Too many BC'S Help

[FFMDiver]

Whatever your style, this board will hook you up.

 

[IslandHopper]

over 55 is warm water ?????

My god, I wear a full 3mil suit in 85 degree (at surface) water all year. .... are you people from Antarctica ??

 

[dc4bs]

ScoobyPat once bubbled...
Go with the Dive-Rite Transpac II. It can be found at LP for $350 and is a great alternative between the traditional jacket style BCs and the popular backplate/wing setup.

The Transpac is extremely modular and should you want to try a backplate, just connect a plate ($100) to your harness and make it a "Transplate", while keeping all you BC accessories (weight pockets, wings, clips, etc.). If you need more lift (i.e. for doubles) get a larger wing. No need to get a new BC altogether.

It is the best of both worlds and relatively inexpensive.

I had a similar choice to make and got the Transpac II

I got:
the basic harness
various accessories (clip on pockets, crotch strap, etc...)
the "travel" wing for single tank / tropical vacation diving.
the "dual rec" wing for doubles with wetsuit/drysuit as needed.

I love it. Other than swapping the tanks/wings, all my stuff is always there and always in the same place for every dive wether I'm in just a bathing suit in the tropics all the way to deep/cold diving in the St Lawrence seaway in my drysuit.

The upside is that it is flexible and very easy to pack (just bring the parts you need). The downside is it can still be wet (and heavy) for the flight/trip home if the last day of the trip is cold/rainy where a back plate just needs to be toweled off in the same situation...

 

[Arnaud]

Before getting into brands, you should try to find out which type of BC you like: jacket-style, back inflate, soft harness, and b/p.

After identifying the type you like best, try a few models and pick your favorite one.

That's how I ended up with a b/p. After several trials, I came to the conclusion that it was, by far, the best BC, even though it's probably way less glamorous than... the HUB

But who cares?

 

[The Silverback]

Thanks to all, it amazes me that I can find out more in one day online than a week of poking around my LDS. Think i'm going to go with the Zeagle Ranger, as the trans pac isn't available locally for me to tryout......Comments?=-)

 

[d33ps1x]

Do a search on it on here and read the relevant posts would be my advice.

All this has been well covered and there are an overabundance of opinions, fact and fiction on the topic.