Best overall jacket style BCD- Scubapro vs. Oceanic vs. Bare

[Ben Prusinski]

Folks,

I am looking for a good jacket style BCD that works well for cold and warm water diving and easy to use for overseas trips. So far I am looking at a deal on ScubaPro, Oceanic and Bare models. Any suggestions in terms of best quality with flexibility? I cannot find much in terms of ratings from Scuba Lab on these brand of BCD from the tester choice awards. I want something that has good pockets, easy to tote across airports for overseas dive trips yet can use in the cold waters of Monterey or warm Caribbean and easy to streamline my gear.

[a22shady]

Sounds like you need a Backplate/Wing. You will be able to use an Alumiun plate for travel/warm water and Steelplate for cold water. And from what I have seen they take up a lot less space and easier to pack. Thats the best streamlined system. Lot's f Manufactures make them (HOG, Diverite, Halcyon,DSS) All make quality systems different prices. You can probably ge the HOG system and save money over the Jacket style BC's

[Jak Crow]

I am big fan of Oceanic and Aeris BCs. Mine has been going strong for a year now, and I got it used to begin with.

[Splitlip]

I dive a bpw, but the Scubapro classic is a wonderful tool.

[RonFrank]

I like my Zeagle Stiletto quite a bit. LP had them around $400 around Xmas but no longer. They are heavy but compact for travel at 7 lbs.

http://www.zeagle.com/showproduct/37/Stiletto/

[mathauck0814]

+1 on the BP/W. Jacket BC's are for rental fleets, not divers that hit the water with any frequency.

[chile7236]

scubapro classic or aqualung pro qd...bp/w is nice but there's no problem with the traditional jacket or back inflate. got plenty of folks here that dive daily with traditional set ups and they seem to survive as well as the bp/w wearers.

[Zung]

+1 for the Scubapro Classic.

I loved mine which served me well for 20 years: easy to don, great stability in any position, useful for single's and double's. Most of all, it's extremely easy to live with: chest strap? never attached; waist strap? yes, there's one, never used; cummerbund? yes, sometimes I actually close the velcro. Just like a real jacket made of cloth.

After all this time, I finally decided to replace it last year, and found a deal on a French clone I couldn't resist, so I went for it. Same design, but half the weight and a lot more supple compared to the current SP Classic.

Still, if I didn't come across that clone, a current SP Classic would definitely be in my shopping list. Actually, I just got one for the wife.

[kiming]

The only jackets I have owned have been scubapro classics. They work perfectly fine for warm water single tank dives. The older ones are high quality BCs. I am not a cold water diver so I can not comment on how it would work for you in Monterey. I have not had any problems traveling with the classic. The pockets are large enough for me. The best feature is the SP tank strap. It is very easy to use and secures the tank perfectly. To me that is the most useful feature of any BC. I am not sure what you mean by flexibility.

[Splitlip]

scubapro classic or aqualung pro qd...bp/w is nice but there's no problem with the traditional jacket or back inflate. got plenty of folks here that dive daily with traditional set ups and they seem to survive as well as the bp/w wearers.

Interesting you say that. Of my four main buddies, two dive Classics, one dives a pro qd and the other a bpw. The Classic is
an awesome jacket for warm water and photogs IMO. The bubble moves as needed.