Tank mounting on new Diverite backplate and wing.

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Yeah, I considered one of these. I guess I won't know without buying one of it will give me the clearance. Diverite is a pretty popular brand, you'd think it would have the necessary clearance built in, so I keep wondering if I'm doing something wrong. I like the plastic screw idea too.
No you're not doing anything wrong.
Some of those plate wing combos weren't/aren't designed that well and there are a lot of bandaids out there to make them work better.
That style of plate with the raised center channel was originally designed for doubles.
The channel is really awkward for single tanks because the tank needs to balance on top of the channel somehow.
So just use a STA or one of those stabilizer pad thingies and you should be OK.
 
Sex bolts are ok and they are convenient, but zip ties are soooo much nicer! Cheap, flat so they don't interfere with the cylinder, and no worries about corrosion. If one breaks or you lose one, no worries, just keep a couple in your save a dive kit.
 
Eyelets are not a welcome addition in my home they burn my eyeballs out so they are all removed and banished

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Sex bolts are ok and they are convenient, but zip ties are soooo much nicer! Cheap, flat so they don't interfere with the cylinder, and no worries about corrosion. If one breaks or you lose one, no worries, just keep a couple in your save a dive kit.
I like the idea of using zip ties, but I'd be afraid the tank squishing the ties against the metal grommet would pinch them off after a few uses. Guess I'll have to try it out.
 
I bought this STA last year from the local Halcyon shop and what they did not provide were the plastic covers fro the bolts resulting in ripping the outer part of my new 7mm wetsuit.

I don't mean the derail this thread, but the same thing happened to me with the Halcyon weighted STA. I loved the added weight, but how have you handled the bolts being too long? Did you find plastic or rubber covers to put over them?
 
No you're not doing anything wrong.
Some of those plate wing combos weren't/aren't designed that well and there are a lot of bandaids out there to make them work better.
That style of plate with the raised center channel was originally designed for doubles.
The channel is really awkward for single tanks because the tank needs to balance on top of the channel somehow.
So just use a STA or one of those stabilizer pad thingies and you should be OK.

Other than the original DSS backplate and wing, which aren't made any longer since DSS closed, I don't like any of the STA-less BP/W setups. I am far happier with an STA and a wing designed to be used with one, meaning flat with no roll bars and no cam-band slots.
 
I like the idea of using zip ties, but I'd be afraid the tank squishing the ties against the metal grommet would pinch them off after a few uses. Guess I'll have to try it out.
I believe the suggestion is putting the zip ties through the cam band slots, probably at the very top of the top cam band and the very bottom of the bottom cam band. The top grommet shouldn't be anywhere near the top cam band, and while the bottom grommet is in the same area as the bottom cam band, you can just put the zip tie above or below it so you don't have the thickness of the zip tie adding to the grommet, and you don't need to be concerned about the grommet wearing on the zip tie.

Ya'll were thinking something along these lines, right? Asking because I might try zip ties out as well.

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You're not, and this is a common question when someone is looking at options for mounting a single tank to a backplate. Essentially backplates were initially designed for doubles, and there are four options for mounting a single tank to a backplate, and all with their own pros and cons.

A) Tank mounted directly to the backplate using cam bands threaded through the backplate slots, with the wing just sandwiched in between with no additional hardware. This keeps the tank as close as possible to your body, and as long as the cam bands are tight, you're mounting a cylinder to a flat plate and you don't get much roll once cinched down. There are only two downsides - if the wing has band slots much larger than the 2" bands (or open webbing like many dive rite wings), then you might need to adjust wing position to your liking each time you change tanks, also, if your wing has holes in it protected by grommets, now your cylinder isn't sitting on the flat of the backplate, its teetering on top of those grommets a bit and you'll get a little tank roll even if your cam bands are very tight.

B) Tank mounted directly to the backplate using cam bands threaded through the backplate slots, wing sandwiched in between, and book screws holding the wing in a fixed position to the backplate. This keeps the tank relatively close as well, but exacerbates the teetering tank issue since now your tank is perched on top of two screw heads. In this case you would definitely want to use plastic book screws to avoid tank wear. Slightly less ideal from a stability perspective, but at least you're not having to monkey around with wing position adjustments when you're doing a tank change on a rocking boat.

C) Tank mounted directly to the backplate as two options above, cam bands still threaded through the backplate, but some type of two-rod stablizer sandwiched between the tank and the wing, like that OMS stabilizer addon in a post above, or designed into a wing like these:
View attachment 878044 View attachment 878046
This slightly moves the tank a little further away from you, but not nearly as much as a metal single tank adapter, and your wing position can still be locked in place with book screws since the stabilizer not only helps mitigate tank roll since now the cylinder is cradled between two rods instead of perching on the center of the backplate or mounting hardware, but it also ideally moves the tank away from the plate just enough that you're not constantly grinding the tank on the book screws.

D) Single tank adapter - Instead of running the cam bands through the backplate, a single tank adapter bolts to the backplate, and the cam bands run through the STA. The cylinder is cradled between the two sides of the STA, so it is super stable, but it is extra hardware and moves the tank that much farther away from the diver. In reality, I'm not sure any of us would notice the difference of a half inch between an STA and no STA.
View attachment 878045
Although now you've got a stainless steel bracket touching your tank directly, and if you dive galvanized steel tanks I wouldn't even give that another thought, but if you're using an aluminum tank with fancy paintjob, you'll get some wear over time, and thats unavoidable.

Personally, the single tank steel plate I use for local freshwater diving has plastic book screws holding the wing in place and tank stabilizers built into the wing. I like that option the best, but there are no wrong answers as long as your tank is firmly attached to your plate.
Thanks for the detailed description. I've been all over the internet looking for an explanation like this. This seems like a glaring issue with BPW set ups, and I couldn't find any information on it.
 
I believe the suggestion is putting the zip ties through the cam band slots, probably at the very top of the top cam band and the very bottom of the bottom cam band. The top grommet shouldn't be anywhere near the top cam band, and while the bottom grommet is in the same area as the bottom cam band, you can just put the zip tie above or below it so you don't have the thickness of the zip tie adding to the grommet, and you don't need to be concerned about the grommet wearing on the zip tie.

Ya'll were thinking something along these lines, right? Asking because I might try zip ties out as well.

View attachment 878221
That does make more sense than what I was imagining.
 
Order two of these low profile bookscrews. Use the flat/thin side to the tank, the rounded screw head to your back. Your tank will not roll or get scratched up or whatever and your wing will be secured to your plate for easy cylinder change. And you can forgo the STA most likely.


What the single tank recreational dive world really needs is a back plate that was not designed for double tanks and does not have that ridge or require a STA. For warm/tropical/travel I use the Oxy textile Ultralite plate, for cooler water a ss Freedom Plate and for doubles I have a standard (doubles) tech plates in steel and aluminum.
 

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