Wow, gr8 vdo on strapping a backplate. W/ that gr8 demo, have decided on this system as my diving backpack. Very compact & very modular as well. Thx 4 sharing on the internet. Keep on scuba diving & having fun. Stay healthy & safe.
Awesome video,thank you for your thoroughness and explanations. I don't have one YET but I'll be ready when I get mine. I hope to join you guys on Saturday , keep up the great work.
Very helpful demonstration of setting up a plate and harness...I'm setting up my first this weekend. Much appreciated. I'm curious, if one is using a standard recreational hose configuration (no long hose 2nd stage), where/how do you clip-off one's octo?
Nice video. I went out afterwards and did a couple of minor tweeks to my harness that I'm sure will make it just a little better when we can all go diving again. Thank you.
Thank you Bryan for producing this video I just purchased a b/p and wing myself. Harnesses give a lot more flexibility than most BC with large guys and I can get it to fit and makes it so much easier to put on and take off
Hello Dive Another Day. My trim pouches thread onto the bottom tank cam strap. They are simply there to fine tune my buoyancy. All of my Back Plate and Wings, with the exception of one, are balanced out for specific types of diving, and specific exposure suits. This means I very rarely dive with ditch-able weights.
Hello @docmcr1953, most shops should have retaining bands for purchase. You can also make what some call a ranger band out of bicycle inner tubing, and it works just as well.
I'm a new diver and have been loving your videos. I'm looking for my own gear and have seen your videos on the Mares BCs. What I cannot find anywhere online is a video of donning and doffing of a BP&W in and out of the water. I'm loving the design for travel, but am worried I'll have trouble after the dive getting it off as I have bad shoulders. Would you mind creating such content?
I am a female recreational diver who has been diving a jacket style BCD since I started 16 years ago. I’m interested in switching to a BPW, but the options are overwhelming. I’m looking into the xdeep zen right now & would switch out the existing harness for a horgathian system. I’m just wondering what your thoughts are on a first system for a female diver. Thanks! Loved your videos!
Hello @jameesmith4771. My first suggestion would be to seek out your local Dive Center to see what models they offer and to get properly fitted. There are many brands to choose from, most if not 99% of them all work the same in regards to sizing. Especially, if you are wanting a one piece harness. Once you have done that, if your specific Dive Center does not have the brand you are wanting, then you will have a better understanding of how to adjust one if you purchase online. The hardest decision most divers have to make is, not the brand, but how much lift they need with the bladder. I routinely will dive either a 22lbs lift or a 34lbs lift. Most brands have a range between 15lbs to 37lb for single tank systems, 44lbs to 100lbs lifts for doubles. This is where you local Instructor who has experience with each comes in to play. During our SSI Perfect Buoyancy Course we go over the calculations for proper lift. The next hardest decision is choosing, soft / aluminum / steel back plate. I use both steel and a soft plate. My oldest daughter only uses a soft plate. Yet again, this is a good reason to go by your local shop to see what they have. If you are close to us, come by and we will let you try different models to see what works for you. The last thing to consider is, weighting needs in regards to weight pockets. If you are like my daughter, she does not have that much real estate around her waist band for large weight pockets. Thankfully, for most of her diving, she does not wear any weight, even in Salt Water. So she simply has two very small weight pouches on the back of her cam straps. Now with brands, we choose Mares, because we trust it, and its what we sell, but in the last 35 years in this industry, I have sold and used all of the major brands, and trust all of it. My top choices for single tank would be Mares, Zeagle, OMS, and maybe even Dive Rite (the travel XP System is a great choice). The good news, the majority of Back Plate and Wings are interchangeable, so you can choose one brand for the harness, one brand for the wing, and one brand for the plate. Mix and max at your pleasure.
Is this a rig that can easily be converted to side mount? I’m new to side mount and BPW. I’d like to convert from a jacket to a BPW, but don’t want to invest if I will have to turn around and buy another rig when I’m ready to explore side mount
Hello Nick Jarboe, yes and no. You can very easily add a Sidemount Bladder to the Back Plate instead of a standard bladder system. However, the flexibility is not quite as good as having a shoulder plate and a lumbar plate. The Mares XR Pure Sidemount system is a better system for Sidemount, this of course just being my opinion.
Great tutorial. I have exactly the same backplate system, one question on the weight belt though, since I’ve been using traditional weight belt, I am experiencing the plate hitting the weight situation, which makes my waist very uncomfortable, any tips there? Thanks in advance ;)
One way to resolve this is to use trim weight that goes in a tube and attaches to the two bolts on your doubles bands and/or use a tail weight that attaches to the lower bolt in your doubles bands. You'll find both trim weight and tail wait pouches on Dive Gear Express.
The thing that we see a lot of divers do, is they will wear the weight belt too high. Most Freedivers where their weight belts lower, thus with Back Plate and Wings, we try to do the same.
Hello C. Patrick Sadowski, great question. For me, its all about weight requirements, and practical use of the back plate. For travel, I like the soft plate the best, and other divers prefer an aluminum plate. Aluminum plates also come in handy for diving doubles while in a thinner wetsuit. I also use steel, when added weight is necassary, such as diving with a Drysuit. Since we are a commercial diving company as well, most of our salvage divers will wear steel plates and steel cylinders to help eliminate the need for weight pouches on our waist straps. This allows us to have more realestate for tool pouches and other necessities during working dives. Here is a video we did in the past on plate choices that you might find interesting. th-cam.com/video/ajgO8qyzI-s/w-d-xo.html
Aspiring tech diver here, what would you recommend for entry level tech diving?? I want to do all kinds of wrecks and cave diving in the future but not yet. Thanks for your recommendations!
Hello Black Ocean Diving. Any Back Plate and Wing will work just fine. We are biased of course to Mares. Make sure you have your skills squared away before you get too far into tech diving. Buoyancy is a must.
GREAT Video - thank you! 1 question: Ive seen tri-glide hardware with smaller D rings on the side (which I was planning to thread on ea. shoulder strap w/ the D rings facing in - then connect a chest strap to help secure everything) ...do you recommend this? I guess Im asking because I have a big chest and Ive noticed arm pit hot spots - figured a strap could help help with it.
Hello Nate Shank, you can most definitely do that. We would encourage all divers to make sure their rigs are comfortable and set up to meet their needs. A lot of sidemount divers will configure their harness in the same way that you mentioned.
Sir can you tell the length of mares xr donut bladder 10kg? Plan to buy still doubt if it’s fit on my back. I bought apex wtx d18 and it’s too long on my back. Thanks, it will help me decide wisely on buying the bladder.
Thank you for good explanation. However, I would add more than one elastic band to the shoulder strap. Sooner or later the one you put will break. It is then nice to have a spare ready, especially if that happens during the dive.
Hello N N. Redundancy is never a bad idea. All of my current Back Plate and Wings are from the Mares XR line (5 to be exact), and thankfully I haven't had any issues with them breaking.
i guess Im asking the wrong place but does anybody know a trick to get back into an Instagram account..? I stupidly forgot the password. I love any help you can give me.
@Mohammad Liam Thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site on google and I'm trying it out now. Looks like it's gonna take a while so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
The ones you see in the video come with the Mares systems. You can also get strands of elastic at craft stores and simply sew them together. Then flip them inside out to hide the seam.
Hello South Toledo Bend LA, you are absolutely correct, I forgot to come back to it. In short, the elastic band holds the inflator hose close to the shoulder, and the bungee secures the inflator itself, making it easier to access it when needed.
Thanks b st john. She may get upset, but you can do like I do, simply buy her a new set of knives, and then you will have plenty to use, and you can add some to your save a dive kit.
I don't see any reason why anyone would want to do this when you can buy a BCD off the rack that can be adjusted very easily unless it gives someone a false sense of control or they happen to be built funny. Probably the same person who swears by a standard shift over an automatic which only creates more effort or the guy who goes fishing all day and is stuck with cleaning the mess. If you want a fillet go to the grocery store, they probably do it better. The parts are available if it makes you happy but I want to dive not tinker with small parts. Of course I might be prejudiced having worked as a bench technician for 15 years in an unrelated industry. Informative and good instructions though.
overall really like your videos, have learned a lot from them. You may want to limit the "that being said" phrase, you often use the phrase a speech crutch and it distracts from your message.
![Back Mount vs Sidemount {[My Biased Opinion]}](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/M0OpJSzf948/mqdefault.jpg)
![Back Mount vs Sidemount {[My Biased Opinion]}](/img/tr.png)
![CAMPปลิ้น | รวม Highlight 2024! PART [1/2]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/6hnvNnvYloU/mqdefault.jpg)
Nice job and well done. No matter how long or short diver has been diving there’s always something to learn from other divers as well.
Be safe y’all
Thanks Will, hope you are staying safe as well.
Thank you for sharing this information, it is very helpful. I’ve been looking into backplates and wings, and that’ll likely be my next purchase.
Glad you liked the video @skirblah. Welcome to the world of Back Plate and Wing Diving.
Thanks for the excellent video!
Glad you liked the video @kski2010
Wow, gr8 vdo on strapping a backplate. W/ that gr8 demo, have decided on this system as my diving backpack. Very compact & very modular as well. Thx 4 sharing on the internet. Keep on scuba diving & having fun. Stay healthy & safe.
Hello John Chan, glad you liked the video.
Great Tutorial thanks Bryan
You're welcome Amizam Jabbar, glad you liked the video.
Awesome video,thank you for your thoroughness and explanations. I don't have one YET but I'll be ready when I get mine. I hope to join you guys on Saturday , keep up the great work.
Thanks Jimmy Kabisch. Glad you liked the video, and I hope you can join us for our live Q&A
Do you have a video showing how you attached the shears to the top of the left side BC strap please?
Hello Burhaneddin Muntasser. I will try and make one for you this coming week. Stay tuned.
Very helpful demonstration of setting up a plate and harness...I'm setting up my first this weekend. Much appreciated. I'm curious, if one is using a standard recreational hose configuration (no long hose 2nd stage), where/how do you clip-off one's octo?
Hello Jonnie Bangkok, I personally use a regulator necklace for my octo.
Very helpful! Thank you
You're welcome Joud Hamshari. Glad you liked the video.
I’m building a backplate very soon so there was a lot of good information here. Especially the part about the webbing chafing. Thanks brother !
Hello Outdoor Outpost glad you liked the video and found it helpful.
@@LakeHickoryScuba all of your videos are honestly pretty great. I usually have them playing during the day at work.
You helped me set up my first bp/w, thank you sir
You are very welcome @waveydavey33, glad you liked our video and found it helpful.
The inner tube for the extra webbing is brilliant! Tks
You're welcome andreandrade, glad you found the video helpful.
I actually teached my teacher about this trick 😄 but I had it from an ise video
New drinking game while on lock down. Watch lake hickory videos and every time he says “with that being said” take a drink.
And "WITH THAT BEING SAID," there will probably be quite a few people who become intoxicated while playing that game. LOL
LakeHickoryScuba id say so yes 😂😂
I was just thinking the same thing but wanted to see if anyone else said it.
Nice video. I went out afterwards and did a couple of minor tweeks to my harness that I'm sure will make it just a little better when we can all go diving again. Thank you.
You're welcome Tim Gosling, glad you liked the video.
this info is great, many thanks
You are very welcome D Dacombe, glad you liked the video.
Thank you Bryan for producing this video I just purchased a b/p and wing myself. Harnesses give a lot more flexibility than most BC with large guys and I can get it to fit and makes it so much easier to put on and take off
You're welcome Ivory Johnson, glad you liked the video.
I really like that XR backplate, ended up with a dive rite because there are no good Mares dealers in Mexico. Keep up the good work!
Hello Leo Avila, I have owned several Dive Rite systems in my time, they make great gear.
@@LakeHickoryScuba yes, it's really nice too 😄 and it was a good deal as prices are going crazy expensive right now around here, regards
Bought my Halcyon today. Love this.
That is awesome Mike's Big Adventures. I know you will enjoy it, and the quality of your new back plate and wing will definitely last you for years.
Where did you attach your trim weight pouches? Do you wear an additional weight belt?
Hello Dive Another Day. My trim pouches thread onto the bottom tank cam strap. They are simply there to fine tune my buoyancy. All of my Back Plate and Wings, with the exception of one, are balanced out for specific types of diving, and specific exposure suits. This means I very rarely dive with ditch-able weights.
Thank you very much for sharing!
You're welcome B Mariner.
Loved this video, but where you order these things like elastic banding, etc. from?
Hello @docmcr1953, most shops should have retaining bands for purchase. You can also make what some call a ranger band out of bicycle inner tubing, and it works just as well.
Thanks for the video! I am looking to buy my first w/bp and thinking of mares xr.
Hello dvnultimate, we have been very impressed with the entire line of Mares XR Products.
I'm a new diver and have been loving your videos. I'm looking for my own gear and have seen your videos on the Mares BCs. What I cannot find anywhere online is a video of donning and doffing of a BP&W in and out of the water. I'm loving the design for travel, but am worried I'll have trouble after the dive getting it off as I have bad shoulders. Would you mind creating such content?
Hello Rebecca Blair, I will be more the happy to make a video on this topic. Stay tuned.
Scoot over . I’m gonna sit right here next to you ! I just bought my mares blue battle bp/w. I too want to see you put it on dive and take it off.
Another cracking video.
Thanks David McCaffery
I am a female recreational diver who has been diving a jacket style BCD since I started 16 years ago. I’m interested in switching to a BPW, but the options are overwhelming. I’m looking into the xdeep zen right now & would switch out the existing harness for a horgathian system. I’m just wondering what your thoughts are on a first system for a female diver. Thanks! Loved your videos!
Hello @jameesmith4771. My first suggestion would be to seek out your local Dive Center to see what models they offer and to get properly fitted. There are many brands to choose from, most if not 99% of them all work the same in regards to sizing. Especially, if you are wanting a one piece harness. Once you have done that, if your specific Dive Center does not have the brand you are wanting, then you will have a better understanding of how to adjust one if you purchase online. The hardest decision most divers have to make is, not the brand, but how much lift they need with the bladder. I routinely will dive either a 22lbs lift or a 34lbs lift. Most brands have a range between 15lbs to 37lb for single tank systems, 44lbs to 100lbs lifts for doubles. This is where you local Instructor who has experience with each comes in to play. During our SSI Perfect Buoyancy Course we go over the calculations for proper lift. The next hardest decision is choosing, soft / aluminum / steel back plate. I use both steel and a soft plate. My oldest daughter only uses a soft plate. Yet again, this is a good reason to go by your local shop to see what they have. If you are close to us, come by and we will let you try different models to see what works for you. The last thing to consider is, weighting needs in regards to weight pockets. If you are like my daughter, she does not have that much real estate around her waist band for large weight pockets. Thankfully, for most of her diving, she does not wear any weight, even in Salt Water. So she simply has two very small weight pouches on the back of her cam straps. Now with brands, we choose Mares, because we trust it, and its what we sell, but in the last 35 years in this industry, I have sold and used all of the major brands, and trust all of it. My top choices for single tank would be Mares, Zeagle, OMS, and maybe even Dive Rite (the travel XP System is a great choice). The good news, the majority of Back Plate and Wings are interchangeable, so you can choose one brand for the harness, one brand for the wing, and one brand for the plate. Mix and max at your pleasure.
Awesome, thanks
Glad you liked the video George W Claude Jr.
Is this a rig that can easily be converted to side mount? I’m new to side mount and BPW. I’d like to convert from a jacket to a BPW, but don’t want to invest if I will have to turn around and buy another rig when I’m ready to explore side mount
Hello Nick Jarboe, yes and no. You can very easily add a Sidemount Bladder to the Back Plate instead of a standard bladder system. However, the flexibility is not quite as good as having a shoulder plate and a lumbar plate. The Mares XR Pure Sidemount system is a better system for Sidemount, this of course just being my opinion.
Great video!
Thanks Paul Desmarais
Great tutorial. I have exactly the same backplate system, one question on the weight belt though, since I’ve been using traditional weight belt, I am experiencing the plate hitting the weight situation, which makes my waist very uncomfortable, any tips there? Thanks in advance ;)
One way to resolve this is to use trim weight that goes in a tube and attaches to the two bolts on your doubles bands and/or use a tail weight that attaches to the lower bolt in your doubles bands. You'll find both trim weight and tail wait pouches on Dive Gear Express.
The thing that we see a lot of divers do, is they will wear the weight belt too high. Most Freedivers where their weight belts lower, thus with Back Plate and Wings, we try to do the same.
Advantages of diving a stainless over an aluminum BP, or vice versa?
Hello C. Patrick Sadowski, great question. For me, its all about weight requirements, and practical use of the back plate. For travel, I like the soft plate the best, and other divers prefer an aluminum plate. Aluminum plates also come in handy for diving doubles while in a thinner wetsuit. I also use steel, when added weight is necassary, such as diving with a Drysuit. Since we are a commercial diving company as well, most of our salvage divers will wear steel plates and steel cylinders to help eliminate the need for weight pouches on our waist straps. This allows us to have more realestate for tool pouches and other necessities during working dives. Here is a video we did in the past on plate choices that you might find interesting. th-cam.com/video/ajgO8qyzI-s/w-d-xo.html
Aspiring tech diver here, what would you recommend for entry level tech diving?? I want to do all kinds of wrecks and cave diving in the future but not yet. Thanks for your recommendations!
Hello Black Ocean Diving. Any Back Plate and Wing will work just fine. We are biased of course to Mares. Make sure you have your skills squared away before you get too far into tech diving. Buoyancy is a must.
Can you show how to mount wings to backplates with/without book bolts (using cam straps)?
Absolutely, Lucas Clark, stay tuned.
Bryan the elastic sleeves on the webbing are those something bought or something you made?
Hello Kent Martin, they come with the Mares XR webbing.
GREAT Video - thank you!
1 question: Ive seen tri-glide hardware with smaller D rings on the side (which I was planning to thread on ea. shoulder strap w/ the D rings facing in - then connect a chest strap to help secure everything)
...do you recommend this? I guess Im asking because I have a big chest and Ive noticed arm pit hot spots - figured a strap could help help with it.
Hello Nate Shank, you can most definitely do that. We would encourage all divers to make sure their rigs are comfortable and set up to meet their needs. A lot of sidemount divers will configure their harness in the same way that you mentioned.
Sir can you tell the length of mares xr donut bladder 10kg? Plan to buy still doubt if it’s fit on my back. I bought apex wtx d18 and it’s too long on my back. Thanks, it will help me decide wisely on buying the bladder.
Hello Robby Natividad, from the center of the top to the center of the bottom is 24 inches, 60 centimeters. Hope this helps.
@@LakeHickoryScuba thank you sir. I hope in my size it will be ok. Great help.🌈
You're welcome.
Thank you for good explanation. However, I would add more than one elastic band to the shoulder strap. Sooner or later the one you put will break. It is then nice to have a spare ready, especially if that happens during the dive.
Hello N N. Redundancy is never a bad idea. All of my current Back Plate and Wings are from the Mares XR line (5 to be exact), and thankfully I haven't had any issues with them breaking.
i guess Im asking the wrong place but does anybody know a trick to get back into an Instagram account..?
I stupidly forgot the password. I love any help you can give me.
@Rodrigo Braden instablaster :)
@Mohammad Liam Thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site on google and I'm trying it out now.
Looks like it's gonna take a while so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
@Mohammad Liam It worked and I actually got access to my account again. I'm so happy!
Thanks so much you saved my ass !
Question, does it matter which way the bent D-ring faces?
Jonny B Kuehl outwards so that you can clip on easier. If it’s bent towards you, you’d have to lift it up to clip on.
Hello Jonny B Kuehl, as Danny Holden stated, most divers prefer the bent to be outward, so it makes clipping off items much easier.
Where do you get any elastic bands I wanted something more durable that inner tube pieces
The ones you see in the video come with the Mares systems. You can also get strands of elastic at craft stores and simply sew them together. Then flip them inside out to hide the seam.
What are those sheers? I like that keeper tab!
Hello Harrison Marks, we sell these. They are from Team Lifeguard Systems. They also come in many different colors.
@@LakeHickoryScuba Tragically I am across the country, I wish you had a full online store!
The good news is, we can do over the phone sales, or you can order straight from Team Lifeguard Systems.
Great Video as usual, I don't think you got around to the use of the bungee on the inflator hose.
Hey I got the first comment!!!
Hello South Toledo Bend LA, you are absolutely correct, I forgot to come back to it. In short, the elastic band holds the inflator hose close to the shoulder, and the bungee secures the inflator itself, making it easier to access it when needed.
Thank´s
You're welcome Masterryman.
good video now i got to go adj mine. p.s. do you think the girlfriend will get mad if i take 1 of her cutco steak knifes
Thanks b st john. She may get upset, but you can do like I do, simply buy her a new set of knives, and then you will have plenty to use, and you can add some to your save a dive kit.
"With that being said".
I do tend to say that a lot. Thanks for pointing it out.
I don't see any reason why anyone would want to do this when you can buy a BCD off the rack that can be adjusted very easily unless it gives someone a false sense of control or they happen to be built funny. Probably the same person who swears by a standard shift over an automatic which only creates more effort or the guy who goes fishing all day and is stuck with cleaning the mess. If you want a fillet go to the grocery store, they probably do it better. The parts are available if it makes you happy but I want to dive not tinker with small parts. Of course I might be prejudiced having worked as a bench technician for 15 years in an unrelated industry. Informative and good instructions though.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us @arrivedp.
overall really like your videos, have learned a lot from them. You may want to limit the "that being said" phrase, you often use the phrase a speech crutch and it distracts from your message.
Hello TheLoosenit2, thanks for the advice.