ICON BCD failure

[Jean-Louis]

Hi,
I have had an Icon bcd for a bit less than 3 years, 350 dives.
I take VERY good care of my equipment. I dive 80% freshwater, 20% salt.
My bcd is leaking air so bad all along the top now(and was ok a month ago!)that my dive shop tech says he won't touch it and considers it dangerous.
Also, since the beginning, i have had to add clips to my weight pockets as they would fall off for nothing.(i never wear more than 14 pounds in them both together-7 each)
AND; the direct system would not function when pulled to dump air fast.(i stopped trying to very early!).

I am not writing this just to complain, altought i AM quite disapointed!
I want to know: is +or-300 dives considered normal for the Icon lifespan?

Thank you for considering this. I know i am not alone to have experienced those problems. One of my buddies is starting to, with the same vest.
I was happy with it the time it lasted, and appreciated its qualities.
But i won't buy another.

Jean-Louis Courteau
Quebec, Canada

 

[ToPpS]

Good call on the clips for the Intergrated Weight pockets. I had one pop out the other day, never to be seen again.....

How do you use the clips to hold everything in by the way?

 

[FoxDavis]

Boy, I am looking at this BC to buy, glad I read this...

 

[Jean-Louis]

I threaded a piece of rope through the belt going through the plastic handles. Then i clip one end of a double-headed clip to it, and the other end to the BC's d-ring just above it.(The one receiving the shoulder straps).
Solved the problem. That is: they still will come out if you brush against something like in a wreck, but will hang and won't drop away.

But this is only a quick solution to the problem and it brings another problem: in a rescue situation, the rescuer will fumble with this a while before being able to ditch your weights...not good.


The system used on these BCs is just too sensitive. It should be redondant as in the case where you first de-velcro the handle and then continue to pull to get the pockets out.

 

[ToPpS]

Yeah it is an interesting question for manufacturers to answer.
The weights need to stay put regardless of how many you put on there. Having said that I still think people who require more weights than "normal" should probably stick to a traditional weight belt.....

This all has to be balanced by the need to be able to remove the weight pockets when needed, ie during a rescue situation.

Some manufacturers have come up with some pretty sophisticated mechanisms for this. Some may work better than others in one regard (holding weight in) but may not work as well when trying to remove them......