problem with trying to redesign the bp/w is that it was optimized for what it does after decades of trial and error, so other than some slightly different wing shapes, they really haven't changed much. As far as recreational bc's, nothing they have is really worth looking at over a good bp/w setup. You have options of a hard or soft plate, one piece, or deluxe, or transplate style harness, and after that there really isn't anything worth looking at. Prices coming down would be nice, but we have affordable options from DRiS and DGX at well under $400 for a full BP/W setup, so can't argue with that. Deep Sea Supply isn't much higher for American made at just under $500. As someone that has worked on the design and development of some of this stuff, those margins are fair margins, not like the $900 Zeagle Ranger or some other stupidly overpriced pieces of equipment. $400-$500 is what it costs to make something with premium materials, then sell it through an operation. The only thing that will keep prices down is volume, Cave Adventurers, DGX, Dive Right in Scuba, and Northeast Scuba Supply have proven that which is why it's very difficult for other shops to keep up with them. I'd rather see the costco style approach to scuba diving where there's one big shop in each relatively good size area, pool in house, few different instructors, and they all have large online shops setup to keep their prices down, and then have a few of the smaller type shops at various destination sites where they can get the tourist business. I still have no idea how DUSS, Gypsy, Reef and Ridge, CDC, and now Air Hogs survived in Raleigh where there isn't a lot of local diving. DUSS is out of business, Gypsy has the pool so gets a lot from that, Air Hogs is now doing the online thing, but also the PSD thing, but there's no reason for that many in the area. With online shopping as prevalent as it is, you don't need the shops to fight for fair pricing.
That was long winded for the 25% cheaper, sorry.....
For recreational bc's, just trash them all. They are not good at what they do, they are uncomfortable compared to a well fitting harness, they are more costly to the shops to keep as many in their rental fleet, and they just don't work as well. For BP/W's we are constantly looking at better materials to make the wings out of, but other than that, there isn't a whole lot to be done...