Aqua Lung Dimension i3

[SandyUT]

My wife has owned the womens version (black pearl I think) for a couple years and loves it! She tells me constantly to get the mens version. She finds it to be very easy to adjust her buoyancy in large and micro amounts. No complaints at all - just wonders why everyone doesn't have one.

I would buy one in a second if they would have just taken the Balance and added the i3 to it. its all the other mods to the Balance BC as compared to the dimension (I listed them above) that lead me to wait longer - and that I love my Balance.

 

[chile7236]

Just got one (which appears to be the Balance with i3 IMO). I haven't dove in 8 years...last BC was the chute2 (which I LOVED)...I really like the dimension so far. Comfy and "roomy"...I do miss the handle a bit and the lever inflate/deflate takes getting used to. It would seem that having a standard reg set up (primary, secondary, inflator hose and console) would be more cluttered than my chute2 set up (mk25/s600 with primary and inflator hose only) but with the routing laid out for you, once you set it up, it's pretty simple and streamlined. I am still tempted to get the Air Source just to lose that one hose for the secondary but that would cancel out the i3 lever...unless I added another hose (not happening). Another thing I like is the weight pouches take the old block weights as well (that was handy since the only pieces of my old dive stash I could find were 30lbs of blocked weights )...I will put a few more dives on it and report back. So far, so good tho.

 

[barilhu]

I have been using a Seaquest Pro Qd i3 for more than a 100 dives. I just love it. It is much more easier tu use than my old BCD with the shoulder inflator.

My wife has the pearl i3 An she love it also. Since we have the same system, in case of emergency I known how to work it.

The only time it inflate by mastake was on a boat that was too crowded, and the inflator was on someone else leg while I was sitting down.

I lost 50 pound and I must change my BCD that is way too large for me now. I will either go with the Pro Qd i3 or the dimension i3


hug.

 

[The Chairman]

I just got to try in the mail... and I am off to the DR without it (all gear will be furnished), so I won't get to dive it for another 3-4 weeks. wah!

 

[chile7236]

i'll be diving my pro qd i3 this weekend

 

[seagal]

I think the BCD is ok. If you are planning on doing some liveaboard diving travel, the side inflator can be very difficult especially when riding Pangas. People will accidentely bump into your inflator and you will have to deflate and waste precious air. This is definitely something to consider. Also I feel like the BCD does not deflate completely.. I have had this checked several times and they checked it out and said it was 100% ok.

 

[chile7236]

I think the BCD is ok. If you are planning on doing some liveaboard diving travel, the side inflator can be very difficult especially when riding Pangas. People will accidentely bump into your inflator and you will have to deflate and waste precious air. This is definitely something to consider. Also I feel like the BCD does not deflate completely.. I have had this checked several times and they checked it out and said it was 100% ok.

weird. IMO, the i3 deflates more efficiently than my knighthawk does by pulling the shoulder dump....

 

[Dgsmith]

I have the Pro QD I3 which I also love. I just bought the dimension I3 to use as a travel BC since it is lighter and packs smaller. I am going down to keys for 10 days middle of june. I will give a report on what I think of it.

 

[bbarnett51]

The guys that I know that have the Pro QD i3 love it. I just bought the deminsion and will be diving and spearfishing with it for the next week. I'll give a detailed report.

 

[johnboywalton]

I think the answer to your question -- why doesn't everyone have a Dimension i3 -- is the hefty price tag and the novelty of the inflator control. Some people have a smaller budget, and a lot of divers are conservative and view innovations with suspicion. If it's been around for several years and hasn't killed anyone, THEN they might try it ;-)

That said, the word in Europe is that the i3's mechanical inflator control technology is more reliable than similar, pneumatic-based systems.