Best BC for big person

Hey everybody, I am 6'3 and weigh 250 lbs. I tried on BC's today and I wear and XL. My question is, what is the best BC for someone my size? Or does it even matter? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

There are many different styles of BCs and people have a lot of choices and options when choosing. I'm 6'2" and weight 240 and have several different brands and styles in my dive closet to choose from. My favorite is the Aeris Atmos BC because of the way it fits and it has a "safe second" octo attached to the hose. I also own a Scubapro Classic but it seems larger and heavy compared to the Aeris. Last January I was diving in Cozmel and use a Swimaster horsecoller vest I have owned for over 20 years because it works so well with my doublehose on "vintage" dives. The most important feature of any BC is "DOES IT FIT" and are you comfortable wearing it.

Large people do much better with back inflation rather than jacket-B/Cs. So you simply may want to avoid the jacket styles.

I don’t think there is a “Best BC for (any reason)”. What you will get from me, and others is an opinion on what I and they like.

I am of similar build, touch shorter and I tried several BC’s before settling on the Apeks WTX harness system. I also use a 30lb wing (Diverite Venture) on the harness – the setup really works great for me.

Here is another thread on the setup.

i dont think wearing and XL is going to be a problem for you in regards to finding a bc

my recommendation is to look at a rear inflate because for me, its been the most comfy style for diving. and im a huge fan of both zeagle and bpw so try them out before you make a decision

goodluck and enjoy

LBHeyman:

Hey everybody, I am 6'3 and weigh 250 lbs. I tried on BC's today and I wear and XL. My question is, what is the best BC for someone my size? Or does it even matter? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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I'm 6'4 and go 280. I recently switched to a Halcyon BP/W and it works great for me. I like the fact that it's infinitely adjustable and is built like a tank. Prior to that, I dove a Zeagle Ranger for 10 years. It's a great BC, tough construction and well built. I would recommend either to you. BTW both are Florida companies, High Springs and Zephyrhills respectively. almtree: Bob

Wow, thanks for all the good info so far. I am definitly going to go with BC that inflates in the back. Again, thanks for the suggestions so far and feel free to keep them coming!

I’m a shade under 6’ and around 290 and I have owned a SeaSoft Pro for about two years and love it. It is very adjustable, you can make it longer or shorter to fit your torso. I am adding a write up I did about my experience with SeaSoft below.

SeaSoft Scuba Products

A long over due customer service story and a thank you to SeaSoft.

It seems to me that all too often positive customer service stories don’t get as much air time as negative ones so here is my very happy story about SeaSoft.

In June of 2006 I got OW certified and knew by the end of the weekend that I was hooked for life! I decided to do my AOW a few weeks later and also that I wanted all of my own gear so that I could get it set up and learn in my own gear. One of the main things I was after was a comfortable weight integrated BC that would fit someone with some extra padding well. Being about 6’ and 300# and needing as much as 30# of weight if I have a lot of wet suit on I quickly narrowed my search to two choices, The Scuba Pro Nighthawk and Zeagle Ranger, but I really wanted a vest style as opposed to back inflate.

Then I picked up a brochure for SeaSoft and on the back was a picture of Bruce, the president of the company and I thought to my self the way he is built he looks a lot like the way I am built and if he is comfortable with the BC he is wearing then I will probably be happy with it’s fit as well. Also I learned hat the SeaSoft Pro is fully adjustable in every way you could think of. So I called a few of the LDS and couldn’t find any SeaSoft Dealers, next I called SeaSoft and spoke to a great lady there who was very helpful (I really wish I could recall her name because she was so nice on the phone). Since my job keeps me moving from city to city 2-3 times a week and I was planning on diving in 3 days I asked her to quote overnight shipping as well. My last question was if when I got the BC and I put it on, if I wasn’t able to fit it to me, could if it had not been used return the BC. She said she thought so but would double check and call me back. About 20 minutes later my phone rang and it was Bruce on the line, we talked for a few minutes and discovered we are about the same size. Bruce then said that he would take my BC put it on and adjust it to fit him and he was confident I would be able to take it out of the box and use it, but if I wasn’t happy I could indeed return it for a refund, he then even told me he was going to give me a discount on the shipping because the overnight was going to run me about $120 and he felt that was excessive. The next day when I checked in to my hotel it was waiting for me and did indeed fit right out of the box.

Thanks Bruce and everyone at SeaSoft for a great product and top notch customer service.

As a former BC-wearer, I highly recommend a backplate and wing. Everything is on your back, with nothing wrapping around you. I found that you feel a lot free-er in the water without so much bulk on, and no matter how much weight you gain (or lose), it always fits!

Jocasseegirl:

As a former BC-wearer, I highly recommend a backplate and wing. Everything is on your back, with nothing wrapping around you. I found that you feel a lot free-er in the water without so much bulk on, and no matter how much weight you gain (or lose), it always fits!

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I just moved from a back inflate BC to a bp/w and it is night and day difference. Much more freedom and I am not wearing anywhere near as much weight. If you decide not to go this route, I have a XXL Scubapro Knighthawk w/Air2 for sale.

Gil