aerodiver:I have been looking at buying a BC in the next few months. The problem is I have only dove jacket style BC's so far and am curious about back inflated. What I was wondering was have any of you started with a jacket style BC and gone to a back inflated? If so what made you switch and was the transition from styles relatively easy.Also any other comments or tips about specific BC's would help a lot. Just so you know I am starting by NAUI advanced class soon and if size matters I am kind of small (5'5, 115lbs). Any comments on switching BC types would be greatly appreciated.
Hello Aerodiver
I trained with a scubapro jacket style BC, took my first dive vacation to Nassau, Bahamas, where I rented my gear, and guess what bc I rented....a scubapro jacket style. My second dive vacation was to Cozumel, but for this one I had purchased an Aqualung Malibu RDS (back inflation). Immediately I noticed how much better my trim was, and how much I felt as if there were no constrictions around my torso.
My wife also dives a Malibu RDS, and she swears by it. I must say that when she tried on the Diva LX, she almost went jacket style, but she does not regret not getting it, and I've noticed how quickly she has perfected her trim and buoyancy skills.
I thought about buying a jacket style BC to complete my DM training because I thought it would be better to use in the pool with students, so I test dove a Seaquest QLX I was looking to purchase from a friend; I ended up getting a back inflation Oceanic Pro-tour. While it's also back inflation, the position of the weight pockets, combined with the placing of the trim weight pockets allow for good position on the surface.
The trick to back inflation is, in order to float right, the bladder must not be inflated as much as a jacket style would be. The diver then just leans slightly on its back and voila!
Hope this helps, but I have a feeling that the concensus is that back inflation IS the way to go!
Semper safe
Rick