First BC - Jacket or Wing

[Drew]

After a 1-day resort course in Mexico, my wife and I (and another couple) are planning on getting certified this spring. As I do with everything, I've been reading as much as I can about equipment, to make a smart purchase. My objective is to buy equipment that will grow with my skills; it has to be scalable.

Since I live in Iowa, I plan on diving local freshwater (and in MN) most of the time. We will probably dive tropical 1-2 times per year. Eventually, I'd like to do wrecks, nitrox, dry suit, and go deep. Those are my goals, which I fully anticipate achieving. My wife will most likely keep her diving simple.

After reading about DIR on this board, I am now convinced that a plate/wing (30#) is the right way to go, since it's simple, efficient, functional, and modular. For a reg, I'm favoring the Apeks ATX50. Will that configuration support my goals? Is it too much for a novice? Will a jacket BC be sufficient for my wife's basic needs?

Thanks in advance.

 

[WillAbbott]

My objective is to buy equipment that will grow with my skills; it has to be scalable.

Eventually, I'd like to do wrecks, nitrox, dry suit, and go deep.

You pretty much answered yourself in thoose 2 sentences.

BP/Wings are the most scalable and will grow with you the best, since the only thing you will ever have to change on them will be the wing, and maybe the BP for tropical

They are deffinately not too much for a begginer to handle, I tried them the first time, after probably only 2-4 post cert dives. Though it was awkward at frist, having only dove Jacket BC's after 4 dives with it, I didn't want to go back.

As for your wife, might want to do a BP/Wing set-up for her as well... I know that a good chunk of women in our dive club, actually prefer a BP/Wings after using many different BC's... if the harness is a standard harness woven right, then the shoulder straps naturally route in a way, to not cause women to have uncomfortableness.... in any case I would seriously reccomend and urge you to go with something that has the inflation on the backside for her, I seem to recall 90% or more of women divers prefer a back inflate or BP/Wings to a normal "jacket" BC.

Good Luck, and Welcome to the wonderfull world of diving.

 

[diverlady]

I agree with the back inflate BC or the BP & W for your wife. Have her try out some different ones to be sure she gets something that fits her properly. Personally, I won't use a jacket style BC again.

Diverlady

 

[Wendy]

A bp/wing would be great for both you and your wife. I'm sure she'll love it. I love mine!

 

[Drew]

Thanks for the recommendations for my wife. Her confidence will definitely be helped by having a rig that is simple and uncomplicated.

My LDS sells Halcyon, so after I'm certified, I will definitely try out some equipment before buying. From what I've read so far, most people have great experiences with Halcyon, with the exception of a few rough plate edges which can easily be solved. It sounds like Halcyon, Oxycheq, OMS, and Dive Rite are the most popular wing makers.

Since my LDS does not sell Apeks regulators, should my annual service be shipped out, or can their tech do a generic annual service on brands that they don't sell?

 

[pasley]

What to buy? That is the same as asking Coke or Pepsi? It is a matter of personal choice and everyone will have their own opinion and valid (to them) reasons for choosing one or the other. The answer is try several and then make your decision.

A bigger question is Should you buy. Wait and see if you really like diving. Many divers start out all excited and then quit diving after a few dives. Diving in a fresh water environment is not the same as salt water and you may not like it. You may decide to only dive on vacation at tropical locations, many divers in your situation do.

Owning SCUBA gear is not like owning a set of golf clubs. There is an annual cost to ownership. So that will factor into the Rent Vs Buy decision. Considerations are:
1. Annual Service of Regulator, Octo, Computer, BC. ($65-$80 for me, your cost may vary)
2. Annual Vis ($10 ea) on your tanks and Hydro ($30) every 5 years.
3. Cost of equipment ($1,200 - ???? ) and expected life of equipment.

Your gear should last several years if properly cared for. Wetsuits age with every dive depending upon depth, they also age just sitting there in the closet (and your dimensions change too). BC’s will also age with use and in the closet (materials get brittle). Octos and Computers will last several years but technology changes and you may want to replace it in 5-10 years.

After you have been certified, and done a few dives try this :
Days Diving Per Year X Rental Cost = Annual Cost to Rent.
Cost to Buy Gear + Annual Maintenance Charge / Day Rental Cost = Number of days diving to break even.

I bought all my gear and have dove 88 days in the last 2 years (95 dives). I spent $1,200 for my custom wetsuit, computer and all my gear including 2 tanks (purchased it all on sell at my LDS new) At $40.00 per day rental (my LDS Charge) I broke even after 30 dive days. In the same period, my daughter has dove 2 days so for her renting is better.

Just my $0.02. I do recommend waiting to buy until several dives after certification.

 

[ew1usnr]

The thing is, I HAVE wings BC's. One for my twin 100 tanks,and a Scubapro and a SeaTek for single tanks. For the twin tanks, there is no other way to go. But for the singles, having dived with the wings, I like my Scubapro stab-jacket best. It is more maneuverable. I can roll from side to side or do a 360-degree barrel roll a lot easier in the stab jacket than I can with the wings. The wings are great for maintaing a horizontal face down position, but they are unstable when you roll over to your back and then back to face down. There is a lot of air shift. The stab jacket holds the air close to the body and flows with the diver as he turns. I'm not talking from theory, but from actual use. The wings are OK, but the jackets are nice too. It's just amazing the mind set on Scubaboard. A new diver asks about BC's and he gets a 100% response telling him to get wings.

 

[MechDiver]

It is more maneuverable. I can roll from side to side or do a 360-degree barrel roll a lot easier in the stab jacket than I can with the wings. The wings are great for maintaing a horizontal face down position, but they are unstable when you roll over to your back and then back to face down.

Nonsense.

Having owned and dove Scubapro stab jackets for a few hundred dives, and gone to bp&W for both single and doubles, saving a wing is "unstable" is ridiculous. I can do a 360 degree rotation with a single wing as easy, or more so than with a jacket.

Backplates and wings are suggested so much to new divers for a reason.

MD

 

[cdennyb]

Put me down for a Mare's Synchro-Tech BC (it's a wing type), and I used to use it with a single 80 alum., now I have a set of double 80's! Sweet set up. I would never have any buoyancy in front of me. The old Sea Tec BC was my first, it was a wing style as well. Once I had to rent a jacket and after that 'experience', I'd never allow one in my dive locker! Too hard to learn good habits with anything but a wing style, regardless whether you use a backplate (Tech style) or a BC like I have. You'll find it fits well with any upgrades you two do in your future diving experiences together. IMHO, if you can't roll over on your back with either a single or double set up and a wing, you have too much weight on and need to trim down a bit. The BC should have a minimum amt of air in it, but since we dive with dry suits (and I don't use my dry suit for bouyency control) we don't have too much air in them either. Try it different ways, rent some stuff, do a few pool dives and see what you find to be most comfortable, but I think you'll end up with a wing style BC with integrated weight pockets. That was the best thing that happened to BC's in my opinion, short of additional dump valves in the bottom.
db

 

[R_Deluca]

Nonsense.

Having owned and dove Scubapro stab jackets for a few hundred dives, and gone to bp&W for both single and doubles, saving a wing is "unstable" is ridiculous. I can do a 360 degree rotation with a single wing as easy, or more so than with a jacket.

Backplates and wings are suggested so much to new divers for a reason.

MD

Agreed, I find that I am way more maneuverable in my backplate and wings than I was in any Jacket style BC. I wish that I had someone tell me about BP / Wings when I first started diving, it would have saved me a lot of money!