Wing for HP 80?

[cool_hardware52]

This suggests that, to be safe, I need to wear a thicker wetsuit (or a drysuit), which in turn has implications for the capacity of the BC/wing I need to wear.

Ballast is ballast whether it's lead on a belt or a (very) negative tank.

Conditions dictate the required exposure suit. The buoyancy of the suit dictates the required ballast.

Letting the tanks dictate the suit and wing is getting the cart before the horse IMO.

Just another reason I find HP80's, particularly the "cannon ball with a valve" variety undesirable.

Tobin

 

[rx7diver]

Scubapro does advertise that their Classic BC bladder is double-coated with neoprene. This is a shot in the dark, but maybe they don't RF weld the seams but rather use some sort of heat tape application?

Mahjong,

When I purchased my first Scubapro Stab Jacket (in 1987), Scubapro heavily marketed that the seams were hand-glued and taped internally. I think they called this their "fin-seal" design. My second SSJ, purchased c. 1993, which I still own and continue to dive, was advertised as having this same construction.

Ronald

 

[rx7diver]

Letting the tanks dictate the suit and wing is getting the cart before the horse IMO.

Well, you're probably correct with this assessment. But in 1988, I was a graduate student driving a Fiat Spider 2000. And anyone who knew Fiat ("Fix It All the Time") at that time, knows cargo space was at a premium (since you had to always carry sufficient tools in order to keep the car running), so little tanks ruled! So what if the price you had to pay meant wearing a thicker exposure suit! LOL!

 

[mahjong]

I'm all BP/W these days, but your talk about the Scubapro Stab Jacket is making me miss my first BC, a Classic (post Finseal, yes, but one of the early pre-weight integration Classics, circa 1998, if that's "early" for you). I pummeled that jacket spearfishing in murky rocky strong-current waters with rock-ledge shore entries for 3 years in Taiwan. I think I grew attached to it more as a lifejacket--at times all that stood between me and survival--than as a BC. While I love diving my BP/Wings, and I have all too many permutation and combinations of them, sometimes, like now, I get this impulse to burn them all and replace them in my closet with one simple SP Classic. But tomorrow morning I will likely wonder how much fun that would be. ;-)

Mahjong,

When I purchased my first Scubapro Stab Jacket (in 1987), Scubapro heavily marketed that the seams were hand-glued and taped internally. I think they called this their "fin-seal" design. My second SSJ, purchased c. 1993, which I still own and continue to dive, was advertised as having this same construction.

Ronald

 

[mahjong]

One could always buy a larger car, though as a graduate student (my tenure was apocalypic--1995-2005, such it sometimes is with anthropologists) I drove matchboxes too--first a Plymouth Horizon (what a cool car, but the electrical system was a nightmare) and then I upgraded to a tiny Honda Civic Wagovan, which I still think is the best car ever. A Fiat Spider 2000 in 1988, you were clearly ahead of your time (by at least a dozen years--but then maybe it's just that the Italians don't know how to count--I can get away with that cheap shot as I am 100% Italian).

But getting back to being able to buy a larger car, not unlike many Italians I am short, so I cannot buy a new body frame, so I am somewhat fated to short tanks. Consequently, I don't have the luxury that Tobin does of not being a fan of 20" tall canon balls with a valve. But then I can probably lift more tank weight than Tobin can, and even run mini-marathons with heavy tanks on my back--as I am a compulsive workout/running freak, what better diversion to keep me from sitting at my desk and writing? But lifting and running with tall and heavy tanks doesn't mean that they fit well on my torso; but nor does it mean my wings or STA's can fit properly on short tanks (and they often don't--sometimes I find myself hunting for short tank boots so that my STA can be installed on short tanks; and I have use an Oxycheq SS travel STA when drysuit diving Faber LP95's in New England or CA--I can bend the Oxycheq SS travel STA with my hands, so imagine the stress it is under with an LP95). So, I do know and appreciate where Tobin is coming from.

PS, the 2000 for the Fiat Spider I'm guessing is engine size, no? Post BA and pre-graduate school, I was a Yuppie who owned two BMW 2002's, from 1985-1988. If memory serves, the "2's" front and rear referred to engine litre size and body style, can't recall which is which. Great cars, right up there with the SP Classic.

Well, you're probably correct with this assessment. But in 1988, I was a graduate student driving a Fiat Spider 2000. And anyone who knew Fiat ("Fix It All the Time") at that time, knows cargo space was at a premium (since you had to always carry sufficient tools in order to keep the car running), so little tanks ruled! So what if the price you had to pay meant wearing a thicker exposure suit! LOL!

 

[rx7diver]

I'm all BP/W these days, but your talk about the Scubapro Stab Jacket is making me miss my first BC, a Classic (post Finseal, yes, but one of the early pre-weight integration Classics, circa 1998, if that's "early" for you). I pummeled that jacket spearfishing in murky rocky strong-current waters with rock-ledge shore entries for 3 years in Taiwan. I think I grew attached to it more as a lifejacket--at times all that stood between me and survival--than as a BC. While I love diving my BP/Wings, and I have all too many permutation and combinations of them, sometimes, like now, I get this impulse to burn them all and replace them in my closet with one simple SP Classic. But tomorrow morning I will likely wonder how much fun that would be. ;-)

I've always loved my SSJ. And after more than a bit of frustration with BP/W used as a singles platform, I reconciled myself to using my SSJ for all my single tank diving forever.

And then I happened upon the Freedom Plate. I wrote about it here http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ge...126-freedom-plate-first-dive.html#post5448864. After diving with it and thoroughly loving it last year first with a steel 72 and then with a PST HP 120, I'm thinking my venerable SSJ just might get benched after all—if I can sort out this HP 80 thing.

Safe Diving,

Ronald

 

[mahjong]

I'm hoping to have a FP soon. I recently built a travel BP/W rig using a SP Knighthawk backpack (and DR Travel EXp wing). The SP backpack is shaped exactly like the FP (or maybe it should be vice versa), so I sense there might be something about that FP that strikes all the right chords with me as well.

I've always loved my SSJ. And after more than a bit of frustration with BP/W used as a singles platform, I reconciled myself to using my SSJ for all my single tank diving forever.

And then I happened upon the Freedom Plate. I wrote about it here http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ge...126-freedom-plate-first-dive.html#post5448864. After diving with it and thoroughly loving it last year first with a steel 72 and then with a PST HP 120, I'm thinking my venerable SSJ just might get benched after all—if I can sort out this HP 80 thing.

Safe Diving,

Ronald

 

[rx7diver]

One could always buy a larger car

Well, the family car is a Honda minivan. (Three elementary school-age kids.) Absolutely hated the idea of driving one—until I realized how easily this relatively fuel-efficient car packs dive gear!

I am short, so I cannot buy a new body frame, so I am somewhat fated to short tanks.

I'm not so short. I simply love my little tanks. My 56-year-old lower back really loves my little tanks!

PS, the 2000 for the Fiat Spider I'm guessing is engine size, no? Post BA and pre-graduate school, I was a Yuppie who owned two BMW 2002's, from 1985-1988. If memory serves, the "2's" front and rear referred to engine litre size and body style, can't recall which is which. Great cars, right up there with the SP Classic.

Yes, 2000 refers to engine size (1.9 liters). Fiat built this little convertible for a lot of years, and the engine grew over that period of time. The BMW 2002 was an amazing car. Would have made a terrific scubamobile. Would have got you to the dive site FAST—without breaking down!

Best,

Ronald