Posted by seahunt on August 26, 2001 at 20:14:43:
Well John had said that I had to try a backplate rig... He made me an
offer I couldn't refuse. What could I do? Especially since I've been
curious about this kind of rig for a while anyway. Up front, without
trying it, my questions are about a plus and a minus. Is it as stable
as the old ScubaPro backplate, a real advantage over a traditional BC.
Also, can it be used efficiently for forward swimming, something I
consider important in kelp. These days, divers seem to mostly talk
about swimming bakwards, something I don't want to have to
do.
So there I was, at La Jolla shores talking gear and options. One thing
that's interesting right here is that in my mind's eye I think of DIR
rigs as the one on the right. Not that its got double tanks, but the
double bladders good for around 80 pounds of lift. That or something
like it is what I have usually seen when I looked at a DIR rig. It looks
like overkill. Now the rig on the left looks almost funky because it's
got such a small bladder, though I was told it had around 34 pounds of
lift. It was explained that the backplate form is inherently made to be
capable of doubles, but for this try out I just tucked an old AL 73 in
it. This makes the rig smaller than a normal BC. The plan was to
use my 80 at the cove later, but I was going to go off the beach here to
initially try out the rig. I opted to go as completely the way John had
this set up as possible, to get the best idea of what the rig was like.
This inluded the 7 foot hose and simple pressure guage without console.
He adjusted it to my size and we put some of the weight in the backpack
pockets instead of all of it in my usual weightbelt location. I barrowed
a compass, but figured I could pass on a depth guage. Like I say, I hate
things on my wrist. The hose on the SPF was too short to hook it on how
it would be normally, but that was not a big issue. Right off when
putting on the gear, it is a bit strange because of the integrated weights,
but that is an option anyway.
So off I go to do my beach entry and try out this fearsome Halcyon backplate,
well, mostly DIR configuration. John told me up front I might die due to
the shoulder straps being crossed. I claim to be a good diver, but I must
admit that as time goes on, I become a less and less graceful looking
diver. I think this is because I just don't care how I look any more.
So I just sat down at the shore and floundered around to put on my fins
and other stuff before going in the water. There are about 200 other
divers around me and they have all obviously been taught to walk out
and then put their fins on.
First answer, swimming forward was no problem, though it would take more
than one test to know, but with a full tank and overweighted, it worked
fine.
Time to go down. While unfamiliar, not very different and I was
intentionally overweighted... maybe even a bit too much intent. Well,
I got to the bottom and quickly felt that the regulator was restricting
my head movement, which was odd cuz John had said that was one of the
nicest features of the long hose. I tried to push the hose back and got
lesson one. If your hose is looped around your neck, make sure your
hose is not inside your hood or you're gonna have to take off your mask
and hood to get it out... but it did work better then. I think that problem
can be classified as avoidable with experience.
I wasn't headed in any direction, but I figured to go out some to get the
feel of the system in at least 30 feet of water. At the first thermocline,
I already missed my depth guage. Some people don't like sand diving, but
I think there is a lot to see. You just have to look close.
I figured I should try and see what the rig was about so I did some
sommersaults and swam on my back some. Yes, it was a as firm or more so
than the ScubaPro backpack. Maybe it's real or not, but with a BC I always
worry about the tank jumping up and hitting the valve into the back of my
head. Admittedly, this is due mostly to bad habits of mine like head first
dive entries, but it's real. Also, turning to the side did not pull me to
90 degrees as I had heard it could.
I didn't want to do a ditch and don because there could have been a very
interesting buoyancy problem once I lost the integrated weights. I did go
as far as taking the shoulder straps down to see if it was any problem.
Again, it was just like an old ScubaPro bakpack and not an issue.
Probably I should have screwed around to focus on getting a feel for
the rig, but I'm not really a gear tester, I'm a diver, so I just headed
out some more. Past the second thermocline, I was really wondering my
depth and then I came to where I was obviously getting to the edge of the
Sripps Canyon. Hmmm. That was a bit of a surprise. So I hung a right turn
and cruised along there. it's not a spectacular dive, but it is a dive.
I saw a couple large male sheepshead, a small sheeps crab, a sculpin, two
divers and a number of banded gobies. It was definately time to head back.
I followed my compass and intended to swim all the way to shore, but I had
to get shallow fast, cuz that small AL was a dropping on the SPG pretty
fast. I saw a nice hali on the way out.
So what did I think of the rig. Nice. It holds the tank more stable than
a BC. No disadvantages I could see. The idea of no extra buckles is
certainly a good idea in theory and probably in practice, though I've
never had a problem there anyway... yet.
What about streamlining, that big claim made for the rig? Well, it's hard
to tell. It looked streamlined. It sorta felt streamlined. It's hard to
tell, but I sure did get out to the canyon fast. Then again, I sure did
seem to get back to shore slow. In any case. when it's on, there's pretty
much nothing in front of you but the waiste buckle. That's gotta be good
start.
Would I go the backplate route when my current BC wears out? Sure, why
not, but then gear has never been a big issue to me and I would have
stuck with the SubaPro backpack in the first place given a choice. I
don't like muh of any any gear designed after about 1980. Is it superior
to a BC? Most of them I'm sure, but that's not hard. Are any BC's better
than the backplate? ScubaPro BC's are tops if you like body armour. My
current personal preference in a BC would be the Zeagle, but it only fits
on my scale as OK. So yah, given a choice, I'd get a backplate rig.
I certainly did appreciate the extensive explanations and the use of
John's rig. I liked his stories perhaps even more and there's plenty
more of that smokey where that came from.
Enjoy the diving, seahunt