halemanō;5760653:
I have never typed or said that divers should not consider BP/W. I have been very consistent in only typing or saying that if a goodly amount of divers (IE. Vast Majority) are evidently diving just fine in Vest BC's, in similar conditions to the person asking for advise and opinions, it seems they should consider Vest BC's. Especially if they were trained in Vest and might also end up renting instead of packing their own gear in the seemingly only rising in cost air travel future.
I think that the (generally correct) presumption on the part of the "BP/W contingent" - which I am certainly part of - is that pretty much EVERY diver considers jacket/vest or "conventional" rear-inflation BCDs. How could they not? I live near two shops which maintain a pretty reasonable stock of BP/Ws and associated gear (sufficient for me to generally walk in and out with whatever I need on any given day). One of them is specifically known as a shop that caters to the technical crowd. Even in those shops, >80% of the BCs on offer are so-called "traditional" BCs. Basic OW classes are nearly exclusively taught in "traditional" BCs. Obviously you and I agree that when new divers think "BC" they're thinking of a jacket/vest.
So, just like what happens in ANY activity when somebody roots for the underdog, people tend to get passionate. I would argue that what you call "selling", "assimilation", "converting", etc. is really just people wanting to make sure that something which not a lot of people (globally, not on scubaboard) know about gets considered. Amplify again owing to the fact that the vast majority of its proponents have found through extensive shared experience that there are many benefits to the BP/W not provided to the same degree by jacket/vest (mostly by having dove - often extensively - jackets/vests prior to finding out about BP/W).
Is all of that anecdotal evidence? Sure, but there are many of us who switch back and forth between BP/W and jackets (for instructional work when required) on a regular basis. I've done the same dives on both, many times. For me, the reality is that all other things being equal, my comfort in the water is significantly higher in the BP/W, largely owing to a significantly more solid platform for my tank and a better distribution of weight for trim purposes.
So really, who care about the coefficient of drag? Most people talking about streamlining aren't talking about that anyway. What matters are the reasons that people get passionate about it. If you match their passion with defensiveness at every turn, we all lose. Why not focus instead on the positives of jacket/vest BCs as you perceive them, rather than spending so much effort trying to downplay the perceived positives of something else?
