm salt water, but doesn't want to make her rig any heavier. It's already cumbersome for her. So she prefers the weight on the belt.
My wife on the other hand is quite happy with an aluminum plate for the opposite reasons. She uses 6 pounds over and above in warm salt water, but doesn't want to make her rig any heavier. It's already cumbersome for her. So she prefers the weight on the belt.
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