Advice on BC choice

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mbriskin

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I have a seaquest balance, seaquest malibu and sherwood tortuga BC that I got from Leusure pro, was trying them on and have to decide on one to keep by weeks end.
They all seem to fit ok, the tortuga had some nice comments and seems to combine the best features of jacket and back inflated BCs so I am leaning towards that one.

If anyone had any comments on any of these I would greatley appreciate it.
Thanks
Mike
:D
 
I've had a Balance for 2+ years. No problems, no surprises. One handy feature of a back inflate--they let you know when you are over-weighted! The comments you sometimes hear from folks who say a back inflate pushes your face down in the water are due to over-weighting and the need to (over) inflate the bladder.

Uh, you only get to try them on, not dive in them? Hate to say it but you won't really know until you dive them. The inflate button on mine is very precise, tiny puffs to full blasts. Also I like the 2 shoulder dumps (plus one on bottom right of bladder, not that it sees much use). What I really like is how stable the Balance is when you have a tank strapped on but aren't in the water yet--like when shore diving on Bonaire (sigh, why did I have to say that??). Very comfortable to wear, no issues w/ integrated weight system, easy to "balance" the weights. No opinion on the other 2 mentioned but I sure love my Balance. // ww
 
Interesting choice of acronym WW....rather partial to it myself..

You're obviously from or have spent time in the UK!!
 
I'd look at some of the DSS or oxycheq bp/w setups.
 
The sherwood is a pretty new design, I like that is combines the feature of the jacket and bi bc. I like jackets personally, for me they do not lean me forward as a BI bc does. I dive with very little weight, I am 5"11 200lb, with a 3mm I use 10-11 pounds of weight in saltwater. I always put 4lbs on the tank, and with BI bc I do lean forward. The leaning forward is something I just do not like. So I thinking the sherwood system may be a good compromise if you like the advantages of a BI, but want a bit more vertical stability that a jacket offers. MTC
 
Not to change anyone's mind but I had the same initial "lean forward" problem when I tried the Balance in a pool and Shoturtle is right, I did not like it either. Lost the tilt tendency when I was trying out the well designed ditchable pouches and left them on the pool bottom to swim around a bit. With some weight (2-3lb max for me) still in the non-ditchable shoulder pouches whoa, much better "balance".

I now split weights between the two areas, something to play with if you go the back inflate route (not that you want a large amount of weight where you can't ditch it though!). On the surface it's pretty easy to lean back also, which keeps things relaxed. But hey Robandlisa (or "butt hay" as our horses like to say), I am not now, nor have I ever been, a card carrying UK'er. I will confess to knowing a few...but intense immersion therapy seems to be helping. :eyebrow: // ww
 

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