Excursion vs Excursion 2??

[Rkermd]

Hi all. New to diving. Looking at my first BC. Very impressed with the excursion but just prior to purchasing saw there was an excursion 2. Which is the newer model? What is the difference? Why is the excursion 2 so much less money ( $300's vs $500's)?

 

[mattia_v]

If you're looking at a back-inflate design (good idea, BTW), and looking at spending 300 to 500, I would (and did) go with a Backplate and Wing. I'm not a super experienced diver by any means (80 dives over the past many years), but I really, really, really like my Backplate/Wing setup a lot more than any of the rental jacket BCs I've rented in the past. Add ditchable weight pockets and you're good to go.

The Explorer is big, bulky (no easy packing there) and heavy (4.2kg, about a kg heavier than my BP/W setup with Al plate), has a huge amount of lift (total overkill), and very likely positively boyant (meaning even more weight to drag around with you).

Where are you located? There are quite a lot of vendors in the US that can get you a very nice BP/W rig for a fair price (Jim Lapenta for one, Tobin from Deep Sea Supply for a little more cash, but more options in terms of plate sizes, etc.). Advantages are modularity (easy upgrades and repairs), better bouyancy of the rig (carry less weight), and fewer frills. If you've got good mobility (no shoulder problems), I'm willing to bet you'll find a well adjusted single piece harnass more comfortable as well (I certainly do).

 

[Rkermd]

Thanks but I'm set on the excursion. Just looking for diff between the two

 

[tbone1004]

why so set on that one?

 

[CptTightPants21]

There are actually 3 excursions, Oceanic keeps changing the color design, but the overall BC is very similar (especially versions 2 and 3)

Excursion 1 is the original and has white trim.

The Excursion 2 is the BC with the large blue trim

Excursion 3 (which came out about 12-18 months ago and is simply called The Excursion) is very similar to version 2 and is the one with the small blue line.

They don't make the Excursion 2 any more, but the redesign was such that you will see different websites selling the "Excursion 2" and even have pictures of the old version when really they are selling the brand new version 3. I know for a fact that you could go to Dive Right in Scuba's site right now, and pick up the third version for $370.

I dove an Excursion 2 initially and its a fine BC that has plenty of D rings and pockets. I picked up the BC knowing it was only going to be a stepping stone before I went BP/W. Even today I have friends who will never go the tech route and are leisurely divers who just want to dive a BC---there is nothing wrong with that and they dive Excursions.

If you are serious about getting into tech diving, then I recommend going the BP/W route from the start. If you will always be a recreational--just want to dive and have some fun type diver, there is nothing wrong with going the Excursion route.

 

[Rkermd]

Thanks for the info. Looks like I got the excursion 3. I'm a rec-only guy and I think this will be perfect. Your answer was perfect.