Best BCDs in XXL?

[rhwestfall]

I couldn't imagine an instructor with a Open Water class full of BP&W it would be a mess.

there are a few here that use them for ow students.....

 

[tbone1004]

I've had two thru the years and am really glad to have gotten rid of both. They were properly fit by the way, just no where near as comfortable as the back inflate BCDs I've used over the years. I have found most of the arguments people use for them to be answers looking for a question. So no I wouldn't tell you that.

top side or in the water? and with a wetsuit or without?

Dan's Dive Shop teaches everything in bp/w's and most university programs teach in bp/w's. Unlike most dive shops, the universities don't make much if any money on the program so they can't afford to have massive amounts of rental/training jackets. The bp/w's make much more sense if you want them to last and it also allows you to have far fewer of them in rotation because it is one size fits most. The harnesses will be roughly adjusted by size and while the d-rings might not be in the perfect places each day, they're close enough for pool work.

 

[Neilwood]

there are a few here that use them for ow students.....

Quite agree. From reading a number of topics on here, there are a decent amount of shops that train all their students in BP&W.

For an instructor it actually works out a lot better - you have one piece of equipment that fits all students with a minimum of webbing adjustments (which can be done in sub 5 minutes with a decent instructor). Compare that to jackets where for a group of 5 students you might need 5 different sizes (XS, S, M,L, XL) and of course you need to have multiples of each size so that on a particular course you have 2 S's and 2 XL's (that would be a minimum of 10 but of course S,M & L are more popular so you might need 3 or 4 each of them so you are getting up towards 16). Then you find people who struggle with mainstream sizing such as me (2XL jacket on OW and I didn't like it at all as it still felt tight). So possibly 18-20 to allow you to teach a group of 5 or 6 students. With BP&W, you only ever need one per student.

For the person that said BP&W are difficult to thread, I reckon I could strip mine and rethread everything in about 10-15 minutes. This however only ever needs doing very infrequently such as when it is brand new, a bit of webbing gets worn through (which could be a heck of a lot of dives) or you decide to switch components such as backplate.

 

[mikescooling]

I was saying that in context of a new student like the OP, threading it may be intimidating. I also said it looks like something from S&M. But I hope you know I was joking? their are no whips in the dive shop

 

[C P]

top side or in the water? and with a wetsuit or without?

Wetsuits (3 and 5mm both) and a drysuit both, and in the water. Top side I'm more forgiving about fit and comfort, I want it to work underwater. Single alum 80s up to a LP steel 120, once with double LP 104s. Both in having fun dives to working dives. Both plates were SS, one with a single weave harness and one with the "deluxe" harness. With the 3mm wetsuit and an alum 80 I only use 4 lbs in fresh water so the extra weight of the plate is more than I need and with the steel tanks and a wetsuit I don't need any. Big or double steels and dry I don't need any extra weight. For salt water and alum tanks its mostly air travel so a lighter weight BCD is better for packing. Adding a few lbs to trim pockets on tank bands is just as easy/effective as a using SS plate for the weight.
My experience is a hard BP/W with a single weave harness is not the end all be all BCD. I think there are a lot of cases people are too quick to recommend one to everyone without considering what the person requesting the information want from their gear or plan to do with it. I'm also lucky that my wife will let me get different pieces of gear for different needs.[/QUOTE]

 

[DMDavid]

I love the custom fit of my Dive Rite wing and the fact that I can continue to customize it as the need arises.
But keep in mind that Dive Rite is more of a professional rig and may be considered overkill if you're just diving a few times per year as a recreational diver.

 

[The Chairman]

My vote would be for the Dive Rite Hunter Pac or the Zeagle Express tech. They are a hybrid wing/BC. Easy and light to pack, customizable with weight pockets and no hard plate.

 

[Michael Guerrero]

My recommendation is you buy a backplate and wing. The Harness goes around your shoulders and there is a belt that you can tuck under your belly. You can make the belt as long as you need it. I'd buy 20ft of webbing to make sure you have enough. For single tank, a 30lb wing is fine, for doubles I'd go for something in the 50lb range.