Which of these would you choose - part 1

[Leisure Proski]

If you have not been diving with a wing or back mount BCD before you will find that a diver who completely relaxes in the water will go face down when they have their “wing” inflated on the surface. When all the buoyancy is behind you it will push you in the opposite direction from that buoyancy. Old Horse Collar BCD’s always pushed you face up in the water, hence a back inflator will push you face down in the water. The diver must make a conscious effort to arch their back to keep themselves upright on the surface when wearing a back mounted BCD. A Jacket Style BCD will give you a face up attitude in the water more like an older horse collar would. If you are thinking of purchasing a wing style BCD I highly recommended you try one in a pool before you purchase to see how it works for you. If you can’t find one you like through your LDS please have a look at Leisure Pro Website leisurepro.com we have a large selection of new and used BCD available.

Sincerely,

Leisure Proski

 

[galvanni]

Thanks for all the info. Remember - I am open to both types at this point and that's why this is part 1 ;-), just planning to find my optimum of each type so when I plunk down the cash - there's no more searching.

So I stopped by a LDS that is actually a large internet sales shop and happens to have a store today. I mean they had stuff stocked with an inventory in the thousands, so I got to see a lot of stuff. When I asked about jackets - they showed me two and said that's all they have. I'm like - all this stuff that looks like a warehouse and only two jackets? So he said - I said we have only two jackets - but I have an entire room filled with back plates and wings. The room was stocked top to bottom with one wall all plates and one wall all wings. So he went through some of the kits and showed me how you could mix and match and showed me tank adapters and weight systems and showed me three styles including the more jacket-oriented trans pack.

The OxyCheq (sp) stuff is pretty cool looking - I must say that. So part 2 will go down that road.

I saw the Aqualung Pro QD - that's one of the two jackets he had and it was Ok - but i didn't see it as anything special. Looked like the weight system was pretty secure and had huge pockets.

One thing's for sure - I found my one stop shop. This place was like a candy shop - at least 10 different models or brands of pretty much everything. One wall had what I guessed to be 30 different SMBs - even a 10-footer.

 

[Scuba Ken]

Northeast Scuba Supply?

Also I don't care what kind of BC you get if you pass out on the surface without a buddy your face is going under water. No BC will hold your head out of the water if you completely stop moving. Back inflates also do not force your head forward. The type of tank you have probably makes the more of a difference. For instance, my steal tank is more negative at the surface than my 7 mil neoprene suit. With the wing sandwiched between me and the tank, I tend to lean backwards when sitting still.

Also factor in the placement of your weights. You're going to always be pulled in the direction of your most negative part of your setup.

 

[Damselfish]

I second damselfish on the importance of travel friendly gear. If you are going to tropical locations, you might find that you need less "features" than you think. Airlines are getting to the point of charging for the air you breathe.

Airlines charges are only one issue, and IMO not even the most important one. Another problem is if someone starts traveling to places on small planes where luggage is much more restricted. (By which time lots of people will have also gotten camera gear to deal with.) Not only will you likely pay for it, but there is a much higher probability of your excess not getting on the same flight as you do. And even if it makes the flight you'll probably be stressing about it until it does. Most of these airlines are pretty good about getting the rest to you when they can. But going through that is at best a drag and at worst a big problem if you are meeting a liveaboard or yet another transfer on the other end.

If you wind up going the backplate route and plan to travel, certainly look into the aluminum or plastic plates.

You will see some people that swear a back inflate or wing will face plant them, and others who swear it doesn't and anyone who says that must be doing something wrong. Fact is, it depends on your tank and exposure protection, and maybe your body. Someone in cold water with a heavy wetsuit or drysuit, steel tank(s) and a heavy steel backplate will probably not have this problem because there is plenty counteracting the action of the buoyancy behind you. Someone diving in warm water with an aluminum tank and little exposure protection may very well have this problem. But it is generally solved by proper weight distribution. (Which is why most back inflate BCs have small pockets on the back for trim weights.)

 

[galvanni]

Northeast Scuba Supply?

Yeah - that be the place.

 

[galvanni]

Which fits you best, which feels right and has things where you like them, which has the features you want? Fit is #1. No one else can really answer this for you. You will find people that love and hate everything on your list, or any list. If there's something really awful about a particular BC you may get a consensus on that, but that's about all you will get for useful information from this exercise.


It doesn't make sense to me not to consider this. You're making a lot of effort to analyze this, then ignoring one of the things you know for sure. As someone who travels a fair amount, I suspect you will quickly regret that.

Full featured is not necessarily a good thing, depending what you mean by that. If it means as many features as possible in case you might want them someday, maybe not the way to go. What you'd like is something with the features you need and not ones you don't that will get in your way.


Something to keep in mind when you are trying BCs - say you get to try one back inflate in the pool. You might happen to get to try a model that doesn't really fit you all that well in any size, and you won't like it. That doesn't mean you don't like back inflates, it just means it didn't fit. I would suggest focusing on if you like the way the bouyancy behaves and the general feeling of the style to decide if you like that type. Same goes for jackets, it can be hard to get one that truly fits right. When you don't like a poorly fitting jacket it may not mean you don't like jackets in general, it may mean you haven't found the right one yet. (Last time I bought a BC I tried on a bunch of jackets and back inflates until I found the one that fit and felt best, without much regard to the style.)

Those are some good points indeed. I will keep them in mind. What I should have clarified about my list of choices was that I meant all other things the same e.g., assume they all fit exactly the same. What I was trying to flesh out was stuff that was not as subjective like durability, customer service, or one particularly detracting quality - basically a process of elimination. For example - all have pretty much identical weight systems - except for the ScubaPro - what about that would detract from it, as I'd like to compare it to what I already know - that it's a more secure design - but you get the point. Again - I read your points and will definitely consider it.

I also asked that the LDS that offered (BPW setup) not only let me just borrow it and try it at their pool - but also have a tech person that dives one personally with me to make sure it's right and to answer questions - or explain some techniques, tricks, etc..

 

[Jim Lapenta]

The Oceanic Probe is a great bc. Lots of features and very rugged. It is however a beast when it comes to travel. Think of it as a B-52 and a BPW as an F-16. I sold my Probe when I got my Zeagle Express tech. Properly set up it is IMO the ideal travel, warm water, pool, instructor bc.

 

[ZzzKing]

Typical Scubaboard. If you ask, "Which do you prefer, Cozumel or Belize?" you'll probably get "Bonaire" for about 25% of your responses. Good luck, Galvanni.

...and another 10% that don't address the question at all. They just chime in to boost their post count.

Woohoo!!! 2088!!!

 

[Scuba Ken]

Yeah - that be the place.

I've been wanting to check that place out. I heard its really nice.

 

[Thalassamania]

If limited to that list the Oceanic Excursion rises to the top.