OMS Featherweight

[fjpatrum]

Well, after much research and consideration I have decided to give this OMS Featherweight a shot. As such, I have ordered one from Liesurepro. Could not pass it up with all the apparent bells and whistles at just over $200.00. So, as soon as it gets shipped out I will provide as in depth a review as possible here. No telling exactly when that will be though. Looks promising enough that I wanted to pre order it.

I had been looking into the Zeagle express tech Deluxe as well as a few other Zeagle models. However, at half the cost I figure the Featherweight is worth a shot! This way I can keep my poodle jacket Tusa Sigma and have a decent back inflate travel rig. The sigma is big and heavy.

We shall see.

Nice price, but why on earth does this thing have such a large bladder? 50 pounds of lift?! Comparing apples to apples, that's double the lift of the standard Express Tech, and that bladder looks huge on the OMS rig.

I'll be interested to see how the reviews come out.

 

[SeekerOfJustice]

Nice price, but why on earth does this thing have such a large bladder? 50 pounds of lift?! Comparing apples to apples, that's double the lift of the standard Express Tech, and that bladder looks huge on the OMS rig.

I'll be interested to see how the reviews come out.

Maybe they figure you might want to do some heavy lifting with it? J/K :cool2:

I wish it was here too. Tonight is scuba night at the local olympic pool to get wet a bit! WOOHOO!

 

[SeekerOfJustice]

Well, the OMS Featherweight is still not here with no ship date in sight. I am on the verge of cancelling my order and picking up a ScubaPro Litehawk from the LDS!

 

[knowone]

Dude, you will get justice, just it's unhealthy to hold your bladder
for long periods.

You couldn't do better organising yourself a mahjong special in the
meantime.

Just hope they've run out of that webbing.

Their advertising budget, did not extend to cover me, so I've
got a couple of rolls and a few logo-ed patches laying around.

 

[SeekerOfJustice]

Dude, you will get justice, just it's unhealthy to hold your bladder
for long periods.

You couldn't do better organising yourself a mahjong special in the
meantime.

Just hope they've run out of that webbing.

Their advertising budget, did not extend to cover me, so I've
got a couple of rolls and a few logo-ed patches laying around.

Uh... What? So, do I cancel the OMS and go Scubapro or no?

 

[Tortuga68]

 

[SeekerOfJustice]

That's awesome! :cool2:

 

[Wiggsy]

I've been looking into the OMS Travel BCD too - as someone who travels a lot I bemoan the fact that nothing similar to the fantastic Seaquest Explorer BCD has been manufactured for the last 12 years - the Seaquest Explorer was a really lightweight, compact, easy to wear BCD....But after 600 dives or so its just about had it.... I had hoped the OMS featherweight might be a worthy replacement but a 'travel' BCD needs to not only be light, but also compact..And I can't for the life of me think why on this planet OMS have seen the need to provide 50 lb. lift capacity on a 'travel' BCD when the lions share of dive travel probably ends up in tropical destinations with thinner wetsuits and maybe 12-18 lb weight max! Maybe the design gurus at OMS could produce a 'tropical' version with a lower lift capacity and a more compact profile.

 

[SeekerOfJustice]

I've been looking into the OMS Travel BCD too - as someone who travels a lot I bemoan the fact that nothing similar to the fantastic Seaquest Explorer BCD has been manufactured for the last 12 years - the Seaquest Explorer was a really lightweight, compact, easy to wear BCD....But after 600 dives or so its just about had it.... I had hoped the OMS featherweight might be a worthy replacement but a 'travel' BCD needs to not only be light, but also compact..And I can't for the life of me think why on this planet OMS have seen the need to provide 50 lb. lift capacity on a 'travel' BCD when the lions share of dive travel probably ends up in tropical destinations with thinner wetsuits and maybe 12-18 lb weight max! Maybe the design gurus at OMS could produce a 'tropical' version with a lower lift capacity and a more compact profile.

Good point. My plan still is to cancel the OMS order and pick up the Scubapro. (Emailed Leisurepro twice now with no reply) They look nearly identical to me aside from the fact that the Scubapro holds more weights. 22 vs 18 I think. Would prevent the need to add an additional weight pocket I assume.

JJ

 

[SeekerOfJustice]

Well, after much consideration I would like to expose my toiled process of elimination here. Not the elimination of Urea! BCD's!! Ok, I cancelled the OMS Featherweight. Oddly enough, leisurepro now shows it as in stock. At any rate, for my recent birthday my dive buddy gave me a VERY nice gift card to the LDS that will more than cover a ScubaPro Litehawk or some other close relative thereto. So, I went in search of a travel BC and tested the Zuma, the Litehawk, and a a BP/W setup.

The Zuma was nice to wear as a vest. However, when loaded with equipment it felt a bit strained and seemed not quite as well build as the Litehawk. The bp/w was cool for cold water but the one I liked (Steel) was not one to travel well as I liked the beefier D rings and webbing as well which made it heavy. It would be a perfect cold water setup though. The Litehawk felt great and was super tough. However, I am struggling with the addition of integrated dumpable weights to that unit. It comes with pockets that will hold a few pounds each and if turned upside down are ditcheable. However, I need to be able to add a bit more weight than that.

My solution is one of two situations. First, I go with the Lithawk and add some larger weight pockets and move the existing pockets to the back and make them trim pockets. This scenario would call for the addition of a weight belt if cold water diving in my 7mm as I need quite a bit of weight will that XXXL wetsuit.

The other option is the Zeagle Stilleto. I have not tried one yet but I think it may do all of th above. The concern there is that it does not travel as well as the Lithawk and is frankly much more expensive.

So, I will be making my decision in the next few days! WOOHOOO! Thanks all.