Why lite BPs for travel?

[progressweasel]

I am going to Mexico for a month. I have a 2 and 1/2 year old that will have the worlds supply of swim and sand toys along with my stuff and other necessary (subjective) stuff. So a few pounds makes a big difference. I carry my reg but I check my wetsuit, fins (full foot - no booties), mask and BC. I don't pack a lot of other stuff for me but every pound does count.

There are resons to strip down your stuff to bare bones. Trips to islands with grass runways and 45# luggage limits total make you take stock of your gear and only take what you need. If you don't do this type of travel then get whatever you want but for those of us who are lucky enough need to consider every pound.

 

[GreenDiverDown]

Seeing as how most people generly do not travel with weights but rent them at the destination, I have no idea what relevance having theit trim dialed in nor what their distribution of the weights they don't travel with has to do with making a wt limit for an airline?

I don't follow you.

How you distribute your weight has a lot to do with trim... at least when dealing with significant amounts of weight... and it has everything to do with what you decide to pack.

Maybe you're simply far superior at packing for traveling with dive gear than all the people who are concerned about it?

I Doubt it.

 

[Wayward Son]

If you don't pack any weights, how is that significant to your travel wt?

I know some people in my dive club who took a vacation to some carribean island, small plane. They had a lower wt limit that the typical ariline does, as the flights were by old seaplanes. I think their totals were 30 lbs per person, and they couldn't buy the right to carry an excess lb for any amount of money. They said they had one helluva time packing for a week's vacation,, including dive gear, and making wt.

 

[GreenDiverDown]

If you don't pack any weights, how is that significant to your travel wt?

Because you have to be able to distribute that weight once you get to where you are going. My example above was intended to demonstrate this exact thing.

I know some people in my dive club who took a vacation to some carribean island, small plane. They had a lower wt limit that the typical ariline does, as the flights were by old seaplanes. I think their totals were 30 lbs per person, and they couldn't buy the right to carry an excess lb for any amount of money. They said they had one helluva time packing for a week's vacation,, including dive gear, and making wt.

Right. I already mentioned that... along with several other scenarios.

Even when weight limits are extraordinarily low, there are things that you can do... ways to plan ahead... things to pack and things not to pack... so that after you arrive at your destination , you will still be able to distribute your weight appropriately.

 

[Wayward Son]

You're still making zero sense to me.

If I need 16 or 20 lbs of lead to dive SW in my wet suit, BC with an AL80, what difference doe that make for traveling? That lead is not in my baggage. The airlines could give a rats *** whether I need 16 or 30 lbs at my destination, all they care about is that my baggs total does not exceed max allowed.

 

[GreenDiverDown]

You're still making zero sense to me.

I'm trying!

If I need 16 or 20 lbs of lead to dive SW in my wet suit, BC with an AL80, what difference doe that make for traveling? That lead is not in my baggage. The airlines could give a rats *** whether I need 16 or 30 lbs at my destination, all they care about is that my baggs total does not exceed max allowed.

O.K.

Would you rather have a 3# BP and a 17# weight belt... or... a 6# BP, a 2# STA, 6# on your cam bands, and a six pound belt.

If you choose the first option then your trim will suffer and you're gonna have to lug a 17# weight belt around all day. The second option would probably be preferred. What's the cost... what would it require you to do?

It would require that you pack an 8# BP/STA combo and a pair of cam band weight pockets. Of course, your bag is now 5# heavier but your rig is much more optimized with respect to trim and general ease of use.


I'm talking about backplate and wings. A standard BC is a different deal... at least in a couple of ways.

 

[Wayward Son]

Yes, I fully understand the differences. Which still means nothing for keeping yor baggage wt minimized, except that traveling with a BP&W you will have more lbs to fly with.

A person who buys a light wt BC for travel seems unlikely to me to be considering traveling with a BP&W.

Just bc it's a BC does not mean that all your wt is on your belt. I usually split mine between integrated pouches & trim pockets on the back of the BC. It'll take hard or soft, so if I'm trying to keep my wt minimized for flying, again, how much I need on the other end is irrelevant to that goal.

 

[mmadiver]

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....

 

[GreenDiverDown]

Yes... the topic of this thread is... Why do some people prefer light BACKPLATES for travel. Backplate wearers take advantage of their equipment choices to help distribute weight. This has effects on issues like trim and rig balancing.

It's not surprising that someone who dives a standard BC might be a little confused as to what I'm talking about. A standard BC wearer typically wouldn't think about changing plate materials, or adding an STA, or even attaching some cam band weight pockets. Their BC is what it is... it isn't modular and it doesn't change. They might split their weight between the integrated pockets and trim pockets and a weight belt but all of that weight still remains close to the waist and has little effect on trim. IMHO, they don't think about it and might even find it confusing... as just demonstrated here in this thread... because their gear just doesn't offer the same ability to distribute weight. Likewise, their BC always weighs the same when they pack for a trip. They have fewer options to pack lighter... or heavier for that matter. It probably isn't something that many standard BC wearers would even consider.

 

[GreenDiverDown]

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....

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?