Bolt vs Journey BCD

[pleasants9]

I am looking to purchase a new economically priced BCD. My 15 yr old scuba prob is falling apart. At first I was looking at the Journey Elite on diversdirect but I couldn't find any info on the BC on the mares website? My local shop has the BOLT BC on sale right now for $315 and I liked how it felt when I tried it on. The Journey is about $100 cheaper online so I was curious if anyone could provide a comparison because I cant find anyway to compare the two. The look pretty similiar.

-Leighton-

 

[kmarks]

The Bolt, I think, was new last summer. Scuba Diving magazine rated it pretty high as a Best Buy in their back inflate category last July and I had it towards the top of my list when I started looking at BCD options. The Journey Elite has been discontinued by Mares and I have never seen very good reviews of it, with most complaints being that the weight pockets are not very secure. Both have 35-45lbs of lift (depending on size), which is more than you need. One of the downsides of the Bolt, for me, was that at nearly 9 lbs, it is very heavy for travel.

 

[pleasants9]

thanks. I found out I will be working in Australia for 6 months and i dive often here in florida so figured it would be a good excuse to upgrade.