Aqua Lung BCD with i3...To Buy or Not To Buy?

[Chris Cheatwood]

I went back to the dive shop this morning and used both a jacket style (Aqua Lung Pro QD) and Back inflate (Dimension i3). I went and swim some with back inflate, then try the jacket style, the back to the back inflate. It felt a lot less bulky in the back inflate and easier to swim underwater. I ended up purchasing the Dimension i3. I feel good about my purchase and am doing my first dive tomorrow after at Dive Alabama in Pelham.

 

[DevonDiver]

I was taught a maxim in the military - K.I.S.S. (keep it simple _ _ _ _)

i3 doesn't seem simple.

If it broke, could you easily/swiftly fix it and 'save a dive'?

Does it have more, or less, components, joints, fixings and dependencies that could go wrong? (thus affecting the likelihood of error).

Does it provide any tangible benefits, compared to the alternatives?

To start with, in a situation as you spoke of, your buddy uses his bcd to provide lift not your's.

As you teach. Obviously, in the big-wide world, there are alternative approaches.

If he can't understand to reach down vs reaching for the hose, I suggest you find another dive buddy.

If he can't understand the need to have instinctive, practised and ingrained reactions for use in high-stress emergency scenarios, I suggest he listens to a different instructor.

 

[Chris Cheatwood]

One thing I have learned, just like cars, everyone has an opinion. There are Ford guys, Chevy guys, and Toyota guys--everyone has an opinion and all the other choices are junk in their opinion. Nothing wrong with having an opinion. I respect everyone in their opinion. There are TONS of choices out there. I prefer the less bulk. It was easier to swim underwater vs jacket style. The i3 is a different way of inflating and deflating our BC, but the technology has been tried and tested. Plus getting your equipment serviced regularly will prevent issues that cause equipment to fail. I feel confident in my purchase today.

 

[hscohen]

I've got about 150 dives on my Pro QD i3 and like it very much. I'm leaning toward trading in for the Axiom to get all the nice new features. (My excuse is getting a smaller size-- result of a successful diet). I prefer hybrid to back-inflate, so the Dimension is not for me.
Some personal biases:

1. A vital control like inflate/deflate belongs in a rigidly fixed location, not flopping around on the end of a hose.
2. The octo likewise belongs in a rigidly fixed location, not flopping around on the end of an inflator hose.
3. The best place for the octo is right underneath the diver's mouth, held by an elastic necklace. A panicked diver should be able to find hir octo instantly-- even in the dark and with heavy gloves on. "The octo is for the buddy," you say? Theoretically, yes, but a panicked diver is going to grab your primary. (Ask any instructor). Which brings me to my next point...
4. The primary hose should be long enough to allow graceful sharing. I like a 5-foot miflex (looped once around my neck in normal use).

Of course, your mileage may vary.

 

[sjwhite26]

I have the ladies pearl i3 and it's fantastic, the fit is brilliant, very confu for the ladies and shorter in length. I Like the mechanism and have no problem with it, I find you can be very precise with adding or removing air.

At the moment,though I am diving my cressi travelight with the normal hose and it honestly feels like going from an iPhone to an old nokia. I feel cluttered and not quite as trim. Otherwise it took say 10 seconds to get back into the swing of the hose type.

As for one of the poster's saying it wasn't suitable for non-cold water or diving off the back if boats that is almost the only type of diving I do and I have no problems. :shrug:

Regardless of the type of mechanism make sure you try it out to see if you get along with it that is the most important thing.


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[Chris Cheatwood]

I ended up purchasing the Dimension i3. I have done 5 dives with it so far and I am very pleased. Thanks again to everyone who offered their opinions and experience!

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Get a Back Plate & Wing

Oh wait, I just saw your latest post above mine.
Oh well, too late.

 

[Mark Derail]

I have this Aqualung with i3, and just purchased a much smaller Stiletto. I will use the Aqualung in cold water - I can put 50 lbs in that jacket !!!

In warm water will use the way less bulkier Stiletto.

The Aqualung doesn't require you to use the i3; it's there for convenience. You can manually inflate if need be, and ditching weights is easy.

My biggest 'beef' with it, is that you easily hit it, usually up, in various circumstances.

With the Stiletto I like the rip-cord, that pulling on the inflation hose unit releases the air, just like holding the air evac button, but does it in the back, for a faster and fuller deflation.
I also like that the tank mounted weights can be dropped (one at a time).

 

[johnboywalton]

It seems to me that most of the people who raise reservations about the i3 system (or the similar system from Mares) have never actually used it. All the negatives I have ever heard or read about either system are based entirely upon very general speculation, and rooted in a suspicion of anything new. Well, an inflator hose can get tangled up in sometime just as easily as another diver might kick the i3 inflator control, and a panicky diver can screw up your BCD whether its using new technology or not.

The bottom line is that if you focus on people who actually own and use an i3 BCD system, the feedback is overwhelmingly positive. If that keeps up, that type of technology is going to catch on, and in 10 or 15 years all new BCDs will have a similar inflator control system.

 

[Mark Derail]

Well, I've used it so far in all my dives, halfway through my OW Cert, and 20+ dives.

I've hit it on the boat a few times, having my BC inflate max (and thus wasting air). I've hit it in the bottom of the pool and on corals when a current pushed me against it.

Plus it's size - the thing is huge - is better adapted for cold water with 14mm or a dry. The Stiletto I bought just for warm water diving and as a spare, for my GF's 12 yr old son, so we can dive together in the local lakes.

If someone was to dive exclusively in warm water, and knowing what I know, I would not recommend the i3 system w/o considering the facts I've stated.

The rest, is personal opinion. Nothing I said was speculation.