Review of Oceanic Biolite BCD

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jlevine

Contributor
Scuba Instructor
Divemaster
Messages
771
Reaction score
142
Location
Southern California
# of dives
200 - 499
I recently purchased an Oceanic Biolite BCD from Scuba.com's actual store in Irvine, California. I had tried on a few travel BCDs and ultimately settled on the Biolite. Why was I looking for a travel BCD? Mostly because I dive in warm water and wanted something less hefty. Here are some things that appealed to me:

(1) The Biollite was cut just right for me. I cannot emphasize this enough. There are lots of good BCDs. Even if your friend loves a certain BCD, if it doesn't fit you, don't buy it. For me, the fit was just right.

(2) The Biolite has good backpadding. I tried it on in the shop with a tank both with and without a wetsuit. It felt perfect.

(3) The Biolite offered 38 pounds of lift (in size large) while other BCDs have less. I realize one doesn't necessarily need lots of lift but it's an added bonus.

(4) The Biolite has a dump valve on the bottom of the jacket. Some travel BCDs do not.

(5) There are a few plastic D rings to hold things as well as some loops on the right shoulder strap to which things can be attached.

(6) It is light at 5.5 lbs and folds pretty well.

(7) It's back-inflate, which I prefer.

(8) It came with two trim pockets.

The BCD was super comfortable in water. I felt I had no problem maintaining a decent trim. The only thing I noticed was a bit odd at first was that the trim pockets have loops that go around the tank strap. They are not super tight. Since I had metal weights in them, I could hear some "clanking" when they hit the tank. Soft weights would fix that. I was fine at the surface as well. Of course a back-inflate BCD tends to push you horizontal but I didn't find it hard to manage.

Overall I felt very comfortable with the Biolite and feel it's an excellent option for warm water diving.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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