the NEW Scubapro X-Wing BC

[jmsdiver]

The SP X-Tek is the old Dive Rite Trans-Pac. SP bought out the company manufacturing the Trans-Pac for Dive-Rite. I think that a BCD that can grow with your needs is a great invention. Why mediocre? The Trans-Pac has been around for a number of years and many divers swear by it's design.

Just a couple of thought....

 

[BetterLateThannever]

Rick said: "For new divers I generally advise staying away from back inflated BC's because many new divers find them to be very uncomfortable on the surface."

I am a very new diver, and while I agree with Rick that the back inflated BC does tend to push you face forward at the surface, IMO it is something you can quickly adapt to.
I purchased the Seaquest Malibu RDS and am very happy with it.

The trick is to inflate it just enough to keep your head above the water and or use a little rear trim weight. Then just lean back and relax. I think this short adjustment period is well worth the trouble in the long run because of the more streamlined configuration.

Just one more opinion among many.

Jimbo

 

[tgreaves]

Not trying to start a pissing contest with anyone about Scubapro bc's but.. I have a Scubapro S-tek bc and I love it so much that I think that if anything ever happend to it and/or they stopped making it I might just quit diving.. As far as I am concerned it is one of the best bc's made..

 

[wetman]

i have a ranger and dont recommend it for anything

 

[ElectricZombie]

I do not recommend ScubaPro BCs. I have an X-Tech than just sits in a box. SP regs are great, the BCs are terrible. BP and harness is the way to go.

 

[leadweight]

Mario,

I have to agree with Rick M. While not every single BC made by Scubapro was a winner, they make a functional durable product. Just ask anyone that runs a rental shop. Scubapro BC's will outalst anything else in the industry.

I once had the pleasure of meeting Peter Romano, director of underwater cinematography for the movie "The Abyss". He dove a Scubapro Classic for approximately 600 dives per year.

Leadweight

 

[Mouth Breather old]

I was never a big Scubapro BC fan (although I LOVE their regs) until I started dive travel a lot. I go to Japan, Philippines, Thailand, etc. and everywhere you go you see Scubapro. My instructor used a Seaquest but he told me that for a diver that travels a lot, Scubapro has by far the largest network of centers for service etc. I also noticed that the cheapest of the SP models seems to be one of the most common rentals at the many places that I have dived and they seem to last a very long time.

Mario,

When you paint with a broad brush and make absolute statements, people tend to not take your posts seriously. I think that many companies make models that are very good. Some some companies make more good ones than others. I try to comment on BC's that I have actually used IN THE WATER. I also will rely on magazine reviews only if the magazine takes NO advertising or takes advertising from all of the manufacturers that I am interested in.

I bought a Scubapro Knighthawk after reading the following in PADI

PADI Article

and after reading a test that compared Back Inflate BC's for neutral bouyancy characteristics. I like a lot of the bells and whistles on Zeagle but they had the worst rating for bouyancy. Bleed all the air from a Ranger and they still float like a cork. Bleed all the air from a Knighthawk and it is neutral.

Another review placed back inflate BC's on a dummy and dragged them through the water to measure drag...again the Knighthawk had the lowest drag of the group. They did not test a BP/Wings...I am sure it would have been the best for low drag. (This magazine had advertising from Zeagle, SP, and SeaQuest)


Having said this I am still looking for a BP and Wings for doubles. I have tried a Halcyon with a Pioneer and it was very nice but found the straps a bit uncomfortable with no wetsuit or a thin wetsuit. So for the tropics I'll stick with the Knighthawk and for pseudo tech diving I'll probably end up with a BPWings.

 

[ElectricZombie]

Mouth Breather once bubbled...


I have tried a Halcyon with a Pioneer and it was very nice but found the straps a bit uncomfortable with no wetsuit or a thin wetsuit.

Hi,

They make padded shoulder straps to put over the webbing. Halcyon has some as does OMS. I always wear at least a 3 mil suit, even in the pool so, I have not experienced this problem. Just a thought.

 

[T210RVR]

I dove with a wing style BC back in the day when the Atpac was about the only option. I think mine might have been a SeaQuest but I can honestly say for sure. I loved to wing style in part because of low drag, but also it kept stuff out of the way. In the day, over twenty years ago, I was exclusively a game diver. Having freedom of movement in front was important. Contrary to what is taught now, I loved kicking back to the boat on my back. After a long cold dive kicking backwards seemed to use different leg muscles and the bouyancy of the wing lifted me a ways out of the water.

I'm back into diving after mostly just doing warm water resort diving only for the past ten years. I have a buddy with an SP Knighthawk and I really like the way it fits and floats. I've had good service from SP equipment over the years and don't have any qualms about getting a BC from them.

 

[evil_xander]

Zombie thread 8 years old...It would be cool though to hear from the posters what they use now.