New diver BC advice

Hey everyone,

I'm a new diver(~ 1 year, 40 dives) living in Singapore getting ready to buy my first BC. This is for warm water, single tank diving only. I've done most of my diving with Jacket-Inflate BCs which I find sloppy. I tried my buddies Mares Icon this past weekend and while the back inflate was better there is still too much 'stuff' for my liking. As a note, with no wetsuit I needed 12 lbs of weight with this BC to stay down with a single AL80.

I'm leaning heavily towards bp/w but the DiveRite TravelPac and the Zeagle Express Tech appeal a bit as well. If I go the bp/w route I'm leaning towards a SS bp for the reduced weight needs and trim benefits and will just carry the BP on when flying to avoid weight issues.

I've heard great things about DSS, but a lot of the positive feedback seems to be about the support, with no presence in this region, it seems like I would miss out on the biggest benefit there?

I think my best bet is to purchase a bp/w locally so I can have the support of the LDS(potential of a loaner if I get a pinch flat, etc) since servicing one of these issues is likely to take a while due to my location.

As for the bp/w itself, I think I would prefer a BP that does not require an STA, a classic Hog rig, and for a wing, a donut in the 18-26lb range. I don't mind spending enough to get a quality product, but I have no need for luxury brands or overdesigned rigs.

Anyone have any advice? Is there something I'm overlooking? Anyone in Singapore that can recommend any particular locally supported brands to pursue?

Thanks
-Jesse

Why don't you go talk to the folks at Living Seas? They should be able to show you some backplate setups.

There's really no "support" needed for a plain vanilla BP/W. The likelihood of "a pinch flat" is so close to zero that it is negligible.

About the only serving a wing needs is the inflator. They are pretty generic. If a shop can not service them you probably should find a different shop. So I would say continue to consider the DSS bp/w set up.

Just for warm water diving, I would recommend looking at the aluminum plate.