Seaquest Back Inflation BC's

Was wondering if anyone out there uses any one of these three bcd's. The MALIBU, BALANCE or BLACK DIAMOND?

Initially the malibu and the balance intrest me. The black diamond seems like alot of bc. Im more intrested in streamlined back inflation.

Would love to find your comments. I went to leisurepro to read comments on these BCs but couldnt find any comments on the malibu.

I have been diving my balance since 1998, 500+ dives. Still works great, no problems whatsoever.Good luck and good diving!

I tried out both the Malibu and the Balance. They are very close, with the main difference being the Balance is made of a heavier nylon. The Malibu is lighter, designed more for travel.

I went with the Balance, and have zero complaints!

I just bought a used Black Diamond. I tried one out on an Aquarium dive and I liked it better than my Seaquest Pro QD as it eliminates that squeeze you get at the surface with more air in the BCD. I did not really have any trouble keeping my face out of the water at the surface either though an aquarium is not like the open ocean with waves and such. I am looking forward to using it this summer. You may also want to look at the Zeagle Ranger as it seems to be very popular on these boards. Also if you are looking for a more streamlined set up the back plate/wings seem to be highly regarded.

Gaffer

I have my Balance for last 3 years.No problems.Very Happy with the product.

Regards

Marcin

The only good things I can say about the Black Diamond is that it is a back inflate jacket and well built.

D rings are too heavy and there are too many of them. Too much padding, too busy with all the "features". The bladder tacos too much for my liking and the air needs to be redistributed as a result, else you feel it rolling you to one side or the other. It has more buoyancy than necessary and costs too much. I don't like the inflator pull dump

I really need to sell mine.

I have been using a Seaquest Balance for the last 2.5 years. I have not had any problems and have found the BC to be comfortable in and out of the water. I have a size large, which has 42 pounds of lift I believe. The BC has more lift than I have needed diving in California or warm tropical water.

Try on several sizes before you purchase one to ensure that it fits properly. I am 6'0" and 180lbs and the large is almost too big for me. You might want to talk to your local dive shop about trying on some of the BC's to see which one you like the best.

I think that the Seaquest BC's are well made and the Sure Lock quick release integrated weights pouches work well.

I am personally working on switching to a BP/W to streamline my setup a little better. The Balance is a nice BC however, and I have been pretty happy with it. My wife, mother, step-dad, and father-in-law all have either the Balance or the Libra (female version) and everyone has been happy with the BC's as well.

I am thinking of parting with my Balance so PM me if you would like some additional information.

My husband likes his Balance, which he's had for three years. But he dives his backplate and wing.

I have a new Balance (done 3 dives with it) and love it so far. All the dives were shore dives with a long kick out and I've never had any problems on the surface, and I've found it dumps air easily when needed. I use a small which has 30# lift and it's been more than enough. It's also easy to clean and dries very fast.

My wife likes her Malibu as we mostly travel to go diving and it is quite compact and light. It is not as compact as my Zeagle Stilletto though which is also back inflate. Both of them are minimalist BCs without getting to the BP/W level.
BTW we have used both the Malibu and Stilleto with drysuits and the resultant extra weight in cold water diving and they worked OK.