BC's with "Elevator" Lever

[zen_man]

That's easy,
Because 99.9% of the new divers out there have been trained using elevator jackets and that's what they're familiar with. It has nothing to do with BP/W's sucking or not sucking, it's just a matter of what the dive shop can rent quickly with the least hassle. Dive shops also get huge incentives from the manufacturers to load up their rental fleets with whatever the BC of the year is.
With BP/W or minimalist packpack set up there is a personal fitting aspect to the rig which makes it a PITA for dive shops to deal with who just want to get the customer on his/her way. There is also somewhat of a learning curve with BP/W and generally this is fulfilled by some type of mentoring dive buddy or club that's into this style of diving.

I fully agree with this.

And just to add, not all manufactures, but quite a few of the large ones will push a shop to move their product. Some will actually complain if you aren't moving the amount of their product they are expecting to try a produce more sales out of an LDS. Sad, but part of the business. Most of the companies that sell BP/Ws tend to not have this attitude toward selling their product.
I don't know if this is possibly a factor, but I just wanted to share an extra thought.

 

[mikeguerrero]

"You seldom hear of someone starting with a BP/W and going to a jacket, but you always hear of people starting with a jacket and going to a BP/W and never looking back. I wonder why that is?"

If this statement is correct you are not referring to the i3, you are clearly talking exactly what your statement says Jacket to BP/W. I have used many different types of BCD's and would tell you I found the majority of them not to my taste.

I own the i3 and like I posted earlier would not convert to the BP/W. Now if I was with a BCD with corrugated hose then the possibility is much higher for my conversion.

Like Vixtor mentioned, this is not about BCD vs BP/w, this is about the i3 technology and that is why I purchased it.

I too during training hated the fact that under Monterey diving conditions I was litterally over whelmed with applying my training from a crystal clear pool.

I would confuse the corrugated hose with my snorkel and dump the air when I wanted to inflate my BC; so what was the solution for me?

Well, you guys all know that I became intrigued, read a lot about the i3 and then made an informed decision to purchase.

Every diver that attacked the i3 including the dive shops/instructors had nothing but negative remarks for this BC; and yet they had never ever dove one, so what gives?

I read the reviews from independant divers that gave it great reviews under the class in which it competed, BCD's.

I went for it and haven't been happier in diving; I'm able to make ascents and descents flawless and I have fallen more in love with diving.

I have mastered my bouyancy and can take great pictures and video with my underwater camera.

I have several video scenes of me under Monterey waters showing how easy the unit dumps or inflates air at a simple touch.

View the video and tell me what you think? I've seen so many new divers lose their bouyancy including me when I was on the corrugated back inflate BC.

This thread is about endorsing your experience with the i3 not about endorsing something that you have not experienced, so please try to be objective, we learn better from non subjective views in the diving industry.

Thanks,

MG

 

[KOMPRESSOR]

mikeguerrero, you might want to fix your number of dives in your profile then. It says 0-24 dives. You must be up by several hundreds now, if I read your posts correctly.

 

[evil_xander]

...

I would confuse the corrugated hose with my snorkel and dump the air when I wanted to inflate my BC; so what was the solution for me?
...

Again, nothing to do directly with this discussion, but this is the very thing, new technology does not justify lack of skills.

If you had such problems, you should have dived more, and worked on that particular skill. This is nothing to be ashamed of, but also not something that should be ignored if you're aware of your lack of skill.

So, you're trying to say that after 100+ or so dives that you will make in the future, 'mastering' your buoyancy with i3, when you go for vacation and cannot bring the i3 or rent one in the location, you're pretty much screwed as you can't dive a regular jacket or back inflate BCD? Nice concept for a competent diver...

 

[zen_man]

This thread is about endorsing your experience with the i3 not about endorsing something that you have not experienced, so please try to be objective, we learn better from non subjective views in the diving industry.

Mike,

This thread is NOT about endorsing your experience with the i3. Go back and read post #1. Bracdiver states that the technology in the BC with using the inflator for ascending and descending goes against what he was taught in his OW class. He quoted it from an ad for the BCD he saw.

Remember being objective does work both ways. I know you like your i3, but understand that there are a lot of experienced and seasoned divers here that have seen things like this come and go and all the questions and concerns that I have seen posted here are valid ones. I don't think anyone is trying to flame you.

Diving is very enjoyable, yet unforgiving when something goes wrong. We are putting ourselves into an environment we were not naturally designed to be in. So, I try to factor in the worst case scenarios and the "what if" as much as possible and plan the best I can for me AND my buddy. I want the odds as close as I can get them in my favor as well as others diving with me.

Just my 2 psi.

:zen:

 

[MikeFerrara]

View the video and tell me what you think? I've seen so many new divers lose their bouyancy including me when I was on the corrugated back inflate BC.

I don't think we can blame the hose for that.

This thread is about endorsing your experience with the i3 not about endorsing something that you have not experienced, so please try to be objective, we learn better from non subjective views in the diving industry.

Thanks,

MG

I'll give you some reasons why I haven't tried it and have no intention of trying it.

Any piece of dive gear should be considered in the context of the overall system and procedures it will be expected to function in.

When I dive my arms are usually out in front of me and I'm horrizontal. My depth, time and direction guages are on my wrist where I can see them. I can see them even if my hands are busy, holding lights, deploying a lift bag or running a line. My BC inflator, including the oral inflator is right up near my head and hands where I need it and can get it without much change in position. Again, I can easily use it when I'm doing other things with my hands. Should a valve freeze ot stick, the connection is where I can get two hands on it to get it disconnected quickly. We could go into other emergency procedures here too but I think you get the idea.

I don't need dump valves all over the place or the cables used to oporate them. Since I don't need them, each extra valve is just a potential place to develop a leak or some other problem.

Parts or replacement inflator valves are inexpensive, commonly available and easy to swap out.

I have several different wings that I use for different tank configurations. While they differ in size and a few other things they all oporate the same. Whether I dive a single tank or doubles the rest of my configuration and basic procedures remain exactly the same.

So, in the context of the system and procedures that I use, they complicated procedures by putting the inflator in the wrong place and splitting off the oral inflator and complicated the mechanics with un-needed hardware. There is probably a way to get it to work acceptably well but I don't see what would be gained by going to the trouble.

 

[mrlipis]

WOW, touchy subject. Why I bought the I3. Interestingly enough the inflator valve didn't really play into my decision on making the purchase. I looked at a number of vests including the Scuba Pro that has the Inflator/Regulator. That had appeal as it eliminated an Octo hose but that concerned me more, in the event of an emergency, than anything else. I would think there is a similar thread bashing that vest as well.

I looked at features, benefits and comfort. In the end I decided on the Sea Quest.

Now I only have 35 dives under my vest but can attest to the following.

The valve is very efficient and easy to trim, with the ability to put small bursts of air into the BC. Bouancy control is very easy for me. My arms are at my side when I swim and the valve is very accesible. I have inflated my BC at the surface with the mouth piece and it is very easy. I have dumped air on ascent with the inflator hose ( arms over head and inflator hose extended)
The octo pocket is simple and easy to use. Someone posted that once under pressure you couldn't bend the air hose. Not true. Piece of cake and I have never had the hose become dislodged during a dive. Not sure what the big deal is here. The valve has two functions, AIR IN and AIR OUT and it has never failed me.

The vest has many nice features. One of the pockets has grommets that the sheath of my dive knife screws into. The knife sits conveniently on my left side. Very clean weight system. A variety of trim pockets. Lots of D rings. I have no reservations about my decision.

As a new diver I may not be the best testimonial but this is my two cents. BTW, I never did see the marketing from Sea Quest (elevator up and down) but that really is a poor and dangerous description for descending and ascending.

One last note, I make sure my buddy understands my vest prior to diving. I make them inflate and deflate the vest a number of times up to and including the valve on the left shoulder.

19 days and counting to a week on the CEX1 in the Bahamas.

Time to open presents and see if my Wife found my wish list at the LDS.

Merry Christmas All

Bruce

 

[MikeFerrara]

The octo pocket is simple and easy to use. Someone posted that once under pressure you couldn't bend the air hose. Not true. Piece of cake and I have never had the hose become dislodged during a dive. Not sure what the big deal is here. The valve has two functions, AIR IN and AIR OUT and it has never failed me.

So much of this depends on how you and those you dive with dive. I'd never put an octo in a pocket. I donate the reg from my mouth and my backup is on a necklace right under my chin.

The vest has many nice features. One of the pockets has grommets that the sheath of my dive knife screws into. The knife sits conveniently on my left side. Very clean weight system. A variety of trim pockets. Lots of D rings. I have no reservations about my decision.

I wear my knife on my belt just left of center where I can get it with either hand.

My back plate and tanks are a key part of my balast and in lots of conditions I don't need more than that. If I do, I use a weight belt, chanel weights or v-weights with no real need for trim pouches.

Lots of d-rings? Some of my diving involves carrying three lights, several spools or reels and I sometimes transport a whole bunch of extra tanks. I still only have three d-rings. Most bc manufacturers manage to put every single d-ring in a spot that I find useless no matter how many they put on. LOL

As a new diver I may not be the best testimonial but this is my two cents.

I guess you should dive what you like. I found out what I like by diving with lots of different equipment that I didn't like.

BTW, I never did see the marketing from Sea Quest (elevator up and down) but that really is a poor and dangerous description for descending and ascending.

You would think that someone at aqualung would know enough about diving to understand how rediculous that ad is.

 

[markrovner]

The BP/W tech macho crowd remind me of Hummer drivers -- are they compensating for something, perhaps?

I have yet to dive with my new ProQDi but i sure love the way it fits. And here for the record is an excerpt from the ScubaDiving magazine review:

"Pretty near perfect" is how one test diver described the new Pro QD i3, which received the highest scores from test divers in this BC test. From contoured shoulders to swiveling buckles to the efficient SureLock integrated-weight system, there are a lot of nice features on this new BC but none more noteworthy than the new i3 integrated inflate/deflate system. It replaces the traditional corrugated inflater hose with an inflate/deflate lever that is conveniently located on the left lobe of the BC, where your hand can find it every time. To vent air, internal push rods mechanically open both the right shoulder and lower rear deflate valves simultaneously, and in our tests, we were able to empty the BC in seconds during both feet-first and head-first descents.​

I have no expectations that this will affect the many condemnations by the backplate Taliban, but I hope it inspires you to do your troll thing on another discussion string.

Merry xmas!

 

[MikeFerrara]

The BP/W tech macho crowd remind me of Hummer drivers -- are they compensating for something, perhaps?

Actually it's pretty much the opposite. If you take a good look, most "tech" gear (if you want to clasify things that way) is really simple, functional and modular. That makes it easy to have what you need and only what you need for whatever dive you're doing without making any real changes to the way the whole thing works.

I have no expectations that this will affect the many condemnations by the backplate Taliban, but I hope it inspires you to do your troll thing on another discussion string.

Merry xmas!

Since you didn't seem to offer any real content, I wouldn't expect it to affect much of anything. To use terms like "Taliban" and "Big mouth, teeny weeny" towards others as you accuse them of being a troll and suggesting that they take their discussion to another thread seems hypocritical in the extreme and in very poor taste.

Why all the personal attacks? Are you trying to compensate for something?