cpace:
Does anybody have any thoughts/reviews of the Aqua Lung Pro HD BCD?
My instructor is recommending I stick with the Aqualung Pro HD. He said it's high quality (for what it is) and that Aqualung provides excellent support when needed. I hope to get into spearfishing. Thoughts?
There is nothing particularly
wrong with a Pro HD. There is also nothing particularly
right about it either. It is simply a run-of-the-mill jacket BCD. I own, and use in the pool at times, an Aqualung Wave. Both units are well-made, and there are some interesting similarities in appearance and function (notwithstanding the difference in weight integration). Aqualung is a very good company, that stands behind their products, with a well-developed distributor network.
I have my personal preferences regarding BCDs, and any comments I make are necessarily biased, according to those preferences. Things about the Pro HD that I do not care for:
1. It is weight-integrated. Although that seems to be a popular direction in the industry, the problem is that the weight pockets on the BCD put the weight below the diver's physiologic center of lift (the lungs / thorax) which pulls the legs down a bit, and creates the poorly trimmed '45'er' - the diver who swims underwater at a 45 degree angle - and wastes air and energy. A diver does not HAVE to become a 45'er just because they are wearing one. But, most newer divers are still learning the intricacies of proper trim, and becoming a 45'er is a not uncommon result of the mismatch of the respective positions of physiologic lift and weight. That 45 degree attitude underwater is inefficient, and causes the diver to use more air than necessary.
2. It is positively buoyant (aka 'floaty'). It has completely unnecessary padding on the back, and the fabric, while strong, is also positively buoyant. What that translates to, for the vast majority of divers, is the need to add additional weight to compensate for the positive buoyancy of the BCD itself. It is somewhat ironic - the BCD is a 'buoyancy compensation device', intended to compensate for the loss of buoyancy at depth as the diver's neoprene compresses. Yet, it also becomes a 'compensator' for the additional weight that the diver has to add to offset the positive buoyancy of the BCD at the surface. I have no desire to carry a single ounce of weight that is not necessary. It is inefficient, and causes the diver to use more air than necessary.
3. Partly as a result of the need to add additional weight to compensate for the unnecessary positive buoyancy of the unit, the BCD is rated to provide more lift than is generally necessary for single cylinder diving. But, the higher rating translates into a larger bladder, and the greater possibility of a shifting 'bubble' underwater, which makes achieving good trim more difficult. That is inefficient, and causes the diver to use more air than necessary to compensate for the shifting bubble.
4. It has only one cylinder cam band. I prefer two. While having two cam bands is not a solution for failure to properly tighten single cam bands on shore during equipment assembly, having two in place does offer some additional support, and makes it a bit less likely that the cylinder will slip down and out of the band(s), below and behind the diver. Having two bands also adds to the over stability of the unit.
5. It is quite overpriced, at a MSRP of $499. Paying a premium price for an average product is particularly
inefficient.
6. It really doesn't fold up well, and therefore doesn't travel as compactly as other BCDs. This leads to either larger luggage, or the need to leave other items at home, which is particularly
inefficient.
As I said, none of this is particularly
wrong, nor is it particularly
right. It does appear to be particularly
inefficient.
There are many other options that may offer greater efficiency, and comparable, if not better, performance.
