Backplates and Accessories

One configuration consideration is that plates and wings are not always perfectly interchangeable among brands. Manufacturers tend to make subtle design decisions such as the placement of grommet holes and slots on the wing based on aligning similar slots and holes of their own brand of backplate. The shape of the flat in the center of a specific brand wing may be designed to match the specific shape of their plate so that the bladder is not pinched by the plate when the two are assembled together on doubles. A common annoyance with doubles mounting is the depth of the "V" in the center of the plate varies slightly among brands, which can trigger compatibility problems with the bolt height setting of the bands. The diver might find it very difficult to engage the wing nuts when assembling a plate and wing on a set of doubles where the bolt height was optimized for a different brand plate and wing.

The good news is that we are not aware of any interchangeability issues for doubles mounting between any of the brands of wings and plates we sell. For single tanks, you can usually avoid using a single tank adapter (STA) if the wing and plate are the same brand. By the same token when the brands are mismatched, or the wing manufacturer does not also offer a branded plate, a STA is pretty much a necessity.