Steel or Aluminium back plate?

[pir8]

I have 1 of each, When I am dry and need more weight I have my steel, but when wet I have my alluminum

 

[DeepSeaExplorer]

For me, it has more to do with the tanks than than anything else. For example, I wear a dry suit with both 104s and 80s. With the 104s, I wear an AL plate to reduce the weight and for 80s I wear a steel plate and a v-weight to compensate for the extra buoyancy. With a single 80 and a light suit, I can wear either an AL or steel plate depending on if I want to wear a weight belt or not.

If you plan it out in advance, it reduces the possibility that we'll be seeing posts from you later requesting information about how to fix a trim problem.

 

[hansonl]

Thanks for all the info, it sound like it really depends on what I am going to do with the system, I dive a single tank right know there are only a few dives that I use doubles for at the moment, I plan to go more to the tech side of things and use double more often to stay down a little longer. From what everyone is saying I may start with one and end up buying the other to use in different locations anyway. I pretty much always dive dry because of the cold water. any other info would always help thank again.

 

[nereas]

I am looking at getting a back plate and wing and trying to get the pros and cons of aluminium and steel, which is better and why, and peoples opinion on them, Thanks.

A-l-u-m-i-n-i-u-m is the Canadian and British spelling of it.

Canada and UK have freezing cold waters.

Freezing cold waters call for a drysuit or thick wetsuit.

Thus, you would be better off with a steel plate, since this takes some of the weight off your belt.

Unless, of course, you hail from one of the British tropical islands, in which case a 3mm wetsuit and aluminum (Amer. spelling) plate would probably serve you quite well.

 

[nereas]

I have 1 of each, When I am dry and need more weight I have my steel, but when wet I have my alluminum

Wet here having the meaning of wet and warm!

 

[nereas]

...This is one of those occasions where, in the absence of additional information such as are you diving warm ocean, tropics, cold ocean, great lakes, wearing wetsuits, drysuits, etc., its difficult to provide any more detailed answer regarding what might work best for you given your specific circumstances...
Doc

The clues however are in the spelling.

 

[nereas]

Does the aluminum affect you positively like aluminum tanks?

I have never seen aluminum plates float. Although I have seen aluminum tanks float, when they are empty.

 

[nereas]

... it's better to purchase a system rather than individual components.

Ultimately, you may end up with several plates and wings depending on the type of diving you are doing.

Exactly right.

I use a steel 6 lb plate for my steel doubles in cold waters.

And I use a steel 22 lb plate for my steel singles also in cold waters with a drysuit.

Deep Sea Supply in Pasadena Calif USA offers extra-weighted steel backplates in addition to the typical 6 lb steel plates. With a drysuit this allows you to take a great deal of weight off your belt.

With a thick wetsuit, in cold waters, you are probably more safe with most of your weight on your belt, however.

For warm water diving with a 3mm wetsuit, I am lucky that my steel 6 lb plate works well for me. However some folks are built really skinny, and they need to use aluminum plates for their warm water diving.

 

[String]

I'd say if you need to dive with 3kg or more lead then go for steel.

If <3kg then you'd be overweighted with a steel plate so go aluminium.

However... If you intend to use air travel and take your wing then Aluminium has the huge advantage of being a lot lighter.

 

[redrover]

Let me know if I can answer any other BP&W questions you might have.

Tobin

Tobin,
Could you please explain your hybrid Kydex plate, the interaction aspects as steel etc are here – what it accomplishes, who would choose – that kind of info. I’m sure I saw this somewhere but I can’t find it again and, if the weight of the Med Kydex is somewhere in your site; I can’t find that either.:blinking:

If it matters, I’m a 5’4” rec BC diver looking at the BP/W road with very limited touchy feely face to face encounters available. Single steel 80’s, salt tropical and using 0 - 6#’s now (depending on wetsuit) not a travel diver and on a mission to get my CG a flatter plane. Right now it’s teetering on a knife blade aggravatingly near my armpits (unless I didn't mind bloodying my head.)
Mahalo
Lisa