Recommndation for BC well suited for plane travel

[sfb001]

Good Day To all,

Again I thank everybody for the input. I am very impressed by technical expertise of all the members of this board

Best regards et bonne journée

 

[sfb001]

Good Day to all,

I thank you again for all the input & information. I very impressed by the technical expertise of the members of this board

Merci and have a good day

Frank

 

[halocline]

I am in the market for a new Buoyancy Compensator (BC) with the following specifications;

1. I do all my diving in warm water. (Bahamas, Cozumel etc..)
2. I need to bring the BC on the plane, so I am looking for something lighter
3. I weight around 230 pounds so I still need some lift.
4. I usually dive with a shorty or full one piece suit. 3mm.

Thank you

Your lift requirements have nothing to do with your weight or size. You only need lift to do two things: Compensate for wetsuit compression and the usage of the air in your tank, and float your tank/reg at the surface without you if it becomes necessary to doff your rig in the water. Assuming you're using an AL80 and a shorty, I would guess that you could easily dive with an 18lb wing...that's a guess, but you're only losing 4 lbs of air, and possibly 10lbs of wetsuit buoyancy, probably less.

If you need to carry a lot of weight diving in a shorty due to, well, being a man of substance, you should consider distributing that weight both around your hips and up on the tank bands. With a floaty AL tank, it really works well to have some weight up on your back. I would not consider quick release pockets on the BC to be a plus; but if you have them, it's probably best to only put a portion of your weight in them so when (oops, I mean if) they fall out you won't go rocketing to the surface.

I like diving with minimal padding/fabric/junk around my torso, so my preference would be a lightweight rigid backplate with a webbing harness and very compact wing. The DSS tropical travel wing on a kydex plate would be great, as would the oxycheq 18lb wing on an AL plate.

 

[beaverdivers]

The NEW Scubapro GO is Wt. integrated & lightwt.

It is an excellent choice for a travel B.C.

 

[Mark Derail]

I got a Zeagle Stiletto. Zeagle Stiletto BCD with the Ripcord Weight System, Black

My *other* BCD is an AquaLung Dimension i3, it's huge, but I can put 50lbs of integrated weight in it. It's now officially used just for cold water.

 

[Bigd2722]

Zeagle Express Tech would meet all your requirements. Very versatile

 

[DevonDiver]

I've never seen a 'travel' BC that wasn't such a design and materials quality compromise that I'd actually ever imaging owning one!

I agree in general - most specifically advertised 'travel' BCDs are nothing more than normal BCDs with flimsy materials substituted for the original rugged ones. Thin nylon bladders instead of thick cordura ones. Plastic d-rings instead of metal etc etc.

What shocks me is the 'design inertia' that seems to plague many BCD manufacturers. They make a 'travel' BCD and the only innovation they seem to manage is to skimp on rugged materials. There's little in the way of initiative to actually address a diver's needs and use that perspective to construct equipment that fulfills those needs without any superfluous clutter.

This is where the BP&W BCD concept triumphs. Not because the designs are 'better' (although I think they are), but simply because they are modular. A diver can approach a BP&W system and use their own initiative to put together a configuration that best suits their needs... nothing more, nothing less. They can also change/re-configure that equipment for diving at home etc. They don't have to compromise on material ruggedness, as the weight/bulk savings are achieved by disregarding the pointless 'features' that they don't need or won't use.

The most basic BP&W configuration will be very lightweight and low bulk - perfect for travelling. Typically 3 - 5lbs. Pack flat and able to quickly disassemble them to fit baggage, if reqd.

Something like:

Soft fabric or lightweight aluminium backplate. i.e. Oxycheq 'travel lite' or Halcyon AL backplate
Single piece nylon harness. From any BP&W manufacturer, or home-made
Appropriately sized (18-32lb) wing bladder. i.e. Oxycheq Mach V or DSS wing

D-Rings added only where you need/want them.
Integrated weights added only if you need/want them.
Pockets added only if you need/want them.

 

[Shftrdog]

The cressi Travel Light is the best one out their, it folds up super small, another great one is the Oceanic BioLite.

 

[sixt3denied]

I actually just purchased the Cressi Air Travel. It differs from the Cressi Travellight in that the Cressi Air Travel BC is a back inflate, where as the Travellight is a jacket inflate. I have to say I am very impressed with the Cressi Air Travel BC. It comes with a travel bag, folds up easily, seems to be of excellent build quality, has enough D rings for your gear, and has a good tank strap system. It also is weight integrated. It has some nice padding in it too. It is supposed to be very stable while diving. I havent used it yet - I have a dive trip coming up the first week of April. I will post a review then - but if anyone is interested in a good back-inflate BC for travel I would check out the Cressi Air Travel BC. Cressi Air Travel BCD

 

[buddhasummer]

The scubapro lite hawk is a great stripped down bcd with 48# lift. Also if you want something that is standard flotaion the scubapro GO is weight integrated and weighs less than 4lbs and fits in a small bag.

48lbs of lift diving a 3mm shorty? overkill.

For warm water travel diving I use an Ali backplate, Ali STA, Ali cam bands, 18lb wing in full 5mm suit. Weighs in at around 5lbs, packs small, has nothing I dont need.