Anybody provide their professional opinions?

[jongles]

To OP

Where are you living and what does your local dive shop sell?

agreed Searcaigh.
also has the OP done any diving yet? if their only just beginning diving why buy when their first lot of training will no doubt have equipment supplied. Personally I'd hold off on investing in equipment till you at least get wet. After that you can get sucked into the whole BCD vrs BP/W debate.

 

[diver 85]

Not a professional here, but the Zeagle Scout is being made again--for about 300 USD......I remember when they were 200 bucks...

I've had one for about 7 or 8 years now, use it as my #1 go-to BC & like it as much as my Dive-rite alum. BP/W......& it's still in perfect shape...When this one goes out, I'll be buying another---exactly like it....Also, great for traveling---ie weights about 5.5 lbs(same as my DR alum. BP/W)......

 

[chillyinCanada]

When last I purchased a BCD, I was swayed by the BPw crowd and so tried one out. I'll admit that I liked how it felt underwater, but that was all I liked. I'm very happy with my Ladyhawk even if I do wish it had a better pocket setup. Travel with it all the time.

OK back to the BP. It just flat didn't suit my diving. I dont want to wear a weight belt. Period. Even adjusted for me, I had more trouble getting in and out of the harness. While I'm sure this becomes second nature at some point, it still doesn't work well for lots of the diving I do.

Further, a few years back I had Frozen Shoulder on my left side. Lasted almost two years. A year or so later got it again but on my right side. Blessed be, it only lasted around 9 months.
I'd have had to quit diving if I'd been using the wing.

And then there was the diving off the little pangs. Not a problem for those of us in jackets but should have seen the gyrations my friend had to go through with his bpw.

No sorry, I'm not going to be convinced that BPW is the way to go for all divers. Ergo, my recommendation to the OP is to figure out what kind of diving you will be doing. Shore diving? Big boat diving? Etc etc, dont mind a weight belt and trying to figure out how to hang stuff off yourself, then maybe the BPW is right for you. If you are going to be a diver that flies to dive destinations, you'll probably want an aluminum backplate, which as I understand it defeats the argument of the Bp taking weight off your belt. I'll concede that it probably packs a lot more easily so weigh that factor in too. No pun intended.

 

[Bob DBF]

Hey everybody, I'm trying to gather some money to finally buy some gear. But I'm kinda in the budget side....

I'm thinking about the Zeagle Stiletto w/ octo z, Cressi mc9 and the mares mission 2 gauges.

Can anybody provide your own recommendations and opinions for gear on the low price/bettwr quality range. Thanks!

It's not just you, but it would help if new divers asking for advice on gear would fill out their profile a bit and let us know what kind of diving you are doing and what diving you are working towards as you gain experience and gear. There is a bit of a difference between one living in Fla and wanting to be a cave diver and one living in Canada and only looking to dive on holiday once a year, for instance. I could give you advice on gear, but it would only mirror my preferences, not yours. I would advise checking your LDS, letting them know you are on a restricted budget and ask for any deals on inexpensive used gear, and work from there. If you don't pay a lot to start with, a change of mind is not a disaster to your wallet.

Contrary to what some will say, the gear does not make you a good diver.


Good Luck

Bob
-----------------------------------
There are more ways than one to skin a cat, however the cat never likes it.

 

[oreocookie]

I love my Zeagle Stiletto. Very comfortable, packs down reasonably well for travel (though I'll admit a bp/w would pack down flatter, but would be heavier based on my local diving). I am going to have to buy another bc soon, but that's cause I'm going sidemount, not moving to a bp/w (which I have dove with for a week before). The Stiletto still meets all my single tank needs and I have no issues recommending it.

Personally, I wouldn't go with the Octo-Z, but that's because a) I prefer a traditional octo, and b)When travelling, if my luggage gets lost and I have to dive with a rental bc, my reg set will still all work, I don't have to rent an octo and reconfigure my reg (not hard to do, but a bit of an annoyance).

 

[ermaclob]

Read what I posted, I did not say a jacket is better. Because I don't think that either. What I said was that BP/W users are in the minority.

80% of this board does not think BP/W's are better. That was my point. The VOCAL 20% does. And I think it's less than that personally.

Don't you think that manufacturers would make a significant effort to sell the mostly more expensive BP/W configurations if they could? Or are all their marketing people idiots? They sell what the majority of recreational divers want to buy - something that works that they don't have to think about - or worry about configuring too much. So they can spend time watching the pretty fishes instead. I'm one of them, so are all my friends. And we dive a lot compared to most folks, several trips a year and liveaboards. I have honestly never seen a BP/W in use on a liveaboard. Those are pretty hardcore divers who would've spent the money on the optimum gear - for them.

Why isn't every "what BC should I buy thread?" here "which BP/W shoould I buy?" instead? Because most people don't want them. I could've bought anything I wanted a few years ago - even had some discussions offline with Tobin at DSS. For the diving I do, with the things I carry, I made the decision to go back-inflate with a Ranger. I laugh when I read the "where/how do I stow/clip this off while diving my BP/W? Or people who dive a BP/W and need a weight belt also. I just put both in my pockets...

And to say one is more streamlined is ludicrous. I'm personally 6'4 250lbs. I can't prove it but I would surmise that the difference in how well I move thru the water is more affected by the square footage of the fins I use than the difference between having/not having a jacket. And mine is a lot more comfortable since most of my diving is in a t-shirt. I also do a lot of shore diving, I'll take my rig over a BP/W any day for long carries down to the water. It's what's right for me and the majority of other divers.

Have you ever seen BP/W's in a rental fleet at a tropical dive destination - I haven't. And I look at stuff like that even though I have my own gear. They're too hard to configure individually for the average vacation diver who will happily slip into a jacket, put some weights in the pockets and go dive. Are they optimally configured? - No. Do they care? - Probably not...

Jim even reinforced my point. Most people can't/don't care to do any of this. And I agree with all of his points.



I'm thru here. If you aren't convinced, do an honest review of the threads in anything but the highly technical forums here and count for yourself what others are using. It won't be BP/W's. All the major manufacturer's offerings, online websites and local store inventories would seem to back that up. My favorite local shop (large inventory) has at least 100+ different BC's on the floor. They have 3 BP/W's in a "tech" area. Two are actually the same harness configured with a different wing.

The problem with ScubaBoard is that although we are the most participated dive forum, we probably don't attract 5% of the currently certified divers in the world. I read somewhere that PADI has certified a million+ people. So the reality discussed here isn't really.

dude this almost sounds like if your trolling.... and if your not.... :/ poor you.

So what if padi has certified a million people. I bet more then half of those people dont dive regularly and then from the remaining diving group only a small percentage actually dive regularly to have a substantial amount of experience to give you a well thought out answer when it comes to things dive related. Your right that scubaboard isnt reality in terms of what you see in the majority. but you have to remember that many of the people on here are the ones that dive alot and are experienced. many of them have good suggestions, and when some one pops out a thread like this one and you get almost everyone point the OP in one direction chances are its probably a good idea to go with what people are advising.

im not discrediting jackets or other back inflates. its just my opinion and experience that a bp/w will have more uses and serve as a better bcd all round then others

 

[Mike.D]

I don't know where you buy your dive gear diversteve, but in most online dive shops and indeed the dive shops in my area, BP/W setups are ridiculously cheaper.
Perhaps this is why diveshops prefer to sell jacket bc's. Afterall, they have to make money somehow and sales is the greatest profit for most dive shops.
Your right, not many people seem to have embraced BP/W (in my area anyway) but the guys who do dive that setup are the guys who are out nearly every weekend.
Its the same story for all of them. "Man I wish I had bought a BP/W straight away instead of wasting $$$ on a jacket bc which I only dove in a handful of times. And all the diving around me is rec, temperate waters, ~30m max depth. Not tech dives.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Diving Dubai]

When last I purchased a BCD, I was swayed by the BPw crowd and so tried one out. I'll admit that I liked how it felt underwater, but that was all I liked. I'm very happy with my Ladyhawk even if I do wish it had a better pocket setup. Travel with it all the time.

OK back to the BP. It just flat didn't suit my diving. I dont want to wear a weight belt. Period. Even adjusted for me, I had more trouble getting in and out of the harness. While I'm sure this becomes second nature at some point, it still doesn't work well for lots of the diving I do.

Further, a few years back I had Frozen Shoulder on my left side. Lasted almost two years. A year or so later got it again but on my right side. Blessed be, it only lasted around 9 months.
I'd have had to quit diving if I'd been using the wing.

And then there was the diving off the little pangs. Not a problem for those of us in jackets but should have seen the gyrations my friend had to go through with his bpw.

No sorry, I'm not going to be convinced that BPW is the way to go for all divers. Ergo, my recommendation to the OP is to figure out what kind of diving you will be doing. Shore diving? Big boat diving? Etc etc, dont mind a weight belt and trying to figure out how to hang stuff off yourself, then maybe the BPW is right for you. If you are going to be a diver that flies to dive destinations, you'll probably want an aluminum backplate, which as I understand it defeats the argument of the Bp taking weight off your belt. I'll concede that it probably packs a lot more easily so weigh that factor in too. No pun intended.

Hi Chilly..

I'm not going to argue with anyone's choices - but regarding your BP/W issues...
1. Harness - mine has 2 weigh belt buckles on the shoulder straps - I injured my shoulder when I first got mine and these proved a boon to removing the wing - also I've just re started after a back injury and have to remover my kit in the water next to the boat - these quick release sort that too.. you don't have to have the Hogarthian set up - indeed I change between suit thicknesses so these buckles make that a snitch too

I also used to have integrated weights on my wing too - like you I hate weight on the hips - i don't need as much weight now so what I do need goes in trim pockets. I also fitted my wing with two waist band pockets to suit my needs.

---------- Post added March 16th, 2014 at 05:43 PM ----------

. I have honestly never seen a BP/W in use on a liveaboard. Those are pretty hardcore divers who would've spent the money on the optimum gear - for them.

Why isn't every "what BC should I buy thread?" here "which BP/W shoould I buy?" instead? Because most people don't want them. I could've bought anything I wanted a few years ago - even had some discussions offline with Tobin at DSS. For the diving I do, with the things I carry, I made the decision to go back-inflate with a Ranger. I laugh when I read the "where/how do I stow/clip this off while diving my BP/W? Or people who dive a BP/W and need a weight belt also. I just put both in my pockets...


Have you ever seen BP/W's in a rental fleet at a tropical dive destination - I haven't. And I look at stuff like that even though I have my own gear. They're too hard to configure individually for the average vacation diver who will happily slip into a jacket, put some weights in the pockets and go dive. Are they optimally configured? - No. Do they care? - Probably not...

Diversteve

I dive Liveaboards a lot - and I dive a BP/W.. I accept a lot of people don't but that's because they haven't seen one. I can also prove that when I changed from a jacket to a wing I went from 24lbs around the hips to 6lbs of lead and a 5lb plate ( 13lb weight reduction)

To the OP

The BEST thing about a wing - ignoring everything else is that IT WILL ALWAYS FIT! no matter what your size, however much your body shape changes no matter what type of exposure suit you wear or change too...

I've also loaned my wing to people on a liveaboard to try and in a number of cases had to wrestle it back

All that said is that there is no reason you can't dive with either - some like them some don't for whatever reason (I originally brought a BCD because that's what I'd learnt in - tried a wing out of curiosity and loved it) You chose what you are comfortable with and what you can afford (as well as what is available near to you when you need after sales support

 

[dorkito]

Angelito317, I was in your shoes about six months ago. After 50 dives in various rental gear, I decided to invest in my own stuff. At that point I had only used jacket BCDs. I didn't even know about BP&W. I had never seen one. After lots of research on Scubaboard and after talking to as many divers as I could, I ended up going with a BP&W setup. I'm very happy I did. I really like the sense of freedom that I get with just a few straps around my chest and hips versus a big bulky vest. Also, when I want to vent the air out, I can easily get ALL of the air out. Done are the days of jiggling around and hugging myself to vent every last bit of air. I do carry a fair bit of stuff (read the Accidents & Incidents forum for a while and you will too!) Honestly, stowing gear is a bit easier with a jacket BCD-- just stash everything in the pockets. With a BP&W it takes a little more effort/thinking to get the right setup dialed in. Luckily there are tons of configuration suggestions to be found on Scubaboard, and now I make do nicely with my D rings and a thigh pocket. After 20 dives everything is working great, and I'm very happy with my choice.

 

[nv]

Hey everybody, I'm trying to gather some money to finally buy some gear. But I'm kinda in the budget side....

I'm thinking about the Zeagle Stiletto w/ octo z, Cressi mc9 and the mares mission 2 gauges.

Can anybody provide your own recommendations and opinions for gear on the low price/bettwr quality range. Thanks!

I have the stiletto, atomic z2x reg and z2 octo, and an air integrated puck. Personally I would visit leisurepro.com and build a back of what you want and see what they offer you.

The package when I purchased it was 1410 and retail just over 1900. I submitted a create my own package on the website and they got back to me within 24hrs.

They have a lot of options for any budget.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk