Collection: Backplates & Harnesses

Choosing Your Chassis: Stainless Steel vs. Aluminum The backplate is the foundation of your rig. Beyond just holding your tanks, it is a critical tool for managing your ballast and achieving a perfectly horizontal trim.

1. Stainless Steel (The Local Standard) For drysuit diving in the North Atlantic, Stainless Steel is the preferred choice.

• Integrated Ballast: A standard steel plate weighs approximately 2.3kg. By placing this weight directly against your center of gravity, you can remove several kilograms of lead from your waist belt.
• Trim Control: Moving ballast from the waist to the back helps keep you naturally horizontal, making it easier to hold your position in the water and reduces drag.

2. Aluminum (The Expedition & Travel Choice) While steel is king for local waters, an Aluminum plate is an essential addition to your gear locker for specific missions.

• The Travel Rig: Weighing in at approximately 0.7kg−0.9kg, an aluminum plate allows you to turn your high-performance wing system into a lightweight travel rig. It is perfect for warm-water missions where you are diving in a thin wetsuit and require very little lead.
• Aluminum Cylinder Setup: If you are diving with aluminum cylinders (common in warmer water), an aluminum plate prevents you from becoming "top-heavy" as your gas pressure drops.

3. One Harness, Multiple Missions The beauty of the backplate system is modularity. We recommend keeping a Stainless Steel plate rigged for your local drysuit diving and a spare Aluminum plate for your travel missions. You can easily swap your wing and harness between the two, ensuring you always have the same familiar "muscle memory" and hose routing regardless of where in the world you are diving.

Oceanauts Standard: For Irish Sea diving, start with Stainless Steel. It is the most effective way to streamline your weight distribution and improve your stability in the water.