Drysuit + Jacket BC

[brockbr]

99% of divers world wide use jacket style BCs. The same is true with drysuit divers. There is no reason at all to think you need a wing with a drysuit - a jacket BC will work quite happily.

Huh?

Can I read that to say "99% of divers world-wide use jacket bc's, and so do dry-suit divers"?

I don't mean to be argumentative, but that number is not accurate. No matter where I've been (in caves, ocean, quarries, etc), I've never seen a BC on a drysuit diver. Ever.

 

[String]

In which case id class as very unusual. Got to just about any holiday resort on the planet and you'll find every single person in a jacket style PC. Go to any training school and you'll see the same.
Take a trip to any inland dive site round here and you'll find almost no wing wearing people at all, especially single tank.

There are far more BP/W wing divers on the internet than at dive sites.

Most people here have never heard of or seen a wing and a lot of those have been diving decades. Its something that is far more common on internet forums than it is in real life.

Edit:- just looking through our dive shop stats for a resort i worked at 2 years ago where we kept record of kit if they brought their own. 1400 different people, 2 of them had wings.

Places ive worked since ive not seen a single wing user other than my own.

 

[NudeDiver]

Huh?Can I read that to say "99% of divers world-wide use jacket bc's, and so do dry-suit divers"? I don't mean to be argumentative, but that number is not accurate.

Perhaps you should become familiar with the use of hyperbole. I really don't think String (whom I am generally happy to wildly disagree with, btw) was holding up that 99% as a data-backed, accurate value - but merely making the point that there are a huge number of divers out there, including drysuit divers, who use a jacket BC.

No matter where I've been (in caves, ocean, quarries, etc), I've never seen a BC on a drysuit diver. Ever.

Do you get out much? Lots and lots of drysuit divers here use a BC.

 

[Sas]

Huh?

Can I read that to say "99% of divers world-wide use jacket bc's, and so do dry-suit divers"?

I don't mean to be argumentative, but that number is not accurate. No matter where I've been (in caves, ocean, quarries, etc), I've never seen a BC on a drysuit diver. Ever.

Where abouts have you dived then? As what you have experienced is unlikely to be common so I was curious.

Locally a fair few people have wings but it is far from the norm. I have only had mine for a few weeks and I have already been asked by a few different divers about my 'weird BC'.

 

[bamamedic]

Huh?

Can I read that to say "99% of divers world-wide use jacket bc's, and so do dry-suit divers"?

I don't mean to be argumentative, but that number is not accurate. No matter where I've been (in caves, ocean, quarries, etc), I've never seen a BC on a drysuit diver. Ever.

Same here....but I don't have quite the experience that you do, Brock

I don't actually ever recall seeing a drysuit diver in a standard BC; either they are wearing a BP/W or a Transpac....

 

[sambolino44]

I had a Scubapro Classic jacket-style BC when I started diving in a wetsuit. Before I switched to a drysuit I was already unhappy with my BC, but waited until I got my drysuit and had several dives in it before I switched to a BP/W.

If you are happy with your BC now, there's no reason why you shouldn't be just as happy with it in a drysuit.

One thing I didn't like about my jacket-style BC was that it just didn't feel secure; it fit properly, but no matter how tight it was the thing still moved around too much. I added a crotch strap, and then rigged up an internal harness similar to the harness on a BP/W. All that helped, but I'm happier now with my BP/W. Just because I am doesn't mean you will be, though.

You may want to consider adding a crotch strap to your BC when you get your drysuit. I got a narrow one from Dive-Rite at my LDS, and it fit right into a slot that must have been made for that purpose on the plastic backplate on the BC.

Mainly, though, just do things one step at a time. Don't start changing stuff because you think it may be a problem in the future, or because of what you've seen other divers doing. Trust your instincts. There are so many people in diving who are so full of @#%$ that it's just amazing. Often the ones who are most adamant about doing things a certain way are the furthest off-base. You'll have plenty of time to try it and decide for yourself.

By the way, I got a pretty fair price (I don't remember how much exactly) for my used BC on ebay when I finally got rid of it. Probably paid for almost half the price of the BP/W.

Good luck!

 

[drdaddy]

OK, 98% of the drysuit divers that I have seen are wearing jacket BCDs. That goes for the Oregon Coast & Puget Sound of Washington. And when I travel internationally, I never see backpacks/backplates on anyone who is sport diving in warm water resorts. I'm not saying anything against BP/Ws, but I agree that there seems to be more BP/W people here than I see out there!

And, when I was diving drysuit, I wore the same jacket BCD I wear today - my SeaQuest/Aqualung Pro-QD. Now I dive 7mm farmer john wetsuit - much more appropriate for the barnacles of the Oregon Coast jetties. And I'm warm and it's a lot less expensive and doesn't have all the extra mechanical devices that may fail.

Thank you Sambolino44 for the balanced reply. Dive with what you want. Try out different things. It's not a fashion show, nor is it someplace to impress others with "psuedotec". Just get wet and dive!

drdaddy

 

[Sas]

Thank you Sambolino44 for the balanced reply. Dive with what you want. Try out different things. It's not a fashion show, nor is it someplace to impress others with "psuedotec". Just get wet and dive.

drdaddy

I agree that people should dive with what they want. But how is a BP/W "pseudotec"? A BP/W is not "technical" or "recreational" specific gear...

 

[bamamedic]

...It's not a fashion show, nor is it someplace to impress others with "psuedotec". Just get wet and dive!

drdaddy

The vast majority of technical divers use a BP/W, but that does not make a BP/W "technical gear"...in the same respect that the average sports car owner rarely exceeds the speed limit. Even though a BP/W is fairly optimal for lots of technical applications, it also has its purpose in recreational diving. For one thing, the weight of the plate helps reduce lead requirements. There's a lot of flexibility in being able to choose the right wing for your particular situation. There's also a lot of options in harnesses and weight systems. That, combined with their ability to be adjusted to any size, makes them a ideal fit for many recreational situations.

I switched to a BP/W at around dive 20...not in the interests of putting on a fashion show (although that's the one of the big reasons for my new drysuit purchase - the blue matches my regulator perfectly ), nor was I trying to impress anyone by being "pseudotech". The steel plate did a lot for my trim and it reduced the amount of weight I had to put on my belt...which in turn, helped me to become a more comfortable diver.

Just because you see a diver in a BP/W, doesn't necessarily mean that they have the slightest interest in technical diving. Assumptions based on seeing someone's gear choices can be a hazardous thing.

 

[NudeDiver]

in the same respect that the average sports car owner rarely exceeds the speed limit.

Oh come on. Even the average stationwagon owner exceeds the speed limit more than just "rarely".