New enthusiast question

[Howie]

You do not need a back plate to dive a single tank with a trans pac. I have a hundred or so dives in my trans pac with a single tank and a Dive Rite Rec wing, including 4 this weekend. I don't use any stab plates just the cam bands that came with my trans pac when I bought it. I have dove with 80's, 104's, lp108's and most commonly with my lp95's. You may have noticed I have a posting in the classifieds looking for a trans pac and a rec wing for my daughter. She only does open water stuff but will be doing a cavern course eventually. I love diving my transpac open water. I did not like diving double on my trans pac, but I have seen a lot of people that do. I like a back plate for doubles, but it is just something you would have to try for yourself.

[RN]

Ok, so if you were going to dive with a single tank would you need a backplate?

You don't NEED a backplate, but the single tank isn't as stable. Even an 85 isn't very stable on a Transpac, and that's with STAs.

[DA Aquamaster]

Rob's correct although it is a subjective thing. For exaple if you are coming from diving a poodle jacket that either fits poorly or does not incorporate soem form of back plate or cam pack, then single tanking a Transpac will feel ok and maybe even good in comparison. But if your reference is a single tank wing, plate and harness, then a Transpac will feel unstable with a single tank.

Lamar's stated goal with the Transpac, and later the evolution to the Nomad, was to create a unit that was flexible enough to handle the demands of a single trip to multiple locations with different types of diving in various tank configurations. So, a Transpac can be readily adapted to be used to with a single tank, backmounted doubles or sidemounted doubles, but saying it can easily accomodate a single tank is not the same as saying it is optimum for single tank use.

Another thing that has to be considered is the wing being used. I used to dive a rec wing in both single and double tank configurations and I noted two things.

1. Even with the bungee snugged up tight, you got a lot of taco effect with the wing. It was not a major issue, but you would in some situations have to work a bit harder to dump. However, that taco effect did help stabilize a single tank (and that may explain some of the difference in opinion in this thread).

2. When used with a plate, the rec wing could get sandwiched between 8" tanks and the plate and not come close to its rated lift. With a fairly flat (non-DR) plate, that same limitation in lift could occur with 7.25" diameter tanks.

So in effect, it worked with everything but was not ideal for anything and the flexibility it offerred came with a cost.

[Sludge]

Even an 85 isn't very stable on a Transpac, and that's with STAs.

I think a single on a TransPac is much more stable using the cam bands, instead of a STA. You're spreading the contact point over a much wider area, making it less apt to teeter back and forth.

For the last eleven years I've been using a Scubapro "TransPac clone," but it has the Scubapro Super-Cinch tank bands (two of them). It's the most comfortable back-flotation BC I've ever used, almost as comfortable as a Scubapro Stab Jacket. I recently moved to a steel plate and a TransPlate harness, with twin Super-Cinch bands. It's not bad, but I'm considering trying to find another Scubapro like my last one on eBay - eleven years of use takes its toll, and maybe somebody somewhere has had one in a closet all this time.