Hank49:
Here's how I got into a BP/W. When I was learning I was in a rental stab jacket. The "cummerbund" was KILLING me. I had 28# of lead on my belt. Not necessarily WAY overweighted (although I was to offset newbie anxious breathing) but my trim was a train wreck. Think of a balance scale, 28# on one side (my waist) and buoyant lungs and bubble wrap (air all around you BC) on the other side. I weigh in a 230# so I need a bit more weight than a 100# diver. I was trying to figure out all this stuff while learning to dive. I stumbled on SB and met FredT. He just happens to make backplates etc. and the rest is history. I bought his gear, setup a rig and immediatley got the weight where I needed it. So I never really got to work on trimming out a decent Jacket BC to be fair. You may be diving that BC fine but may not know if you're "missing" anything without trying a BP/W to compare. Maybe you can borrow one from someone. If a 6# plate is too much you can buy an Aluminum one. There are many options for weighting depending on the plate you get. Mine uses STA's (single tank adapters) that are 2# each. So my 9# SS plate gives me 13# on my back and my 2# Aluminum plate gives me about 6# total. When I dive wrecks in North Carolina I use my AL plate, steel tank and 4# on my belt. The 9# plate was just too heavy with a steel tank in a 3mm shortie so I got the AL plate. But when I dive an Aluminum tank in my 3mm then the 9# plate and 3# on my belt is perfect.
