Favorite Back Inflate BC under $700?

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Not being a jerk,but, besides a quick release buckles and such, what exactly is a point of back inflate vs BPW?
I understand people like jacket BCD, for encased feeling.
As far as I can tell, all back inflates are copies of BPW. If you go with pockets, you can put those on a harness. You like many d-rings? You can put as many as you want and where you want them in single piece harness.
Travel friendly? Alu back plate, or better yet, kydex plate and wing is not that heavy anyway. So, what is a point?
After all being said, I am not condemning non BPW divers,just being genuinely curious.

While taking my Adv OW class I was pretty severely weighted to compensate for a 7mil wetsuit.. wearing a jacket BCD... I was fine underwater but during the dive we had to surface to accommodate another diver... I had so much air in my BCD that it squeezed me and I couldn't breath...
I've hardly used a jacket bcd since... BackInflate will NEVER put a squeeze on you like that.
 
While taking my Adv OW class I was pretty severely weighted to compensate for a 7mil wetsuit.. wearing a jacket BCD... I was fine underwater but during the dive we had to surface to accommodate another diver... I had so much air in my BCD that it squeezed me and I couldn't breath...
I've hardly used a jacket bcd since... BackInflate will NEVER put a squeeze on you like that.
I understand differences between jacket and back inflate BCD, what I don't understand is why would you go for back inflate BCD, when you could go for BPW with all the benefits?
@RainPilot mentioned ease of transition. OK, I can understand that issue, but I never considered BPW before reading stuff on SB ( I only knew of doubles wing, which seemed all to big for me,and "too technical"). After filtering all the information available here (sorry,too lazy to put links), I decided to go for a BPW. Set it up myself, did one pool dive, jiggle it a bit, and I am quite comfy with my rig ( it might still be "wrong setup", but it feels OK for me, so no complaint from me), and I am in no way a sharpest toll in a shed.
Regarding weighting,my AOW included dry suit, so it was quite an weight increase compared even to my 5 mill farmer john. I needed 8 kilos of weights. Solution?
Half of it on weight belt, second half on my tank straps. Since I dive 15 l steel tank at the moment, my #30 wing and SS plate is working
just fine for balanced rig. More weight needed or just more on my rig(trim issues)? All I would have to change is for a bigger wing. Try that with a back inflate.
And again I am in no way feeling superior to non BPW divers
 
I understand differences between jacket and back inflate BCD, what I don't understand is why would you go for back inflate BCD, when you could go for BPW with all the benefits?
@RainPilot mentioned ease of transition. OK, I can understand that issue, but I never considered BPW before reading stuff on SB ( I only knew of doubles wing, which seemed all to big for me,and "too technical"). After filtering all the information available here (sorry,too lazy to put links), I decided to go for a BPW. Set it up myself, did one pool dive, jiggle it a bit, and I am quite comfy with my rig ( it might still be "wrong setup", but it feels OK for me, so no complaint from me), and I am in no way a sharpest toll in a shed.
Regarding weighting,my AOW included dry suit, so it was quite an weight increase compared even to my 5 mill farmer john. I needed 8 kilos of weights. Solution?
Half of it on weight belt, second half on my tank straps. Since I dive 15 l steel tank at the moment, my #30 wing and SS plate is working
just fine for balanced rig. More weight needed or just more on my rig(trim issues)? All I would have to change is for a bigger wing. Try that with a back inflate.
And again I am in no way feeling superior to non BPW divers

BPW isn't something that is "available" locally for a LOT of divers.... back inflate however IS... it has the "tec" attitude and that sort of freaks people out.... having first gotten certifeid in Arkansas... I was told to bring my gear to the local shop if it needed any repairs or adjustments... it wasn't a do it yourself mentality that is promoted..... BPW is a lot of do it yourself for the typical diver that doesn't live somewhere where tec is the thing...
 
BPW isn't something that is "available" locally for a LOT of divers.... back inflate however IS...
That was it for me. After reading all about BP/W's here, when I went to buy my own equipment earlier this year that's what I was targeting. But, I couldn't find anyone that rented them and only one shop a couple of hours away stocked them at all and I just wasn't comfortable committing to one without trying it first.

I talked to my instructor about it and he recommended I try a Stiletto which he said was the closest thing to a BP/W that he stocked. I tried one in the pool, liked it well enough, bought one and haven't looked back. I know there are other benefits of a true BP/W that I'm missing like better weight distribution through the backplate but I've found the Stiletto easy enough to trim by distributing my weights between the dumpable integrated pockets and the cam band pockets. It may not be ideal but it's plenty good enough for me and I'm familiar and comfortable enough with it at this point that I don't see changing it any time soon.
 
Sorry for bringing this thread up again, but this:

That was it for me. After reading all about BP/W's here, when I went to buy my own equipment earlier this year that's what I was targeting. But, I couldn't find anyone that rented them and only one shop a couple of hours away stocked them at all and I just wasn't comfortable committing to one without trying it first.

is exactly my problem as well. I have only dived with jacket BCs, am looking at getting my first own BC and am mostly interest in back inflates. While BP/W might be the best solution there, the fact that I won't be able to try it, I have no experience of assembling / setting them up correctly and no one to get advice from, causes me to look at back inflate BCs instead where I have some of the advantages of a BP/W (less clutter, back inflate) combined with the convenience of a jacket BC (no assembly, no complicated set up etc.).
 
There are advantages with buying from a lds.
True, but while it might be easy to find an LDS not only selling the latest Mares / Scubapro BCs but giving competent advise on BP/W in Florida or North Carolina, this is an entirely different story in London.
 
"there had better be for the typical price you over pay for stuff from a LDS"

My lds is pretty much in line with online sources. What I paid for my current bc and what I would replace it with if I had to would be the same or a bit less than bp/w.

Big advantage for me is the service I get, If I am flying out next week for a dive trip and have an equipment issue It will be resolved in an afternoon for a resonable price if not for free.
 
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Sorry for bringing this thread up again, but this:



is exactly my problem as well. I have only dived with jacket BCs, am looking at getting my first own BC and am mostly interest in back inflates. While BP/W might be the best solution there, the fact that I won't be able to try it, I have no experience of assembling / setting them up correctly and no one to get advice from, causes me to look at back inflate BCs instead where I have some of the advantages of a BP/W (less clutter, back inflate) combined with the convenience of a jacket BC (no assembly, no complicated set up etc.).

this is not to be combative, it's to try to understand your position

what do you think trying one will do for you? Will you get to try a back inflate or do you assume it will be the same as the jacket because it straps onto you in a similar fashion?

Are you unable to follow simple instructions with pictures to assemble the plate and make sure it fits properly?

What advice do you expect to need from someone? *for reference I can point you to a myriad of divers in the general London area who dive bp/w's*
While a bp/w does typically come in a box with all the parts and requires full assembly, it takes maybe half an hour the first time you do it, and is anything but complicated.

again, just trying to understand why you seem spooked by them
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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