+1 Scubapro GO. Very comfortable, light-weight & works great!
1st BCD purchase - advice
- Thread starter rsingleton
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As you can see. Any BCD can work for travel. Its more a questions of comfort, fit and function. Yes, a light weight travel BCD can be used for all diving if it fits your local dive needs. If you plan cold water diving with a lot of weight, a travel BCD may not have enough lift. I have an Oceanic Island that I have used for 4 years for all my diving. I even sling a pony with it. I actually like the back inflate travel BCD because it gives a lot of the freedom of movement that the BPW does but it also has small but functional pockets and is weight integrated.
But for years Eric traveled with a much heavier and bulkier Excursion without any real problems. The only real difference is it had to go into checked vs my travel BCD that fits into carry on, if this is important to you.
But for years Eric traveled with a much heavier and bulkier Excursion without any real problems. The only real difference is it had to go into checked vs my travel BCD that fits into carry on, if this is important to you.
GCullen94
Contributor
I personally would go with a BP/W system. A backplate and wing with a simple harness packs down to nothing. With an aluminum plate, the weight of the whole system is just 5lbs. It is light for travel, small, and very comfortable in the water. I prefer a BP/W over a normal BC anyways now for a number of reasons.
1. My trim is better in the water
2. I feel more "free"
3. tank feels more secure behind me
4. it packs down small and light
5. I can adjust my wing to my diving conditions
6. It is more comfortable for me.
Now if you choose to go with a BP/W I would not go with the lightest lift wing you can find. In freshwater a 35lb rated wing will have 31 lbs of lift. (same for all BC's)
1. My trim is better in the water
2. I feel more "free"
3. tank feels more secure behind me
4. it packs down small and light
5. I can adjust my wing to my diving conditions
6. It is more comfortable for me.
Now if you choose to go with a BP/W I would not go with the lightest lift wing you can find. In freshwater a 35lb rated wing will have 31 lbs of lift. (same for all BC's)
flylow47
Registered
I have a Cressi Travel Air and really like it. It does everything I need, is light, and well made. Live the integrated weights. Only thing I don't like is no pockets except a little rollout. But I got used to that and put on a few snapbolts. I bought a Mares flight first and it was a mistake. Now it sits on a shelf after just about 20 dives or so. The back inflate is so much better.
My wife has the zuma and likes it. But the Cressi uses stronger cordura. I had to get hers patched already. We have about 60 or so dives on these since April.
Buying a bcd was a good decision. Like you I used to just rent. But I'm diving more regularly now and wanted to have the gear I could know better that whatever the shop provides. It also saves money in the long run.
My wife has the zuma and likes it. But the Cressi uses stronger cordura. I had to get hers patched already. We have about 60 or so dives on these since April.
Buying a bcd was a good decision. Like you I used to just rent. But I'm diving more regularly now and wanted to have the gear I could know better that whatever the shop provides. It also saves money in the long run.
LowDrag
Contributor
A couple of things that I notice missing compared to other threads like this one. Check the travel BC for sturdiness and construction. It would be a shame to pay a chunk of change for a "travel BC" and then have it fall apart after a few dives. I have looked at a few travel BC's that looked like they were built pretty poorly. The other thing to keep in mind is lift. Depending on your body make up you may or may not need more lift.
I am another BP&W guy but I won't push that on you other than to say that my BP&W does pack down real nice. I pack it in a travel box when I go up north to dive the Puget Sound and it gets pretty compact for me. I recently bought my wife an AquaLung Lotus with the i3 power inflator and just like one of the other divers, she fell in love with it. We were trained on standard BC's with a corrugated hose PI and she took to it super easy. The men's version is the Dimension and also can be purchased with the i3 system. I pack her Lotus in with my wing, it packs in nice and small also and is pretty light weight. Oh and it is a back inflate BC which leaves more room to move your arms around. Personally for me pockets are a waste of time, I could never get to mine on my jacket BC anyway.
Which ever way you go, good luck in your search.
I am another BP&W guy but I won't push that on you other than to say that my BP&W does pack down real nice. I pack it in a travel box when I go up north to dive the Puget Sound and it gets pretty compact for me. I recently bought my wife an AquaLung Lotus with the i3 power inflator and just like one of the other divers, she fell in love with it. We were trained on standard BC's with a corrugated hose PI and she took to it super easy. The men's version is the Dimension and also can be purchased with the i3 system. I pack her Lotus in with my wing, it packs in nice and small also and is pretty light weight. Oh and it is a back inflate BC which leaves more room to move your arms around. Personally for me pockets are a waste of time, I could never get to mine on my jacket BC anyway.
Which ever way you go, good luck in your search.
freewillie
Contributor
I dive a Zeagle Stiletto. Dry weight is about 7 lbs. It doesn't pack real flat but I'm rolling it up in a dive bag anyways so doesn't have to be real compact. When I was researching other travel BC's they were all in the 7 lbs. range anyways. It has 34 lbs. lift which is more than enough for my local diving needs with 18-20 lbs. weight. with full 7 mm wetsuits and hoods, gloves, and booties. I like the 4 steel D-rings for clipping gear like my compass and lights.
My daughter has an Aeris Travelite. It is essentially a plastic backplate with a wing for travel. She has only 2 D-rings but is more than enough since she only needs to clip a light for night dives. It also has more than enough lift for local cold water shore dives.
The bottom line is you can choose a relatively light BC for local diving that you can travel with, or get a true "travel" BC that you can use for local diving. Either way make sure it has enough lift for your local dives then go from there.
My daughter has an Aeris Travelite. It is essentially a plastic backplate with a wing for travel. She has only 2 D-rings but is more than enough since she only needs to clip a light for night dives. It also has more than enough lift for local cold water shore dives.
The bottom line is you can choose a relatively light BC for local diving that you can travel with, or get a true "travel" BC that you can use for local diving. Either way make sure it has enough lift for your local dives then go from there.
For my small input....
Firstly how much weight difference is there between a travel BCD and a "normal" one? If you're talking a couple of pounds then is that advantage worth the cutdown features of a travel one?
From my personal experience (http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/bu...perience-changing-jacket-wing-hope-helps.html) this may help, I will recommend a Backplate wing setup, for the following reasons.
1. fully customisable - you can add pockets, D rings, weight pockets etc as you feel the need and in the configuration you want.
2. You could have a plastic backplate for travel making it uber light but that means having more weight out your destination, although a steel plate only weighs 5lbs ( I have and Ali one too set up with a harness as in the height of summer diving a 3mm I'm overweighted with a steel and no weights)
3. They pack small.
4. They are great to dive with!!!
Firstly how much weight difference is there between a travel BCD and a "normal" one? If you're talking a couple of pounds then is that advantage worth the cutdown features of a travel one?
From my personal experience (http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/bu...perience-changing-jacket-wing-hope-helps.html) this may help, I will recommend a Backplate wing setup, for the following reasons.
1. fully customisable - you can add pockets, D rings, weight pockets etc as you feel the need and in the configuration you want.
2. You could have a plastic backplate for travel making it uber light but that means having more weight out your destination, although a steel plate only weighs 5lbs ( I have and Ali one too set up with a harness as in the height of summer diving a 3mm I'm overweighted with a steel and no weights)
3. They pack small.
4. They are great to dive with!!!
OP
Thanks everyone for the very helpful information. Surprisingly, this is the first time I even heard of a BP/W setup. I had to do some research to understand what it really was. Definitely seems like a good option for travel. My only concern about this as a primary as well, is that i was confused about getting a travel bc to double as primary as well primarily bc i thought it would be good to have 1 bc that i could attach all my equipment to and leave in place so i can pick up and go.
Since i'm starting to accumulate alot more equipment like knife, lights, compass, safety equipment (mask, whistle, sausage) guide reel, and camera stuff, etc. i thought it may be good to have a bc with enough d-rings, pockets, etc. to keep all my equipment on so i dont always have to take it on an off.
With the BP/W and travel bcs this doesnt look as efficient as a full bc. Im mot concerned about needed to take my bc in a carry-on. I wld still check it. But just considering overall weight and bulkiness
It also seems that its a popular opinion that rear-flate bc's are more popular. So maybe i'll consider those. Even some recommend i3 system which seems pretty cool too. I'm advanced diver so i already know proper techniques for using a regular hose inflate bc. So 'cheating' that knowledge isnt a concern of mine. But it does look interesting.
I also dont want to pay $700+ for a bc. Looking to get a somewhat newer model in the under $500 range if possible. Would even consider buying used or demo model on a typically more expensive model.
I appreciate all your help
Since i'm starting to accumulate alot more equipment like knife, lights, compass, safety equipment (mask, whistle, sausage) guide reel, and camera stuff, etc. i thought it may be good to have a bc with enough d-rings, pockets, etc. to keep all my equipment on so i dont always have to take it on an off.
With the BP/W and travel bcs this doesnt look as efficient as a full bc. Im mot concerned about needed to take my bc in a carry-on. I wld still check it. But just considering overall weight and bulkiness
It also seems that its a popular opinion that rear-flate bc's are more popular. So maybe i'll consider those. Even some recommend i3 system which seems pretty cool too. I'm advanced diver so i already know proper techniques for using a regular hose inflate bc. So 'cheating' that knowledge isnt a concern of mine. But it does look interesting.
I also dont want to pay $700+ for a bc. Looking to get a somewhat newer model in the under $500 range if possible. Would even consider buying used or demo model on a typically more expensive model.
I appreciate all your help
Token
Contributor
I dive an Aeris 5 Oceans BCD...it's relatively light and compact and does everything I need it to do. At first I was unsure about it because it had no pockets, and has a relatively short inflator hose. However I have come to learn that BCD pockets are hard to use for much at the best of times, and the short hose just takes a bit of technique to use properlly. I've recently been looking at the Zeagle Stiletto...it's also quite light and would pack up pretty well too. Neither of these BCDs will fall apart on you...my Aeris is very sturdy, and the Zeagle seems quite well constructed too.
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