Favorite Back Inflate BC under $700?

[Coralline Mighty Fine]

Hey gang,
So I'm looking to purchase a new BC for tropical waters, everyday use for my job maintaining a coral nursery.
I want to try out one with a back inflate, looking for something under $750-700, thinking about Scubapro's Glide X or their Seahawk, but not one of those people that will only consider Scubapro products. Would love to hear your guys' advice!

I've previously had two different jack BCDs:
Cressi Start Pro BC (Hated it, tank always slid off and I could never lift my head up, always hurt my back to maintain good buoyancy).
XS Scuba Nekton BC (Pretty comfortable, not that durable)

 

[BoltSnap]

Seahawk is a back inflate BC and the Glide X is a standard Jacket BC. Both are great and very durable. The Glide X seems to be available in the North American market only and not in Europe or Middle East anymore (I wish it were still available in my area). I don't know if it is available in your market area.

 

[RyanT]

Backplate with a wing.

 

[bmbeaty]

As is mentioned above, the Glide X is a regular jacket style. I have one and enjoy it- it doesn't give me any issues, and it's much more comfortable to me than other jacket style bc's I've worn. However, that's all person preference. I don't think you could go wrong getting one, but I think there are plenty of other options you could go with and be alright. I'm not a Scubapro snob.

 

[olphart]

I've always liked Transpacs. Very comfortable, stable and durable. A little heavy for travel though so I save it for diving singles in cold water. And yes I found an aluminum BP and wing worked well....pretty good for travel as well.

As for now; I like my Cressi Air Travel when I'm headed to warm water. Durable? Don't know yet, but nothing ever shook loose jumping off the side of the Aquacat 7' down to the water. It trims out very nicely for me

 

[tbone1004]

if you don't want the advantages of a SS backplate, then the best back inflate rig on the market is probably the Dive Rite Hunterpac and is about half the price of your current budget. It's very good, but if you're diving in salt water, the ballast advantages of a SS plate shouldn't be discounted

 

[Doby45]

Leisure pro has the "Demo" Zeagle Express Tech BCDs back in stock for a STUPID price! At this price point I do not think you can find a better back inflate BCD, period. I got mine as a demo and I could not tell it was not brand spanking new. Tropical, low weight, you can't go wrong. Grab a couple of cheap cam band pockets from DGX and you have a great rig.

Zeagle Express Tech

 

[randpchi]

Wow Doby that is a great deal but why not buy the weight pockets from LP ?

 

[Doby45]

You can, I just find that the DGX weight pockets are more compact and a bit nicer. I originally bought the ZET from LP and got the ZipTouch weight pockets to go with it. These make for nice integrated dumpable weight pockets. But, they are like $100 and I find that I am now using them less and less as I move weight more up toward my shoulders for trim. So with my experience, I would now recommend the ZET, skip the $100 ZipTouch pockets and simply get the cheaper cam band pouches.

 

[randpchi]

Ah ha. So dgx has their own brand. Got ya