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Originally Posted by ChrisA
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(2) The plate may add to much weight for tropical warm water diving where a wetsuit is not needed
Once you've been stung because you didn't have any exposure protection, you might reconsider whether there's more to a suit than keeping you warm. That said, I dive my steel plate with a thin microprene suit with no problem, and could switch to aluminium if it was.
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I'm guessing from the photo that you are an average or bigger guy. And was this with an aluminum or a steel tank? Put a SS backplate and a steel tank on a smaller diver, maybe 5-2 and 110 pound female in just a dive skin. She'd be way over weighted. But they make aluminum backplates. Some divers like to have ditchable weight. So if you are diving with just the BP and no belt, may divers would not like that.
I'm not arguing against BP&W. The OP asked for "cons". So why are we all listing "pros"
I just thought of one more "con":
(7) A BP&W setup is more complex and costs more and has much more swiming drag then the simple "backpack". A know a few "backpack divers" and they do just fine and are so much more manouveavle and faster under water than I am.
Here is a picture of one
Scuba Tank Backpack for Standard Tanks: at JoeDiverAmerica.com
It doesn't get more "minimal" than this. No wing, no inflator hose. Just a tank straped to the driver's back.
It was "The Standard" up until about the 1970's and is still widly used. The idea is that you weight yourself perfectly. On the surface you will float at eye level because the wetsuit is not compressed and then at depth you are neutral. really the same exact thing as free diving. Both free divers and backpack scuba divers use "just enough" weight to stay down when down and up when up.
I'm waiting for conditions to improve to try one. It's been choppy and the surf has been up most of this year
So one more "con". Yes i've actually hear some backpack user point to a BP&W setup and say "man this is just to much stuff." |
I know this thread was about cons...
But there is nothing "complicated" about about a BP/W, it DOES NOT cost more than MOST BCs, and it certainly doesn't have more drag than conventional BCs.
I'm happy to list problems with equipment, becuase nothing is perfect, but don't add falsehoods.
As for the "backpack" lets stick to modern equipment here.