Why I prefer a Backplate and Wing over a Jacket Style BCD..

[Calabash Digger]

Here is a video of why I prefer a Backplate and wing over a Jacket Style BCD.

 

[lowwall]

Love the enthusiasm. And fully agree on the backplate and wing.

I'm curious. How many dives a week are you doing and how long are your dives? A 133 would last forever in shallow calm water, but working in a current is obviously a whole different world. Have you lost any weight since you started artifact diving?

 

[Calabash Digger]

4 to 6 dives a week. Will slow down to 4 when the weather warms up as our Restaurant business will pick up. I lost 30 Lbs give or take according to which day I weigh... I am in some of the best shape I have ever been in. I walk 3 to 4 times a week carrying 60 Lbs on my back for 1 to 1 1/2 hrs and I stretch couple days a week....I am stronger than I have ever been ... I struggle with weight and have for some years now and decided if I was gonna be big I might as well be big like a NFL linebacker and not the Pilsbury dough boy...So dieting not so much but strength training is what I do ...
Close to 2 hrs in slow water more like 90 minutes in current I do suck air small guy would be down forever...

 

[Doc]

...Have you lost any weight since you started artifact diving?

Do tell, @lowwall , how do you see that affecting the choice between BCD vs BPW?

 

[lowwall]

Do tell, @lowwall , how do you see that affecting the choice between BCD vs BPW?

I don't. Just curious about the effect of increased activity. I'm a big guy myself, although not in Calabash's weight class. I always lose some weight on dive trips, I was wondering if the effect was noticeable with fewer divers per week but on an ongoing basis.

If you've watched the video, he talks about his size a fair bit.

 

[M-Cameron]

Do tell, @lowwall , how do you see that affecting the choice between BCD vs BPW?

well, to be honest.....my size is one of the main reasons i chose a BPW over a BCD....

im a big guy.....and by the time you add a 7mm suit, or a dry suit....finding a BCD that actually fit well was tricky.....with a BPW, i just adjust the straps to fit comfortably.

 

[Calabash Digger]

BPW does make way easier for us big fellows....

 

[Hoag]

I find that the choice is not a binary choice. There are other (and for some people ideal) options. When I learned to dive, the dive shop used jacket style BCDs. I hated it. When I started to get my own gear, however, I did not go to a BP/W, I went to a Back Inflate BCD. For almost 20 years, this is what I used and it provided me with what I saw as perhaps my best option, and although I now use a BP/W, I would recommend a Back Inflate BCD to the VAST majority of my friends looking for a new BCD. In my case, I had a travel BCD that was very lightweight. It was so lightweight, in fact, that in the water it was 4 pounds positive.

I just wanted to remind people that there are choices other than a Jacket style BCD and a BP/W, and those choices may provide some with their ideal option.