The extra weight of this 6 mm thick Mares XR Stainless Steel Backplate is most popular with drysuit divers and saltwater divers using aluminum doubles. The Mares XR 6 mm Backplate is 316 marine grade stainless steel XR backplate with a flat matte finish that is 6 mm thick and weighs† approximately { 8.5 lb | 3.85 kg } for divers who wish to transfer even more weight off their waist.

The Mares XR backplate features a modern laser cut design:

• 6 mm version weighs† approximately { 8.5 lb | 3.85 kg }.
• { 11 in | 28 cm } centers mounting with three holes for height adjustability and a lozenge slot that allows easy assembly on doubles bolts without alignment concerns.
• { 2 in | 5.1 cm } slots to accept directly threaded tank cam bands for single cylinder diving, improving stability by making the use of a single tank adapter optional.
• { 2 in | 5.1 cm } horizontal and angled strap slots to allow your choice of straight or cross-over shoulder strap mounting.
• { 2 in | 5.1 cm } slot at the base to accommodate a crotch strap.
• { 3/8 in | 1 cm } perimeter holes (four on each side and four at the base) for mounting accessories such as light canisters, butt plates, inflation bottles, lumbar pads, and surface marking buoys.
• Rounded corners and all edges are deburred to reduce wear on the harness and wing. The lower corners have a slight bend for comfort.
• { 15.75 in | 40.0 cm } high and { 10.63 in | 27.0 cm } wide at the base, { 8.75 in | 22.2 cm } wide at the top before the corner curve, with "V" depth of { 1.6 in | 4.1 cm }.
• 316 marine grade passivated stainless steel with a flat matte finish and stamped Mares XR logo.

If you wish to use assembly screws (aka 'book screws') to attach a backpad or other accessories, please be aware that Mares XR brand assembly screws are too short to securely attach to the 6 mm backplate, although we found our DGX Assembly Screws are perfect. Our assembly screws are available in metal or plastic, but in our opinion the plastic ones actually work better with this 6 mm plate. Don't be concerned about the strength of plastic vs metal; the plastic version is plenty strong for thus application plus they are not subject to galvanic action and don't cause wear on materials rubbing against them.

† Although Mares documentation officially lists the weight as 4 kg, our own measurements listed above disagree when taken using multiple electronic scales and averaging across multiple items without including packaging.