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I'm looking to buy my first BC and was looking for some good advice from experience divers out there. Im looking for an all around BC than I can use at various locations.
Most of my diving will be in North East Coast mostly, New York and New Yersey. In the summer I usually travel to Puerto Rico. I am however very interested in getting into wreck diving. The water temperature I plan to dive in ranges from 50 to 75 degrees. I will start with a 7MM wet suite and will later on when the money is there move on to a dry suit but that is long from now. Anyway from these BC's which one will be more useful to my type of diving.
Dacor - Talon AT with weight integration
Mares - Platinum MRS
Zeagle - Ranger
Seaquest - Pro QD+
Seaquest - Balance
Or advice on any other BC's that might work for the type of diving I will be doing. Any advice, thoughts, answers or questions will be appreciated.
scubajay once bubbled... I'm looking to buy my first BC and was looking for some good advice from experience divers out there. Im looking for an all around BC than I can use at various locations.
There are two options here. 1) You've heard about BP/Wing and decided that it is not for you, or 2) You've never heard about BP/Wing.
If it's the former, I recomend the Ranger. It's a great BC, if it's the latter, do some searches and try out a BP/Wing config before you decide to buy one of your options.
scubajay once bubbled... I've heard of BP and wing but I am not too familiar with them. What is the difference between a jacket style BCD and a BP with wing
A backplate is a very humble looking piece of metal that is attached to the diver's back by a harness. The plate is availible in stainless steel or aluminum to allow for different ballasting needs. There were plastic plates around at one time. I haven't seen one lately.
The harness is most often a single piece of webbing making a circuit around the waist and over both shoulders. Some manufacturers have made them considerably more complex.
The wing is the buoyancy compensator. One look at it will tell you that the "name the device" contest didn't run very long. They come in various lift capacities. I've seen 18 pounds up to 100 pounds.
A single tank is attached in one of two ways:
-two cam bands threaded through slots in the backplate
-a length of channel bolted to the plate called a Single Tank Adapter or STA which the tank is cam banded to
Double tanks are attached by running the bolts in the tank bands through holes in the backplate.
In all of these cases, the wing is captured up against the backplate by either the tank(s) or STA.
They cost about the same as a mid-grade jacket BC and let you change wings for various needs. I have a Halcyon and I figure the plate is indestructible and the webbing is sold by the foot at my LDS so the only thing I would ever have to go to a manufacturer for is the wing, which from the looks of it, may end up being given away when I'm too old to dive.
scubajay once bubbled... I've heard of BP and wing but I am not too familiar with them. What is the difference between a jacket style BCD and a BP with wing
Ok, at the risk of sounding rude...you have some learning to do. There is more in the world than jacket designs, including some you mentioned.
There is a lot more to scuba diving than a "jacket bc". Most new divers are introduced to the typical jacket design. Jackets put the air bladder's around your body. This has some disadvantages concerning "squeeze" and trim characteristics. They work really well on the surface and not so good in the water. Of the options you mentioned the following are jacket designs:
Dacor Talon Mens BC
Mares - Platinum MRS
Seaquest - Pro QD+
The other two in your list are called "back inflate" BC's:
Seaquest - Balance
Zeagle Ranger
The difference between these BC's and the ones above is that the air is placed behind your back instead of around your body. If you've never done a dive on this design, you should. On the surface (as in floating at the surface) they require a little more work. This means that if you fill them full at the surface they will tend to tip you face down. You have to learn to fill them properly and rest on your back. To me this is minor when you look at the characteristis under the surface, which is the real goal.
Underwater, back inflate BC's are much better than jacket styles. The best position to be in in the water is horizontal. It doesn't take much imagination to figure out that having the air behind your back makes that much easier to accomplish.
That describes the differences between the "back inflate" bc and the "jacket" bc.
Now, I will compare the BP/Wing to the Back Inflate BC, rather than to a jacket BC. The biggest diference between these systems are:
1. Weight and Trim
2. Streamlining.
Looking at number 1: Your center of gravity is not anywhere near your waist. So if you put all your weight on your waist and all your lift running down your back, you will not achieve proper trim. A big advantage of a BP/Wing is that the weight is moved nearer to your COG, giving you better trim in the water.
Looking at number 2: A BP/Wing has very little "water resistance" to it that is not absolutely neccissary. You will discover that the best way to burn air is to waste energy fighting the water. Just like race cars try to avoid air resistance, you should avoid water resistance. (Actually much more so).
2) Try a BP/Wing before you invest in other equipment.
Personally, I consider myself lucky. I did a lot of investigation before buying my first BC and got the Ranger, and then moved to the BP/Wing. Most people have x number of jacket BC's before that.
An important observation: of the people who have actually tried a BP/wing configuration, a small number do not like it. I'll be the first to say it is not for everyone and you should make up your own mind. In a perfect world you should have the chance to dive all 3 designs before you make a decision.
James
Last edited by HammerNoMore; September 5th, 2003 at 12:34 AM.
James you are not rude I do have a lot to learn. That's why I post questions on the board so I can learn and get advice from divers that have be doing it for a while.
You are Absolutely right, I need to try out a few styles before I purchase.
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