The great back inflate vs. jacket BC debate

[triggertravel]

Maybe you can help us? My wife and I are both looking into getting BC's prior to our next dive trip in October. We will almost always be doing warm water diving. We are both advanced divers and may get into mild technical diving. (Wreck penetrations, Big Caves, etc.) However, our primary focus is the normal Carribean diving. Oh! Weight Integrated is a must. We would also like pockets for trim weights.

I recently dove with a Tusa back inflated bc and like it alot. My wife dove with a Mares Jacket-Style and had a lot of problems with with air trapping.

Do you have any advice on what type of BC we should get? (Jacket-Style or Back Inflated)

Some of the ones I am looking at include:

Back Inflated

Mares Synchro Power
Oceanic Chute 2
Oceanic Tour Pro (from my wife and myself)
Technisub Hexagon
Genis Recon (the one I like best so far)

Jacket Style

Mares Vector 1000
Oceanic Probe
Zeagle
Seaquest Pro QD

I am fairly tall. My wifes needs something that fits a larger chested woman.

Please let me know what you think.

Thank you,

Will

 

[Atomox]

Is mild technical diving like kinda of pregnant?

If you are serious about moving into technical diving than none of the choices you listed are a good option. A backplate and wings is recommended for technical diving.

Brad

 

[Aardal]

triggertravel,

I would recommend buying a back inflated BC if you choose to eventually get into Tech Diving. But If you think you would be doing more advanced recreational to recreational diving more with a occassional Wreck Diving then I would recommend getting the Zeagle Ranger or Zeagle Tech BC. You can go to Zeagles website and get more information if you need. I dive the Zeagle Ranger and love it. Enjoy and I hope this helps. OH by the way if you are gonna do more Tech Diving than recreational diving then go with the Back Plate with Wings. Here is the website URL for Zeagle:

http://www.zeagle.com/bc2001_rec.htm

Aaron

 

[The Chairman]

Hey Triggertravel,

Have you considered Dive Rite or OMS??? I use the OMS IQ system and really do love it. It holds to my body like a glove and personally I like the crotch strap too (yeah, I went there...). I am very big, and it fits me easily, and I also like the interchangeability that both Dive Rite and OMS employ. You can change your options on the fly for what ever diving you might be doing. It beats having more than one BC... one for fun, one for tecnical, etc... since you only have to learn one set-up and one set of controls!

Pete from Orlando...

 

[Iguana Don]

If you are looking for a truly flexible system that will grow with you as your diving career evolves then go with a backplate and wings.

The same B/P wings that you will wear will be the same that your wife wears only difference is the way they are adjusted. Also will fit ANYBODY 32A to 46DDD. You don't have to get the stainless steel, aluminum will be just fine for newbies as they can still wear ditchable weights.

Like mentioned above you can change your wings to suit you particular needs for diving from wings of 17lb lift for aluminum single rec diving, to the heafty 65lb lift wings for steel doubles with steel stages.

This is truly a universal system that will be the only "BC" that you will ever buy. Unless you go to stainless steel.

Take it from one who has spent thousands of $ on BCs before figuring this out.

For the best there is on the planet, check out..........
Halcyon

This outta stir up the nativies!

ID

 

[OceanSpirit]

Hiya,

I have an Oceanic Chute BC and love it. It's comfortable, has decent size pockets, an excellent power inflator, some usefully placed D-rings and an integrated weight system. It wasn't cheap but I wouldn't dive with anything else now.

 

[bob663emtp]

I have a jacket style bc and I'm thinking of buying a back inflation type.I would like to hear all oppinions about these.

 

[TexasMike]

You're question is a very good one and one of the more common for this forum. I've posted the following several times but since it is a good answer, I'll post it again. If you have any questions, feel free to post them or send to me directly via e-mail.



Here is a repeat of some of my earlier comments about buying a BC (plus a plug for the Zeagle Ranger BC):

• I dive and highly recommend the Zeagle Ranger. And before I tell you why, let me give you some pointers in selecting a BC.
  
  First, no matter what manufacturer or model you select, your primary goal is comfort! If your BC is too small or too big, you will always be fidgeting with it and not enjoy the dive. You want your BC to fit you in such a way that when you are in the water, it literally dissapears and you forget it's there.
  
  Second, you need to decide if you want a weight integration or not. Wieght integration allows you to carry some or all of your weight in special pockets on the BC. And the designers have put some thought into the location of these pockets so that they assist in providing the optimum "trim" with regards to your center of gravity so you are in the correct swimming position.
  
  Third, decide on back or vest inflation. [red]Vest inflation[/red] has the bladder coming around the front like a life jacket and will provide you a positive feedback as to the volume of air by squeezing your middle. [red]Back inflation[/red] has the bladder "wrapping" up around the tank. The benefits of this one is that it is more hydrodymanic (similar to aerodynamic), the bladders can be switched out when more lift is required, and you don't get squeezed like a toothpaste tube when fully inflated.
  
  Fourth, and probably most important, decide on what level of diving you will be doing both now and 3-4 years in the future. The life expectancy of a well maintained BC is more than 10 years, so choosing a BC can be compared to choosing a motor vehicle. Are you going to always be driving on the highways with a car(recreational diving) or do "off-road" or "work" with a truck (technical diving). Tehnical diving includes doing anything in an overhead environment (such as entering ship wrecks, caverns, and caves) and requires a different configuration. So if you desire to do any tech diving, then the recreational BC's should be passed up.
  
  Now that you have some good tips on selecting your BC, let me tell you why the Zeagle Ranger should be one that you really need to look at.
  • 
    
    [red]Fit [/red]-- The Ranger can be easily customized to fit your body, whether your a round person or a stick person. All parts of the harness and bladder are interchangeable. So if you have wide shoulders, long torso, and a narrow waist, the correct components can be obtained to provide a custom fit. The bladder can also be changed to one that provides additional lift.
    
    [red]Rec or Tech?[/red] -- The Ranger is one of the best BC's to carry you through any recreational dive through to moderate technical diving. It can be setup for double tanks and has plenty of attachment points for gear.
    
    [red]Back Inflation & Weight Integration[/red] -- The Ranger is classified as a back inflation BC. As such, I have found it to require a bit less effort to swim than the vest BC's I used during my o/w training and overseas dive trip. And it's nice not to be squeezed like toothpast. (Regarding floating on surface and face planting. Not all users experience this. I have absolutely no problem with the Ranger doing this, and besides, you want to be under the water, not floating on top! When the Ranger is properly weight trimmed, face planting is minimized). The weights fit easily into the side pockets and Zeagle even makes a nice weight pouch that slides right into the weight pockets.
  
  The Ranger is a bit more than some other BC's, but it has been getting great reviews both in the magazines and on the street. Many of the contributors to this board dive the Ranger and love it as much as I do. So I encourage you to consider it.
  
  One more good tip: If you can, try to borrow the BC's you are considering and do at least a pool dive with them. Trying them on in the store over street clothes won't tell you as much as getting them wet will.
  
  
  And if you have anymore questions, feel free to ask!!!

 

[TwoBitTxn]

I know this isn't really the answer you are looking for but the best opinion is your own. Try them both out in a comfortable situation. The two differences you will find is jackets "hug" you when you fully inflate them. Back inflate will tend to face plant you in the water. This can be counter acted somewhat by changing the placement of weight. ie... add tank weights. Jacket style will float you upright without changing the position of weight.

Tom

 

[TexasMike]

For other inputs on the Zeagle Ranger, check with Zagnut, Corsair, WarHammer, Tombiowambi, and many others.

But also, don't neglect looking at the proven recipie of plain old backplate/harness/wings setup that many others here use. These have even more flexibility than the Ranger and can easily be setup for the particular dive profile that you are attempting.



But, please be sure to let us know what types of diving you are doing now, and want to be doing in the future. Once we have this information, we can provide you with more accurate advice.