starter looking for some advice on BCs

[matrium]

Hi,

this is my first post here

I just completed the PADI Open-Water-Diver this year and my experience is limited to:
5 pool dives during the course
4 Open Water dives in Mexico (to complete the Open Water Diver course). Maximum depth 18 meters.
3 dives in a "Cenote" in Mexico (which was the experience of my life by the way). Maximum depth 10 meters.

Still i already know i am hooked for life, so i might as well get some gear, despite having very little experience. I plan to dive the green lake in Austria once its actually there (late spring i think) and maybe a few other lakes in Austria. Beside that the countries i plan to visit in the next years are Croatia, Egypt and Thailand.

Some things that may be relevant:

• Until now i always got a "jacket"-style BC and i didn't like all of them too much, because i felt like it was a bit hard to keep a completely horizontal position. I read a lot and it seems like this is better with back-inflated BCs, so i guess i want one of those.
• I didn't like the extra weight belts they gave me in Mexico too, so i would like to have a way to put the weights on the BC.
• It should be light-weight because i don't want to have too much extra weight on flights.
• I don't think i will ever dive deeper than 40 meters, if that is relevent for the BC selection?
• I am 182cm height and weight 81kilograms. I am in a good shape.

Any advice/tips for me? Thanks in advance.

 

[tbone1004]

where do you live? The depth is not really important, but the exposure protection you will wear is because it determines the amount of lift required for the wing. I highly recommend contacting Jim Lapenta *who is on this forum* and having him send you his article on BP/W's and read up on different backplate options. You are perfect size for "standard" backplates, and you can get them in various materials to help with your weighting and travel concerns. My personal preference is for the Deep Sea Supply Kydex backplates and the LCD20 or LCD30 wing depending on which tanks and exposure protection you choose to use.

Best piece of advise is this. Look at your end goal and work backwards from there. If you are loving cenote style diving, then sidemount may be the best option for you and single tank sidemount is quite popular for travel and may be the best option for you if that is something you see yourself enjoying in the future. If you see yourself doing more wreck diving or want to stay backmount, then stay with a backplate and wing, but either way you will be better off than buying a jacket or back-inflate harness.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Get a Back Plate and Wing.
Forget the rest.
Buy your last BC first.

 

[motorref]

Matrium - If you read a lot of the posts on BCDs you'll see that a BP/W is the most preferred / recommended way to go, but as tbone said some of your chouces may depend on exposure suits, types of diving, etc., not to mention budget!
Like yourself and probably everyone else I got certified with a jacket style BCD and hated it; as soon as I could I bought a back-inflate BCD. I really wanted to go with the BP/W, but not having as much experience as many of the members here I opted to "work my way up to it".
I'm currently on my 2nd back inflate and I'm perfectly happy with it as it allows me to do cenotes, wrecks, etc., just not the highly technical stuff.
My suggestion would be to go to your lds and see if you can try a few in the water before you spend your hard earned $$/euro's on something that may or may not work for you; some places allow it, some don't, but reputable shops should be able to work with you on it.
OR,,,, read reviews, hang out with a lot of other divers, and try used BCDs - I've seen some pretty good deals in the Classified section here.
One last item: my wife got certified (in a jacket BCD) last year, and I bought her a back-inflate BCD for our first "dive trip"; at first she was uncomfortable in it, mostly I think due to the lack of feeling "enclosed/secure", but after a couple of dives with it she loves it.

Good luck!
KevinL

 

[tbone1004]

kevin, "working up to it" isn't really a thing, we train divers in plates, it's no different than diving a back inflate, but if you decide you want the quick disconnects and what not, you can always put a Transplate on it to make it feel like a jacket bc harness. As far as cost, you can get one of the best plates and wings made for just under $500 us, and you can get the Trianta set from Dive Right in Scuba for $380. The DSS rigs are worth the extra $100, but if budget is the key, that Trianta set is cheaper than most bcd's....

 

[dmaziuk]

...
I am 182cm height and weight 81kilograms. I am in a good shape.
...
Any advice/tips for me? Thanks in advance.

I am 185/82, dive in the Caribbean in a 2mm shorty, aluminium backplate with 25lbs wing, and light fins (aeris accels). In that configuration I carry 2-3lbs of lead in a trim pocket on the tank strap. No other weights. (And an SMB in case I need more buoyancy.)

You might want a full suit esp. in SE Asia as that's where the nasty stinging critters live. That may require a little more lead unless you go for one of the modern trilams like lavacore (thermocline is the one with the least bad size chart for our measurements). In the lakes you may need thicker suit and therefore more lead. Depending on how much more, you may need more lift in your air cell.

BP&W is no different from back-inflate except with the former you get the plate, the harness, and the air cell as separate pieces.

 

[matrium]

Hi

Thanks for your fast answers, awesome!!

I live in Vienna- Austria, so diving for me will always include a longer trip, mostly by plane (that's why weight is important).

I read so much about BCs in the last days, but I somehow always skipped the backplate/wing-BC discussions, because backplate just sounded heavy and bulky somehow. After your posts I read some more and I really like everything I read, but I am still a bit concerned because of the weight: So how heavy are these plates really?

I am not on a budget, but I tend to buy stuff that gives me a good "bang for the buck". So I will absolutely pay more if the price-increase is reasonable in comparison to what I gain for it. Also I wish to buy stuff that can carry me through most of my needs. So nothing to specialized. I will dive in Austria a bit during the warmer months and on holidays in really warm countries. The "green lake" is pretty cold with around 5°, but overall I will dive in warmer waters and plan to buy a 5mm wetsuit for that.

*edit*
just looked into my log. I used 7kg of extra weight on the last dive in the sea and i remember having to blow a lot of air into the jacket to float. And that wasnt just my opinion, even the dive instructor told me that i should reduce weight on my next sea-dive

Fins is also something that i am currently looking at. During our 5 pool dives in Vienna i used open-heal fins with booties and Mares X-Stream fins. I already used fins before a lot during snorkeling and during swim lessons (made a course to improve crawl and butterfly technique) and i just couldn't stand it. For me it felt just akward having this boots and the fins felt out of place. So i am definetely getting full foot fins and maybe a pair of neoprene socks for thermal protection. Tending towards Aqualung Stratos 3 atm.

 

[Dive Right In Scuba.]

If you want the best bang for your buck in scuba equipment, erase from your mind the idea that as a beginner you need different equipment from what you will use in the future. The equipment that some people associate with advanced divers requires no more diving skill than any other gear; in fact, I believe it is easier to use than most of the supposed "beginner" gear. If you buy gear for the beginning dives of your life and then sell it at a big discount in order to get the gear you should have bought in the first place, you will not have made a shrewd financial decision.

I realize you live in Austria and will be thinking of what is available there, but you might find it helpful to look at some packages we have out together with the supposed beginner diver in mind. The choices include the kind of gear some shops will tell you is only for more advanced divers. Hopefully you can get an idea of the kind of options you might find. http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/di...imple-dive-equipment-packages-new-divers.html.

We made these packages primarily because beginners are often starting from scratch and will be interested in a full set, while more advanced divers are generally looking for individual parts rather than packages. The packages include a wide variety of diving needs and styles so that people can choose what is best for them. What you need to do is decide what kind of gear will serve you best through your years of normal diving. Read a lot. Ask a lot of questions. When you are sure you have found the gear that will fit you best for years to come, make a decision.

 

[dmaziuk]

So how heavy are these plates really?

Lightweight plates: Aluminium (about 3mm), or plastic, or plastic with steel spine should all be under a kilo. Steel plates are 2-3 kgs, they're typically used where you need the weight (drysuit, thick wetsuit).

Fins is also something that i am currently looking at. During our 5 pool dives in Vienna i used open-heal fins with booties and Mares X-Stream fins. I already used fins before a lot during snorkeling and during swim lessons (made a course to improve crawl and butterfly technique) and i just couldn't stand it. For me it felt just akward having this boots and the fins felt out of place. So i am definetely getting full foot fins and maybe a pair of neoprene socks for thermal protection. Tending towards Aqualung Stratos 3 atm.

Full foot works fine when diving off boats or on nice sandy beaches, but you definitely want reef boots for shore diving in places like Bonaire: hard jagged bottom. You could try to put orthotic inserts (stiffer kind) in your booties and try the x-tremes with that. Full-size fins suck for doing laps in a pool, but that's not how they feel in open water. If you want to work on your bat & crawl in the pool, get tyr burners or finis zoomers for that.

 

[divad]

Hi
backplate just sounded heavy and bulky somehow. After your posts I read some more and I really like everything I read, but I am still a bit concerned because of the weight: So how heavy are these plates really?

My AL BP weighs about 1.7 lbs. I had to switch to it when I started diving double steel tanks in cold freshwater/Drysuit/50 degree Undies/ because the 5 lb SS plate was too heavy. Sooo, I think you should get an AL plate and add modular weight pockets where ever necessary (higher or lower). You can beg, borrow, steal, buy, or rent weights where ever you may go.