The great travel BC topic

[norcaldiver]

Both of those are ok BCs, I prefer the SeaQuest Balance tho. Not as bulky as the Zeagles.

 

[Dr. Jay]

Even though I don't own one, I dove a travel wing during my cert. This was a nice, lightweight, and durable BC.

You can probably get a Transpac II and a rec wing off LP for the price you mentioned.

If I had it to do again, I'd probaby go with the Dive Rite ut:.

I've heard good things about the Zeagle, but it looks a bit more bulky than a Transpac w/wing.

 

[herman]

norcaldiver once bubbled...
Both of those are ok BCs, I prefer the SeaQuest Balance tho. Not as bulky as the Zeagles.

If he had said Ranger I would agree. Granted I have not seen the SQB but I own a Scout (and a Ranger) and the Scout is about as minimal as a standard BC comes, excluding the BP/wing.

My impressions of the Scout. I own a Ranger and like it for diving around here, but it does take up a lot of space in the luggage. I purchased the Scout as a lightweight alternative. The Ranger weighs 8 lbs dry, the Scout 4 lbs (which includes the weight of a Ranger cumberbum I added-maybe an add 1/2 lb), these are fairly accurate weights taken with a calibrated scale. It is well built but is of a lighter material that the Ranger or Escape. Don't take this wrong, they are plenty durable for the job, just not as heafty as some of the other Zeagle products. The "intergrated weight" system on the Scout is lacking if you need much over 10 lbs. It consists of 2 dumpable weight pouches located on the back of the BC, one on each side of the tank. I find this perfect for my needs as I use 6-8 lbs in warm water which is what I purchased the BC for. But if you intend to use it with more weight and want an intergrated system a differant BC might be better.
All in all, a nice little BC that does exactly what I purchased it for.

Last time I looked, the Scout was going for about $220 on line.

 

[leadweight]

Transpac II with Travel wing (not rec wing)
Mares Jubilee

 

[roakey]

AL backplate and Halcyon Pioneer wing. Very compact too.

Roak

 

[Dxtreme]

That is what i meant when i looked at the zeagle scout. It almost looked like a BP/WING setup !! very minimal and simple.

However if the material is not as durable then i might just shell out extra $60 and get the Zeagle Escape.

The Zeagle Escape has more "MESS" compared to the minimalist Scout though.

 

[SimonN]

AP Valves Buddy Travel Wing. Probably the cheapest and toughest as well.

 

[leadweight]

It's way cool, but not really available in the US.

 

[runvus4]

You could look at a Koplin Travel Backplate and mate it with a Halcyon 18lb Pioneer wing, or the 27lb wing if you can't find an 18lb wing. If you don't like the feel of mounting the tank directly to the Pioneer wing, then you can add in Koplin's lightweight Single Tank Adaptor

Koplin Travel Backplate: 2.2 lbs
http://www.selchie.com/travel.htm

Koplin Lightweight STA : .9 lbs
http://www.selchie.com/sta.htm

 

[herman]

Dxtreme once bubbled...
However if the material is not as durable then i might just shell out extra $60 and get the Zeagle Escape.

Don't worry about wearing a Scout out unless you are very rough on gear. It's almost impossible to actually wear out a BC if it is of reasonable quality. The Zeagles are all good quality. Just look at the abuse the rental BC's get and they last for years. Even then, they are faded and a little ragged around the edges but are still functional. I have a used jacket BC from somewhere around 1984, while a little worn it is still OK to use. If I were buying only one BC knowing what I know now, I would get the escape, just because of the better intergrated weights. My dives vary a lot in weight requirements, if all my diving was warm water, then I would get the Scout.