BC Selection for warm, travel: Educate and Opinions

I'm a freshly minted and chilled (by Dutch Springs) OW-cert diver as of last weekend. I've been trolling around the internet, this forum, other forums, reviews and all likes of e-learning on gear selection. While I love gear and gadgets and reading about them, I am looking for some input from people that actually use the stuff and have much more experience.

So, on BCs...my family and close friends use the jacket-style BCs and have done so since first certed. They picked them because as once newbie students, that's what was available at the time at their respective dive shops and they felt comfortable to them.

I've always been the one to want to try lots of stuff out even if its stuff the majority of other people tend not to use. I've been looking for alternatives. In my training, I used Seaquest jacket-bcds and experienced frustrations with the Medium size riding up on me in the water and the Small squeezing my guts out and also experiencing buoyancy control haphazardness. More likely a result of inexperienced weighting (I ran the small jacket BCD and 30lbs of lead distributed in quick-release BC pockets, tank band pockets and on a weight belt, 7mil full suit, 5-mil hood/gloves/boots, I'm 186lbs and 5'11", 34" waist and had quite a bit of difficulty keeping myself from bobbing up and down while at depth).

My 1-3 dive destinations per year are going to be warm. I hate the cold in any form, so if the water is colder than 70-80*F, I'm not gonna bother being uncomfortable for the sake of diving.

I'm planning to go visit a bunch of dive shops in the area (NJ) and in the Keys. I'll be trying on BCs all over the place. My ultimate question is, how can you asses a BC in a store as to whether or not it's "right" for you?

I'm afraid the answer is going to be, "you can't". So then the questions becomes, how can you vet a BC before handing over your cash for it?

I'm also thinking I might be attracted to the back-inflate style since I didn't really enjoy the bulky, Incredible-Hulk-is-trying-to-squeeze-me-to-death feeling of the jacket BC. Maybe I was doing it wrong =\

For the 20 or so dives a year I'll probably make, I want to be comfortable, dive warm, and travel light and not spend a fortune.

Well, I'm biased . . . but I'd look at the Deep Sea Supply Kydex plate and 17 or 26 lb wings. They address a couple of your issues: There is nothing wrapping around your body, and the crotch strap keeps the whole rig from riding up or slopping around in the water. It's a light setup (weighs less than my husband's SeaQuest Balance) and modular, so you can take it apart for packing. It's very streamlined and fun to dive. You would have to use either a weight belt (not usually a big issue when you need as little weight as one normally does in warm water) or camband weight pockets, and if you want to carry stuff with you, you either need to put a pocket on the waistband, or on your wetsuit, or use pull-on shorts with pockets. But those small issues aside, it's a great way to have a small, light rig for travel that's really great in the water.

First, I'd recommend doing a couple of pool dives, with various BCs from rental fleets in order to 1) try out the BCs and 2) dial in your weights as I suspect you were heavily overweighted, even for cold water.

I'll second the recommendation for a plate, especially if "squeeze" was a big issue and you really do need a lot of weight. The plate will provide some weight such that you don't have to carry as much on a belt and it will feel more comfortable around your ribs (in terms of squeeze). The squeeze factor is the primary reason I went to a plate on my 3rd post OW dive. In warm water I think it's less of an issue (less neoprene helping to squeeze) but still can be, especially at deeper depths.

A bunch of folks have been very happy with the various "travel" BCs and several can be had for significantly lower prices than traditional jackets. You can get them with integrated weight pockets, if you like that, and they are light weight and easy to pack. They don't offer the same support as a hard plate (or a standard jacket with plastic tank holder) but the ones I've tried on (in the shop not the water) were reasonably comfortable. As far as I know, all the "travel" BCs are back inflate systems. The Zume, and the Express Tech are the two I've looked into. There are others out there though.

Listen to TSandM, she is a very smart lady. Also, some dive shops have pools where you can try a demo (two local dive shops here do that).

While I am also a BPW fan my opinion on your best bet is based on personal experience. ZEAGLE EXPRESS TECH with the bigger bladder. Don't junk it up with pads, weight system, etc. Add 4 drings, 2 weight pouches to the cam bands and a crotch strap. Total less than 300 bucks.

+1 for a small capacity wing and lightweight backplate option.

I have a Transpac and love it! If you are certain you're only going to be diving warm and don't need to be able to change the wing, consider the TravelPac!

now at 7 dives with rental gear and so far haven't had any luck with a jacket BCD fitting properly =\ The tank wags all over my back and of course I'm still figuring out how to distribute my weights so I don't keep tending to swim like I'm walking upright...

I got a chance to try on a Zuma at Diver's Direct in Key West and it wasn't too bad, but now Zeagle's Wicked Lite looks attractive for traveling and warm water...I'm hoping to figure something out within the next few months...

I really like back inflate BCD's. They are superior under water. For you planning on traveling for your diving, I would recomend the Oceanic BioLite. It is a back inflate BCD that weights only 5.5lbs. It packs small and is well built. I highly recomend it.

First off, back inflate is the way to go. I like you hated the squeeze the rental gear was giving me when I first started, so I went with a Zeagle Ranger. I have since lost 30 lbs, and needed something smaller, so I went with a back plate and wing. Think of it as a do it yourself BC, that you can fit and adjust anyway you want. A simple 1 piece harness is infinitely adjustable.

I currently dive a Dive Rite steel plate, with a 27 lbs wing and 0 lbs of lead with my steel tanks. :cheerleader::thumbs_up: