The BC from H#%*

[Splitlip]

How many people have done this?

When I started SCUBA diving, I tried (I really did!) to go slow on the gear acquisitions and make sure I knew what I wanted before I got it. Now, only a few dives later I realize that what I want is different stuff.

What makes it even more painful is that I bought my gear when I had more money than I do now, so I feel stuck.

Mainly what I'm talking about is:

1. Replace my wetsuit with a drysuit
2. Replace my sucky jacket-style BC with either a back-inflate BC or a BP/W
3. Replace my Air2 with a regular octupus

Now, the drysuit, I kinda saw that one coming, and just didn't want to spend the money at the time. The octo, not such a big deal, kinda like a "you say tomato" thing. But the one that really kills me is the BC. I spent so much time trying different ones, reading the litreature, asking around, etc. and still ended up with a P - O - S !!!!! How can that design work for anybody? And how can I have liked it so much at first, and HATE it so much now?

Anybody else do that?

Is there a particular problem with the BC that is driving the decision? Don't get caught up in the whole BP/W frenzy just because they get talked up here so much.
Don't get me wrong, this forum is a great resource and use it to make informed decisions. The inference however from many posts is that if one has a jacket (or Air2 or split fins or Force fins or the wrong knife etc) one will face ridicule.

Why do you say your BC is a piece of crap? Give us more information.

 

[Bismark]

At best guess, I spend about 15K on unused items in 2006. I finally sold a bunch of stuff but man, what a waste. I too feel your pain. For my 2cents, if you think you are headed the way of BP/W and long hose, buy the thing now instead of working through some back inflate systems (more money gone) and then ending up at the BPW anyways. I also have a cupboard full of hoses, 7' yellow ones for stuffing a long secondary hose; shorter yellow ones for shorter octopus hoses, and lots of other hoses of various lengths an sizes. I also have some very expensive split fins in the cupboard as well. I would have had all that money to spend on diving trips........

 

[Mountain Dog]

This is a gear-intensive activity. In other words, it's a cash-intensive activity. I don't think the gear collecting will ever end. I go about dealing with it this way: I spend a relatively set amount on diving every month. If I'm taking a dive trip, that's where the money goes. If I'm just diving locally, or not at all, the money goes towards gear.

There is a couple in our local dive club who just takes one thousand dollars a month to our LDS to cover trips and gear. Talk about budgeting!

Mountain Dog

 

[Eskasi]

I am in the same boat lol....my stuff is fine for the kind of diving I do though so far, so I will use it for a bit more before selling it or putting it aside. I got a Seaquest Pro Unlimited and the Air Source.... Nothing wrong with it except I feel that eventually I will move on...but not just yet.

I also want to be a better diver first before I buy any more kit. That way, I think I will appreciate my new purchases more. Looking at trying the new Poseidon Platform.

 

[ereediver]

I too am going through the same thing. As has been said, I went from a vest to BP/W. The vest just did not seem to fit my body. The plate and harness feels more secure. It is also more changeable in my opinion. I guess I'm lucky as the gear I bought first was all used so no giant loss of money. And it's all still useable, just not perfect.. Nothing wrong with the reg, but I find myself looking for another one. Still debating. Having two regs never hurts anyway. My wet uit is okay, but I wish to do more wreck diving in Lake Erie, my back yard, so I think dry will serve me better, 40 degree bottom temps and all. My big thing is finding a mask that doesn't leak. My head must be dented or something... . Anyway good luck. Diving needs to have an equipment lease program.

 

[Nemrod]

Quote from OP:

"Anybody else do that?"


Yes, they do it all the time, refer to various "My New Gear" threads wherein the proud new owner lists all his (it is usually a he) new gear for approval and validation and then gets angry when told it would not be the choice of the responder. N

 

[Walter]

Before you spend even more money on other gear that you may or may not like, try to figure out exactly what is wrong with the gear you have and what would correct the problem. You could easily switch from a crappy vest to an even crappier back inflate or BP/wing.

I dive a vest, but you couldn't pay me to dive in most vest BCs. They are poorly designed. It's not a fault of the vest, it's a fault of trying to enhance the basic design. Those enhancements screwed up most vests. Most back inflates have also been screwed up with similar enhancements. The least 5 years or so, I've seen BP/wings with similar enhancements.

You can find excellent BCs in all three styles, but you have to be careful when you shop for a BC not to get one with padding, not to get one with a fabric covering over the bladder, not to get one with a cummerbund, not to get one that traps air. You can quickly eyeball a BC to see if it has fabric covering, padding or a cummerbund. They all create unnecessary drag, so avoid them.

To see if it will trap air, inflate it and hold it upright as if you were floating on the surface. Is the dump valve at the absolute highest point? If yes, it will not trap air. If no, it will trap air. How low the dump valve is located will determine how much air it will trap. The lower the valve, the more air it will trap. If it doesn't trap air in that position, turn it as if you were wearing it while swimming horizontally under water. Is the dump valve still at the high point? If so, you have a good BC. If not, it'll trap air when you are prone.

As for the Air 2, it's not ideal, far from it, but it works well. While I no longer use one, I did use them for years and made many OOA rescues with them. No rush to switch.

Dry suits are much better in really cold water, but you'd probably still want the wet suit for when it's not so cold. I prefer diving with no exposure suit when I can, a wet suit if it's too cold and a dry suit when I must.

 

[sambolino44]

First I'd like to thank everyone for their thoughtful replies. I kinda figured I wasn't alone

... 1. If you replace your Air2, get another second stage to use as the octo that is the same as your primary - not a lower end model as many people do. 2. Definitely go with a BP/W now, instead of migrating through a back-inflate BC... 3. In getting a drysuit, make sure you spend the money necessary to get one that is durable and fits well....

Thanks, Colliam7! Actually, all three of your suggestions are my plan so far. (See what Nemrod said about "seeking validation")

...So what's wrong with your BC?...Can you be more specific on the model and your dislikes?...

Yes I can. I have a ScubaPro Classic that I bought new in '95. I'm as sure as I can be that it's the correct size for me. Here are some issues:

1. While diving, it would flop around no matter how much I'd tighten the straps. I addressed that by adding additional shoulder straps, similar to an adjustable harness, and actually that helped a lot. I also added a crotch strap.

2. When inflated, it is confining.

3. While diving, I'm constantly battling my trim. If I relax, I flip over, butt down. The jacket is not so loose that the air pocket wraps around the cylinder like a wing does. I think that any air pocket in the BC is always going to be lower than my heavy steel cylinder and try to flip me over.

4. The air dumps are in the right spots, but I can never find the pulls. I'm getting better at it with practice, but it's impossible to feel the knobs with heavy gloves on. The only way I can find the rear dump is to feel out the valve body and fiddle around until I find the pull knob. The top right dump has a pull knob that you're supposed to be able to find by tracing your hand down the edge of the vest, but it rarely works out that way. If I have my light clipped to the top right "D" ring, my hand always finds that instead of the pull. And the inflator hose is rarely the high point. Frankly, all this probably has more to do with my skill and my heavy gloves than the actual BC design, but it sure is frustrating not to be able to give the dump a timely burp. I always end up way too high before I can dump, so I have to release a lot, and then I go crashing down!

5. It has a lot of pockets, but they are practically unusable. Once again the heavy gloves are a factor; I can't feel the velcro'ed pocket flaps, so I so I spend half my dive scratching my side like a monkey. And if there's any air at all the BC, the pockets are squeezed too much to get your hand in there.

6. Even before I got the crotch strap, this bulky BC has always interfered with my weight belt. I cannot wear my weight belt low enough to go below it, so the weight belt is actually inside the jacket. Just bulky and uncomfortable.

7. It's just plain bulky and cumbersome. Even with just a little air it squeezes me. The thing is just always in the way when I'm reaching for something else, and when I'm trying to reach a part of it, I can never find it.

...you have to be careful when you shop for a BC not to get one with padding, not to get one with a fabric covering over the bladder, not to get one with a cummerbund, not to get one that traps air...

The padding and cumbebund are one unit, and came out a long time ago. It helped. I'm pretty sure it's not trapping air, and also that the outer fabric is the bladder, so no covering.

...As for the Air 2, it's not ideal, far from it, but it works well... No rush to switch...

Right, no rush, but it will go with my BC when the time comes.

 

[letterboy]

Money is useless to you when you are dead. . . spend it now or your family will when you die. . .

 

[Scottri]

That is exactly why I always suggest new divers try as many different types and styles of gear as possible before buying anything. At the shop where I work we let the students use different gear each week in the pool during training so at least they have some exposure before buying.