Tusa Imprex Pro

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Sas

Contributor
Messages
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Location
Melbourne, Australia
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Hi,

I am planning on buying a BC. I have been offered a Tusa Imprex Pro back inflate BC to try out to see if I like. It is 6 months old and hasn't been used often (looks in great condition) and if I like it I can buy it. So I have two questions really that I would appreciate any help on.

1. Is this a good BC? I will be trying it out on Sat and Sun but would be interested to hear other thoughts. I dive in cold water mainly but will maybe make a trip a year to warm waters and I am a new diver so my dives are pretty conservative. It is weight integrated, which I want in a BC. I dive two weekends a month so want something that will last a while based on that.

2. What is a good price to offer? He hasn't mentioned price yet and I have NO idea what it is worth so an idea would be helpful :)

Thanks in advance for any help. :)
 
I used a BCJ-4900 Imprex Pro a decade ago when it first came out.

The D-rings were not badly positioned and the nylon used was very durable, the straps were comfortable and readily adjustable and over all it was very well made.

It is not a cross over rec/tec BC in that it is not ammenable to any form of technical diving as it will not accommodate doubles and TUSA was never responsive in making that an option.

The dual cam bands did a good job keeping the tank secure

The wing was not prone to air trapping and offered if I recall about 40 lbs of lift.

The weight system worked well, but is very hard to reload under water in the envent a weight pouch comes loose. On the other hand it is viurtually impossible to unintentionally lose one under water. The system was very comfortable with soft weights, a bit less comfortabel with hard weights and was borderline too small in terms of weight capacity for cold water diving - it would carry enough, but just barely if you used a dry suit with heavy under wear or heavy wet suit with a relatively positive tank like an AL80.

The early ones had a retainer strap for the inflator hose that would come out of the slot it lived in, but when we called TUSA about it, they began sewing them in so that is no longer a problem.

If you are a committed rec diver with no tech aspirations and like the under water stability of a back inflate BC, it is a good choice that should give years of service.

Price wise I am guessing it would sell in the $350 range new as I suspect it is probably being closed out after being cataloged for 10 years. Lightly used in like new condition, I'd maybe pay $200-$250 for one.
 
Ah thank you for that advice, very comprehensive :)

I have checked the weight and it will hold enough. 30Lb at the moment for me with 7mm semi-dry and soon a 2.5mm undervest, steel tanks always. Hopefully I can reduce that though once I start getting comfortable in the water. A drysuit would be a long way down the track for me, given financial constraints.

I actually would like to get into wreck diving in a few years from now once I have a lot more experience at diving so perhaps this would not be a good BC long term for me... I guess I will see the price offered and see if it would be cheap enough to justify keeping for a few years. At the moment I am paying heaps for rental so trying to get a cheap lot of gear together to last me a few more years until I decide I am ready to take my diving further.
 
I have the latest Imprex Pro Cubic and love it.
I am just a rec diver and do not plan on ever getting into anything tech or more advanced..

Its comfy but be sure you hear the click when you put your weights in..

(I will never understand how anyone could dive in the cold water! haha)
 
(I will never understand how anyone could dive in the cold water! haha)

Really? Why is that? I have had a few people say that and I am not sure really what there is bad about cold water diving other than... you get a bit colder :p

But yea, I don't get cold in the water really, guess I am lucky! Melbourne, where I dive, is not too cold though, about 10C in winter and goes up to 20 or so in summer. I guess I don't really have a choice even if I did mind as it is the only spot I can go diving regularly :)
 
I have the Tusa Imprex Pro BCJ-4900 and really like it. It feels pretty good on land fully suited up (I only have it set up for rec diving). Once in the water, it moves around on me a little bit. Perhaps I need to take some time and adjust the shoulders and waist closures. (My weight was down over the summer so maybe that's why it felt loose.)

That is actually one of things I like about the BC, the fact that it is so adjustable.
I also like the weight pockets. 2 dump on the sides and 2 non-dump in the back. It took some experimenting to find the right places to place the weights.

Also, if you do get the BC, make sure you wet the tank strap. I usually forget this step the first dive of the year and the tank drops. It won't drop out the whole way because of the nifty loop at the top of the BC that goes over just the tank valve. It's a great time saver when setting up because it always places the BC at the same height on the tank. I don't know if other BCs have this as this has been the only BC I've ever owned. (7-8 years?)
 
The TUSA Imprex Pro was my first gear purchase after I got OW certified. I dived it for about two years, and put maybe 300 dives on it. Loved it.

Eventually the triangular plastic "backplate" piece that stabilizes the tank broke and I sent it back to TUSA for repair. They determined it wasn't repairable and sent me a new one.

I migrated to a ScubaPro rig after that ... and then to a backplate/wing setup. But for a new diver looking for an affordable rig that performs reasonably well I don't think you can do much better for the money. I agree with everything DA Aquamaster said about it ... including the price you should consider offering ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)
 
Hmm looking like a good BC then :) *fingers crossed* the price will be good, at least I know what it is worth now - hate going into price negotiations with no idea! I actually ended up finding it on ebay just before and in Australia the one I have is selling for $550-600AUD new - but gear is usually more expensive over here so I will adjust the recommendations here accordingly. I presume they were in USD!

Thanks for the replies!
 

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