Just seems like I have seen you posting questions about why a BP/W is better than your non-BP/W rig before. Search function answers this question pretty adequately, as hundreds of people have been in your shoes before, including me. What ultimately swayed me was knowing the rig was infinitely adjustable to fit me perfectly, the parts will almost never wear out and when they do, fixing it costs only a few dollars for new webbing, and the rig is so simple and decluttered, no recreational rig, including tech-creational rigs like the Transpac, can compare. (of course, this is based on a hogarthian setup, not the silly "luxury" harnesses which negate those decluttering benefits) I do recall making one thread on TDS about BC's, and how to make them more comfortable, or something along those lines, and people wanted to string me up for even mentioning BC's. I learned my lesson after that: don't overthink it, and read what others have written, and most importantly, ask someone who does a lot ofcave diving what they use. That led to my purchase of a BP/W.
You don't fit my understanding of a troll perfectly, but others had mentioned the possibility, and I know there are plenty of people who enjoy trolling the technical community... I wasn't declaring that you were a troll as a moderator, so much as mentioning it since others had, as a user. I suspect the reason they mentioned it, is because of your other threads on this issue in other parts of the forum, and the way you seem to attempt to pick a fight that so far, hasn't been shown to exist (ie, several instructors have said they know of no such requirement, and you apparently haven't spoken to your instructor about the issue, so you might be making up an issue that doesn't even exist) I doubt any of them consider you a nuisance member, and if they do, I'm sure they know how to report your posts. As a moderator, I haven't seen anything in this thread that required any moderator action, and didn't mean to imply that I did, but I do understand how my statement could seem to, my mistake.
Imho, cave diving is more dangerous the less you do it. Before you get too involved in the hobby, you might should consider how active you will be, and take steps to ensure you see some time in a cave on a regular basis to keep your skills sharp, as good skills are just as important as proper gear.
[a quick addition after seeing ucfdiver's post-- there are probably hundreds of instructors that violate some minor standard on a daily basis with their students and get away with it. There are hundreds more than minimally meet standards. Finally, there are a few amazingly good instructors that go above and beyond to give students not just the minimum required training, but an excellent class that ensures the student will be the "cream of the crop." FIND THOSE INSTRUCTORS! That is something I cannot stress enough. Far too many instructors do shoddy work, and it kills people, but is hard to prove and is almost always such an indirect cause of death that nothing can or will be done about it.]
