[Disclaimer: By reading the below article, you release me from any and all responsibility and acknowledge that diving and diving equipment is accompanied by risk of injury or even death. You also acknowledge the necessity of proper training from a licensed instructor prior to beginning Scuba Diving or diving beyond your current level of training (or with new/unfamiliar equipment)]
You’ve seen those divers, with their perfect in-water body position, fins at that cool angle and just all-around looking awesome – those ones in a weird backplate and wing style BCD?
Well, first and foremost, equipment does not bring skill nor experience, HOWEVER, it does certainly help a lot. A backplate and wing can offer better body position a.k.a trim, better weight distribution, a more stable scuba unit(no tank rocking), and many more benefits.
Let’s stop for a moment and take a look at what exactly this type of equipment is composed of –
A stainless steel or aluminium plate with slots cut for the harness, tank mounting and other mounting points.
A wing or buoyancy cell which can be inflated or deflated to change a diver’s buoyancy underwater or on the surface.
AND, a harness(straps) to allow the diver to strap the plate to his back.
If diving a single tank set-up, an “STA” single tank adapter will usually also need to be present on your unit.
Now that we know the exact parts of a backplate and wing set-up, we can simply say that they fit together much like a sandwich – upper bread slice, meat/cheese/interior yummy stuff, lower bread slice. So, firstly you need to correctly attach your harness to your backplate, and then your wing sits either sandwiched between your backplate and STA or between your backplate and twinset.
(addition: all these items are held together by a pair of “bolts”/hand wheels etc. that sit in the middle of the plate locking the STA/Twinset to the plate with the wing in between, check BEFORE EVERY DIVE that they are tight – they do loosen over time, with undesirable(dire) consequences. This simply becomes a part of your equipment prep with time)
So, why do backplate and wing or BP/W set-ups offer better trim, weight distribution and a more stable scuba unit? Click here to find out.
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The Diving Source 