What should I get for my first BC?

[9833]

I've been diving for about two and a half years now with about 50 dives and I thought it was time I bought myself some gear. I've been overwhelmed with choices and am in general confusion which style, brand and model i should go for. Can anyone help me?
Nick

 

[Nismo]

This is really a matter of personal preference. Everyone here will have an opinion on what to get and it'll be either what they use or what they sell.

Fit of course is the most important thing so get one that fits you well. I would also get one that is from your local dive shop so that it can be serviced easily, or sold where you go diving, again for service issues. All the major brands will be fairly equal and everything withing a certain price range will be fairly equal.

That being said, I like Zeagle. If the Ranger, Stiletto, or Escape are in your price range, I would seriously consider one of them. Zeagle uses a two piece design so you can have the waist one size and the shoulder section another allowing you to have a better fit for you. Mine has an XL shoulder with L waist. They are very durable and from what I understand, Zeagle has great customer service, not that I've needed it.

Again there are a lot of great ones out there and after fit I would go with whats sold where you are then pick one that's in your price range.

 

[rstofer]

Step back and look at your post from the point of view of the reader. How can we possibly help? We don't know anything about the kinds of dives you make, where you dive or even what you have used in the past. You have said nothing about what you like and what you dislike.

Of course everybody is going to recommend what they are using. They spent a lot of money on it. With that thought in mind, check out DeepSeaSupply for their BP/Ws. That's what I use. https://www.deepseasupply.com/

Are you considering a jacket style BC, a back-inflate BC or a BP/W? Are you diving warm water or cold? If you are using a wetsuit, how thick? If you are using a drysuit, that would be important to know.

OK, the right answer is: the BP/W. You will get there eventually so it might as well be now. For cold water you probably want the weight of the stainless steel backplate. For warm water you probably want plastic or aluminum.

But, realistically, you need to provide a lot more information.

Richard

 

[VA Nick]

I'll disagree with Richard, there is no right answer and I know people with thousands of dives who have never worn a BP/W.

I will also disagree that everyone is going to recommend what they're using. I won't recommend what I'm using, I hate it with a passion. I'm buying a new one next month and then I'm going to cut the old one in half, drive a stake through it, shoot it with some silver bullets, and bury it with a cross to ensure it never brings misery to another person again.

I will agree with him that you're missing a lot of information there. For all I know you're idea of a dive is overfilling the bathtub and playing commercial diver with an erector set. For that I would recommend you pay me thousands of dollars for my old BC as you're clearly crazy and don't really need anything that's going to perform well at all.


In all seriousness though, I do prefer a BP/W and so do a lot of other people. That should tell you something. Of course there's also that old saying about large groups of people jumping off bridges and the tough, personal decision that follows.

So, tell us what kind of diving you have in mind. What kind of diving you're looking at doing in the future. What kind of budget you're looking at. What kind of BCs you've tried in the past. What you liked/didn't like. And other fun details like that.

 

[fnfalman]

I barely have 60-dives in, so take my experience for what it's worth. I hate the jacket BC with a passion. The damn things never fit right. I rented three different brands and models in two different sizes in order to try to fit me and it still doesn't fit right. Went to the backplate/wing and happy as a clam.

I don't know of anybody who had ever complained about using a BP/W device. I do know that a lot of people (such as myself) are not satisfied with a jacket BC.

Obviously one can dive with a jacket BC. Thousands of people do that every year. But since that this equipment is to be owned and not rented, I do think that comfort and performance are paramount.

 

[diver 85]

I've been diving for about two and a half years now with about 50 dives and I thought it was time I bought myself some gear. I've been overwhelmed with choices and am in general confusion which style, brand and model i should go for. Can anyone help me?
Nick

Depends, which ones have you dived so far??....Ever try a BP/W??..Any way of trying different ones ie any friends into diving that own BCs, LDSs ???....Sooner of later you'll need to get one---one possibility(if none of the above work out) is to just order one and try it....


But...., in general, I would go with a back inflate of some sort----size, depends on what water temps you'll be diving ie cold(wetsuit size) vs warm water etc....

 

[herman]

...........
OK, the right answer is: the BP/W. You will get there eventually so it might as well be now. For cold water you probably want the weight of the stainless steel backplate. For warm water you probably want plastic or aluminum.

But, realistically, you need to provide a lot more information.

Richard

Sorry but this is just not the case. There are plenty of us who don't nor will likely ever dive BPs. I have dove in jackets, back inflates, BPs and no BCs at all. They do have their place and are the choice of a lot of divers and would be my choice if I were diving doubles, something I will likely never do. I tried them and found them to be uncomfortable, a real pain to adjust and overly expensive. I went back to my $200 (new cost) back inflate. I don't care for jacket styles but there are those who do and on occasion I dive one when the dive calls for it- training mostly. To say BP/w is THE choice and everyone will eventually migrate to one is simply not the case.

9833, the best advise is to try different styles, brands and models,then buy what you like. Afterall, you are the one who has to dive it.

 

[drdaddy]

I barely have 60-dives in, so take my experience for what it's worth. I hate the jacket BC with a passion. The damn things never fit right. I rented three different brands and models in two different sizes in order to try to fit me and it still doesn't fit right. Went to the backplate/wing and happy as a clam.

I don't know of anybody who had ever complained about using a BP/W device. I do know that a lot of people (such as myself) are not satisfied with a jacket BC.

Obviously one can dive with a jacket BC. Thousands of people do that every year. But since that this equipment is to be owned and not rented, I do think that comfort and performance are paramount.

I know that the gentleman above does not know me, but I do not like a "BP/W device. I have a couple of hundred dives and I love my SeaQuest Pro-QD (I think this is a "jacket" BCD). As a matter of fact, I have a number of them. I dive cold water with an X-tra large and I dive warm water (Israel - Red Sea) with a Large. I even bought a backup for when they wear out.

My PADI Instructor son (700 plus dives) also prefers this BCD.

Of course, I may be weird, because I also prefer a wetsuit to a drysuit (been trained and have used them) on the rugged NW Pacific Jetties. I'm going diving there (Newport, Oregon) tomorrow in my O'Neil 7mm farmer john!!!

By the way, for my diving I can hang all I want need on the Pro-QD. I have a pony that is attached to my tank, I carry backup lights, a signal sausage, bag for crabs, compass & computer, and full set of analog gauges are also hanging off me and I keep them trimmed up and make pretty good headway.

I'm not knocking the backplate idea (especially for tech and pseudo techers), I've used them and prefer what I have.

drdaddy

 

[FrankPro1]

I won't recommend what I'm using, I hate it with a passion. I'm buying a new one next month and then I'm going to cut the old one in half, drive a stake through it, shoot it with some silver bullets, and bury it with a cross to ensure it never brings misery to another person again.

Wow! What BC are you talking about? I've used some pretty bad rentals and am currently using one of the bottom of the barrel Oceanic Bc's...but nothing bad enough to warrant what your talking about.

I went back to my $200 (new cost) back inflate.

Make / Model? Please do tell

 

[herman]

Zeagle Scout. Back inflate that I dive with everything from my drysuit to just a skin. I have considered buying a second one to put up for the future just in case Zeagle stops making it.