Safety of older BCs

[Eric Sedletzky]

The sun destroys dive gear faster than anything. Next would be mold I suppose.
I "inherited" a few old BC's in the past. A few bright orange Original Scubapro stab jackets and an old Dacor jacket, all from the late 70's.
All of them held air and the inflators functioned fine so I would have used them if I was so inclined to use those types of contraptions, but I'm not. so I handed them to the next person. The look on their faces is priceless, kind of like "Tag, your it!"

They were very basic early models and most people who use jackets probably would see them as obsolete, so I'll bet they are peacfully resting under about 10' of garbage in a landfill somewhere. Actually probably the best place for them.

 

[miketsp]

It really comes down to how well they've been cared for. I'm about to move house (downsizing due to retirement) and so needed to clear out part of the spare dive gear I'd accumulated over the years. This included a couple of old BCs, one with 20Y of use and another with 14Y of use. I gave these a very careful check over, including leaving them inflated for a couple of weeks to check for any leaks, before putting them up for sale as used items.
They were always well cared for, washed thoroughly with fresh water inside and out after every use, all valves thoroughly rinsed and flushed with fresh water, always stored with some air in the bladders to avoid faces sticking to each other, dried well before storing and I sold them with a clear conscience that they were safe to dive.
In the end both went to dive professionals, one to an instructor and the other to a dive operator who would be putting it into a pool of intensively used gear. Both purchasers agreed that they were in perfect condition and should still have a long working life.