Opinions needed

[FreediveWI]

Use the right tanks with the right suit. Aluminum tanks with wet suits and steel tanks with drysuits. Only use aluminum tanks for deco bottles and stages- never steel tanks.
Also, never use a steel back plate with a wetsuit- only aluminum or plastic. Steel paltes are only for drysuits.

If you follow this adivce you should notice a few things:

1- You'll save money.

2- Your trim will be much better in the water.

3- You won't be so heavy that you become a danger to yourself.

4- You will always be able to get off the bottom even if you have a total BC failure.

I remember the days when we dove drysuits without any BC's at all. We did this by using the right tank with the right suit. I wouldn't dive this way anymore, but the idea is still the same.

Double bladders are expensive toys that some diveshops sell to make extra money. They are NOT needed. I have dove with 5-6 tanks at a time with a single bladder BC and was just fine- a friend of mine was acutally doing clean-up on a dive and had 9 bottles with him in addition to his doubles and was never overweighted. Some shops sell the extra gear because they just don't know a better way and are still trying to figure it all out- with your wallet.

Steel tanks are nice for drysuits IF you only wear them on your back. Aluminum 80's and 40's are the real "work horse" tanks of diving and should be used for all stage bottles and deco bottles. You'll find that they are also a whole lot cheaper than the steel stage bottles that are out there.

Deep Blue dive shop is flying in two of the top GUE instructors this June for a DIR-F class. I would highly recomend this class to anyone with more than a passing interest in diving. They could answer a lot of questions for you about this, and other topics, that will end up saving you a ton of money in poor gear choices down the road.

Pirate's Cove and Deep Blue both rent back plates and wings so that you try before you buy.


Jon

[Vtach]

I agree, back plate, one piece harness and wings. Simple, comfortable, cheaper in the long run especially you plan on a variety of diving You can do it all, single tank mounts, double tank mounts, stage bottles, etc....without having to buy 3 different BC's. It's really nice that there are some diveshops around where you can rent this equipment and try it out. Try it out on more than one dive before you make a decision.

[Omicron]

And, you can even build one yourself....you can find plans out there to build your own backplate and wings fairly cheaply. All they are are a chunk of aluminum/steel that is bent at a few angles, and a few slots/holes machined in it. Then, get yourself some webbing and some d-rings and you are essentially set.

I had the link to the guide to doing it, plans and everything for it, but can't find it now..