regular BC's vs. winged BC's ??

[WetDane]

He - well - I'll have to eat that one - I stopped at the rip cord, when I tried it in the store a long time ago it did NOT work very well and the sales guy didn't have much to say about that other than "pull harder".
Glad to know the bladder comes off - I was not aware of that.

Dane

 

[Warhammer]

Maybe they've changed it since then, don't know. But it is a pain in the *ss to re-thread. But even so, I'd much rather have it than trust my weight to a slab of velcro, but that's just me.

Oh, and the removeable/upgradeable bladder is only available on the Ranger, Tech, 911 and SAR BCs. But I think it is also removeable on the Concept, just not upgradeable.

 

[divernva]

I bought a Synchro Power recently and have no regrets. It relieves the constrained feeling from a fully inflated jacket, and puts me in a relatively optimal position in the water. It lacks all the steel D-rings (it has technopolymer crap) and the flexibility of a modular BC (I drooled over the Dive Rite for the longest time), but my needs are fairly stagnant, and the frequency of my diving doesn't allow for the price of a "real" backplate / wing BC.

If you go with a winged BC, take it to the pool before the first real dive. Weight placement drove me crazy my first dive.

Good luck in your selection.

 

[sky50960]

I also was thinking about a Mares Power Tech
This is a good wing BC, Flexible but not modular ( specificity of a real tech BC ).
I friend of mine bought it the same day i bought my Dive Rite and he is very happy with the concept of the BC for his regular dives.
It is certainly a good choose if your feel confortable with this BC.
You are right it needs a little of "worck" to "tune" the BC for correct buyancy.

Fa

 

[The Chairman]

Hey all,

Waging into the Zeagle discussion a bit here... as a Dive Master who helps out an instructor who mostly uses Zeagle for their students, I find the handles almost TOO easy for them to pull (grin). If I have to thread one more of them durned things... But hey after lots of practice, it takes me all of a minute or so a side to thread. Not really too bad, just a pain when they accidentally pull it.

As for the weights being held in by velcro... My OMS has seen way too many dives and the velcro holds just fine! I have only lost one weight and that was on entry into the pool to DM for students. Of course, they all thought that it was there from the previous class, and I didn't bother to set them straight either... ;-)

For fun I dive PS 120s and hardly ever need extra weight (Sometimes in SW with an extra wetsuit on), and if you balance yourself just a tad, you can float on your back all day. Amazing how high a hundred pounds of lift will float you while you wait for the boat to pick you up. I hate to use my Sherwood vest style during classes, as the squeeze really gets to me. But its best if the students see you wearing close to what they are, so it sees most of the chlorine (but not always).

 

[Starfish]

I am considering buying a new BC (I have a used jacket) and the back plate and wings have been suggested to me, and I can see there are fans here.

My question is (and don't falem me too bad since i'm a comparative newbie) is where do you keep your dive tables if you have no pockets?

If you don't carry dive tables and DO carry your dive plan on an erasable board, where do you keep that?

--Starfish

 

[The Chairman]

Hey Starfish,

First off, realize that as much as some would like to forget it, all of us have been newbies and NONE of us knows it all. Every diver I have ever known has something that just shows how green they were, and sometimes, how green they still are. Its OK to be a newbie.

Second, most backplate & harness systems have "optional" pockets that can be threaded onto the waist belt. You can also accessorize with D-rings and other items that will enable you to load yourself down with whatever you want to carry. However, please follow the general rule of less is better, unless you are tech diving or cave diving, where redundancy counts, redundancy counts!

However, you should also realize that FEW people (I have yet to see one, save my first instructor)dive with tables on their person. You might have a note board clipped to your BC to record your time, and your depth guage will probably have a max depth indicator. Still, before I owned a computer, I simply dialed in my Dive watch to the time I went down, and noted the time mentally when I went up. I was never off but by a minute or two, and I would record the info once I got topside. I would then work out my dive profile to figure out if I were a "W" diver or not (grin). As for PLANNING, I always asked the dive boat operator how deep I should expect, and then I consulted my tables to see about how long I could go down for. I also checked the next lower level just in case he was in error, and remembered that number too. In my 122 dives, I have yet to dive outside of my limits. However, the last seventy or so dives have been with my Cobra. Still, my tables stay in my dive bag.

 

[Starfish]

Thanks for the answer without taking me out at the knees for being a newbie.

I appreciate this board, as many others do, for friendly and honest opinions. Since I have recently changes my place of residence, I have not "hooked into" the dive community here in Minnesota, and I am only getting ambiguous answers from the local store owners on equipement and configurations. Seems like no one is willing to give me a straight answer on anything... and yes I know that each situation is different, but general information like, "uh... duh. . . where do you put your dive tables" turns into a, who-knows-more the DM or owner or me?
Well DUH! The answers is THEM, but they seem like they are worried about liability if they tell me anything. I guess in this "sue-happy" world of ours, the professionals are afraid that if I go out and kill myslef, I will blame it on wether or not I have pockets on my BCD!

Thanks again for the opinion, and no I wont hold your liable if I decide to leave my dive tables onboard! --Starfish

 

[JamieZ]

Pockets can be attached to your drysuit. You can carry your tables and a lift bag in it. You should carry some sort of tables. Roll up, fold up ones made by IANTD are great.
Dont want to carry tables down with you then write some plans on a wrist slate. Then dive your plan. Have back up times on your slate for 10 min before your planned time and 10 min after your planned time for the deepest depth you plan on going. PLAN! PLAN!

You can also get pockets put on a wetsuit or attach a small pocket to a harness waist band.

 

[JoelW]

Starfish,

Depending on where you are in Minnesota, I can recommend a couple of good stores here in Minneapolis, one in particular. If I remember right, it has been a couple weeks, all that is in the one store for BCs is Zeagle and backplate/wings (OMS and Dive Rite). I have found the owner to be one of the few here in town that doesn't engage in a lot of BS. Ask a question, get an answer. E-mail me if you want any suggestions.

Another option for a pocket would be a thigh pocket. There are a couple out there that loop onto the BC waist strap and velcro around the leg. Dive Rite does one and Zeagle has a kit for turning one of their pockets into one.

JoelW