Why lite BPs for travel?

[cool_hardware52]

A few points regarding lightweight "travel Plates"

Most people travel to places warm and sunny. In such locales they will need less exposure suit, and therefore less total weight. In some cases a SS plate may over weight the diver using only a dive skin.

Most people traveling are diving with single tanks. Single Tank position is widely adjustable, allowing some degree of trim adjustment.

One need not get hit with an overweight charge often to justisfy the purchase of a lighter weight plate.

There are people who travel from Florida to the Alaska to make dives using only doubles, they aren't the majority of Dive Travelers.


Regards,



Tobin

 

[Darnold9999]

Am considereing a AL backplate - for exactly that reason. Will be diving 1/2 mil shorty with steel 95's and a SS backplate. Will almost certainly be overweight and have no ditchable weight. I will carry a 3 mil suit as well so this will likely solve the problem, but so would an AL backplate.

6 # makes a big difference when I travel. On a two week vacation I might read 10 - 12 books, my partner will read closer to 18 in the same period. Try adding that weight to whatever it is you normally carry on vacation. Am almost always near the edge on weight allowance particularly on smaller airlines so an AL backplate may be in my future.

 

[StSomewhere]

On my last flight I was over the weight limit by 6 pounds, cost 80 bucks. Oddly enough 6 pounds is how much my SS plate weighs....

With an aluminum plate you would've been over a pount or two, and that would've still cost you the same overage charge as 6 lbs over.

And a still-wet-BC and wetsuit on the way home can way a lot more than either of them. Books, OMG, that could really get out of hand.

I recommend weighing your baggage at home, so you have time to make an informed decision on what to take, what to leave, or if you want to ponentially pay for overweight luggage.

One other thing, I don't think I've ever gone on vacation where I didn't wind up with clothes, etc. that it turned out I didn't need.

 

[mmadiver]

You should have tossed it overboard. Who needs a plate, anyways!

What else did you have in there that weighed so much? Or was this a low weight limit situation?

Nope was just a normal flight, 50lbs max weight. I was at 56. No biggy I didnt have to pay the 80 bucks because I stuffed some crap into my drysuit bag which was my carry on and was good to go.

 

[mmadiver]

With an aluminum plate you would've been over a pount or two, and that would've still cost you the same overage charge as 6 lbs over.

And a still-wet-BC and wetsuit on the way home can way a lot more than either of them. Books, OMG, that could really get out of hand.

I recommend weighing your baggage at home, so you have time to make an informed decision on what to take, what to leave, or if you want to ponentially pay for overweight luggage.

One other thing, I don't think I've ever gone on vacation where I didn't wind up with clothes, etc. that it turned out I didn't need.

StSomewhere...Ive packed more bags, been on more planes, and in more countries then I can even remember. Ive got the traveling thing down to a science.

 

[StSomewhere]

StSomewhere...Ive packed more bags, been on more planes, and in more countries then I can even remember. Ive got the traveling thing down to a science.

Fair enough. Then how was it you wound up with a bag 6 lbs too heavy? If it were me (and we've gotten away with too-heavy baggage ourselves more than once ) I wouldn't be blaming my essential dive gear for being overweight, probably its too many clothes.

 

[GreenDiverDown]

A few points regarding lightweight "travel Plates"

Most people travel to places warm and sunny. In such locales they will need less exposure suit, and therefore less total weight. In some cases a SS plate may over weight the diver using only a dive skin.

Most people traveling are diving with single tanks. Single Tank position is widely adjustable, allowing some degree of trim adjustment.

One need not get hit with an overweight charge often to justisfy the purchase of a lighter weight plate.

There are people who travel from Florida to the Alaska to make dives using only doubles, they aren't the majority of Dive Travelers.

I'm all for taking the plate you need. If you are lucky enough to be neutral in a skin, then a 3# Al plate should be close to what you need to counter that nearly empty Al80. I think the more common scenario is a diver who needs 6 to 8 pounds total and is planning on wearing a typical 3 mil. They are perfect with a SS plate and a STA. Why cut to an Al plate and be forced to put a weight belt on... IF you don't absolutely have to do this. OTOH, if your trim is better with an Al plate and a belt, then by all means, take the Al plate.

Yep, adjusting the tank position can have some effects on trim. But this is usually minimal and some divers need their tank at a certain height to reach their valve. But there are other things that they can do, as well. For instance, knee/leg and arm position can help to some degree.

I agree, no one need ever to be charged an overage fee... not unexpectedly, anyways.

 

[mmadiver]

Actually it was the 50 pounds of unmarked low denomination currency I was smuggling back from the Congo on my latest arms run. Unloaded quite a few rounds of 7.72 mm to the nice revolutionists there. Took my dive gear along because I wanted to pet the crocadiles.

Buth truthfully I always carry and empty backpack as my carry on in the event that I am overweight. I figured puting my plate in there would make an effective bludgeon to beat the &$#@ out of terrorists with incase they decided to get on my flight....



Theres an effective marketing idea for you Tobin, make a plate called the "neutralizer". It will feature extra thick SS and in extreme cirucmstances can be worn on the front as a bullet proof vest. It must also have a deeply engraved DSS logo so that when you wack somebody it will leave a big imprint on their forehead.

 

[Mystic Gringo]

I have been lurking in this place for a long time... and have been getting really interested in all this BP&W stuff, which I found by searching for travel and compact BC's. I am interested in light gear simply for travel purposes alone, and I am one who will compromise a bit on trim underwater if I need too (which I don't believe i do for reasons mentioned in previous posts) to shave 5 or more pounds.

All my travel is backpacking, where I often end up hiking between towns, camping on the beach or in jungle, and 5 or 6 punds is HUGE when your carrying everything on your back. Scuba gear is not the only thing I am carrying when I travel like this (which is usually for a month or longer), I have a tent, sleeping bag, stove & mess kit, water purifier, food & water, along with clothes books, and cameras. This is why I have always rented gear, rather than owning it, but I am getting anxious to have my own gear... but it must be light.

That is atleast one valid reason for light gear. Airplane luggage is another one.

-MG

 

[Wayward Son]

OK, finally we're on the same page. When I saw the thread my brain flashed on all those "travel BC's" I keep reading about.

Yeah, now I see your point. Excpet for the small plane limitations, there's not a lot of diff in wt between an SS & an AL BP. Still, a few lbs can matter for various reasons.