Equipment Trends: The BCD

[Eric Sedletzky]

I see a few more BP/wing style rigs than I used to but a "trend" no not at all. It may be a trend among the more serious diver population but even there they rare. But, most definitely I see some influence on the manufactures in developing "tech styled" gear that is still way too fluffy and over done.

I think the BP/wing is part of an overall developing trend to minimalism, again mostly among the more serious diver population. Minimalism being the thinking, I hate to say philosophy, but the reason that drives equipment selection such as the type of plates, BCs and whatnot the diver chooses.

N

Well like RJP said, out of 30 divers on a boat we used to see one BP/W...maybe. Now we might see two, so that's a 100% increase.
The problem with diving is it's so small that there's not enough demand to drive competition.
There's no money in minimalism.

 

[boulderjohn]

Not uncommon, but that mix of vendors seems odd. I know that Aqualung will make a deal with a store that all their instructors teach in aqualung gear. I don't know what the store gets out of that, but I assume it is significant. However anything from the Aqualung extended family complies with that, so you could teach in apeks bp/w if you wanted. The regional rep could also make exception for people.I've assumed other vendors do that too.

You missed the point. The shop did indeed sell Apeks, and if you wanted to purchase an Apeks BP/W, you could. I used all kinds of Apeks equipment purchased through the shop.

But that was not what they wanted. As an instructor, I could purchase and wear all the Apeks stuff I wanted in my personal diving, but when I was with students I had to wear those specific models because the more of one specific model the sold, the cheaper the price from the vendor and the greater the profit margin per item sold. I also could not tell my students what I wore in my private diving. I would have been required to lie and tell them that what I wore when instructing was what I wore when I was doing my personal dives.

 

[danvolker]

Hi Dan,

Finally, skiing is a lot simpler than scuba diving. It doesn't require a license for a start. How many learners will choose a beginner, intermediate, performance, racing ski or even the 1m version? And how many instructor would suggest anything other than beginner ski for the student?
Both skiing and scuba diving are recreational sport ie meant to enjoy

Growing up in Western NY ( ski slopes sw of Buffalo), skiing was a major sport for me growing up.
Many of the people that grew up as athletes, that were used to doing well at any sport, would begin skiing with performance skis...or at least, decent skis...The people that never were very athletic, would be far more likely to begin with skis aimed at novices, skis that were very forgiving.

I see diving as very similar....there are many people that get into diving with almost no background in sports, and this limits their sense of function in athletic gear--understanding how you can "leverage" better gear for desired performance.
Also, without the background in sports, the very idea of "performance" is quite limited.

Of course, you can become a very skilled diver with no sports background....but this does not change the issue much about aptitudes for a group of divers.

A more current example of this I like, was the learning and gear path of a friend of mine that was/is a Miami Dolphin....
Nate, a HUGE guy of around 6 foot 6, maybe 290 pounds or more....a lineman....is a PRO athlete. You might wonder how athletic you need to be to be a lineman in high school football....but at the Pro level, trust me, the guy has coordination and sports aptitude for anything physical, that's off the chart...

So Nate decides he wants to become a diver...Finds his OW1 class to be a virtual joke, and looks into finding something that actually teaches you to be a good diver....He settles with GUE fundies.
Now you may have heard that Fundies is hard for many divers, and even plenty with DM or instructor certs will often flunk Fundies....
Nate sails through this as if it was nothing....Going through fundies was profoundly easy for him...And in diving with him after, all this was immediately processed and used, as if it had been used for years.
And of course, Nate never had any interest in any gear that was not the absolute highest in performance....He knew he needed bp/wings--it was practically a priori knowledge. He ended up in Halcyon gear, and with the income of a pro football player, money for dive gear was irrelevant....Bottom line, he saw and experienced the differences between jackets and bp/wings immediately.

The point is, there are people into performance at anything they do.,..and there are people that don't care about performance.

With BC's or bp/wings, this discussion moves somewhat into this territory. And the more a non-diver hears about the fun involved in the performance aspects--and the adventures, the closer they may get to get to appreciating the performance aspects, and the more they may try to experience these aspects.

 

[Redshift]

I think the PADI IDC thread currently being discussed also sheds some light on this.

The skills in the IE seem to be easier to do and later to teach in a jacket BCD. There are people who changed their setup for the exam, and people who change their setup for teaching. How are students then going to be exposed to bp/w and choose that when they buy gear? They won't. And with experience, they will discover what they are missing and get pissed off they were led to buy a jacket.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I think we will see a steady rise in BP/W popularity. In my local branch of Diver's Supply, there is an attractive display of black and red HOG plates, and black and red harness webbing. It doesn't convey "tech diving" in the least. Good job at merchandising. I think the BP/W configuration will appeal to the kind of people who already embrace minimalism in their other activities. Minimalism is "in" and even trendy. Not just in diving.

 

[Nemrod]

There's no money in minimalism.

Probably true with current thinking. But that does not stop it from being a trend. Green is a trend, there was no money in it. Which, not being political please, is part of President Obama's thinking, to create green infrastructure such that there is money in it.

I am not linking SCUBA minimalism to being green, that was a silly example, and, anti-consumerism aside, eliminating stuff and simplifying stuff and procedures can be a trend, money aside.

The biggest trend in the 70s and 80s was integration with the goofy Mares Hub being an end evolution point (fairly recent) as an example. The three things I see pushing diving training and gear development and selection today are tech, travel and minimalism. Minimalism is not just about eliminating gear but about streamlining (not necessarily hydrodynamic) and designing for purpose and function and make it easy to use and carry and travel with.

Imagine a full set of simple and functional gear that pops into a purpose built travel case like a shadowed toolbox! Mask, fins (snorkel??) regs, BC and associated bits and pieces all packed into their place. Now get that into a carry on size piece. Buy the whole thing, you are ready to go with a rash guard and a swimsuit at many typical travel resorts.

N

 

[dberry]

New diver perspective here: At the start I had no reason to think there WAS any alternative to a jacket BCD. Period. In retrospect, I think my instructors wore bp/w rigs, but I wasn't looking at their gear closely, and they sure didn't want to confuse me.

As I start purchasing my first set of equipment I've been into 3-4 dive shops looking around. I'm not counting looking around on-line, of course. If the shops had bp/w rigs, they were hidden behind racks of jackets in most of the shops and no one brought up the subject.

I was lucky that in 1 of the shops (NESS) the instructor/salesman just said "get a bp/w, you will want one eventually anyway. Do some research." A little reading later it seems to be a no-brainer. Not that I'd necessarily hate a jacket bcd, but STARTING FROM SCRATCH, I don't see a downside.

**Big point: Crazy John sent me away from his shop until his best guy was in - the one who was best at fitting and adjusting the rig with the customer. After reading the comments here and in other threads, IMO this is worth a markup in cost over whatever I might find on-line (although his prices seem very good, as far as I can tell.)

BUT, I'm not a typical consumer (nor are most of the experienced peeps here on SB). I *like* modular design; most beginners want the "all-in-one" design with fewer choices.

The biggest complaint about bp/w I've read is the many people don't need to spend $$ to replace their (adequate) bcd. I'm sure I'd feel exactly that way if I owned a jacket bcd now. MOST rec divers are not going to invest in duplicate / redundant equipment.

So, it's like others said above: to reach the typical casual first-time buyer, KISS. (1) Sell complete buoyancy packages (plate / harness / wing + weight pockets, etc - whatever parts would equal a normal jacket bcd). (2) get someone in the shops as a bp/w expert / advocate. and (3) advertise to the first-time buyer's needs and concerns.

It's starting to snow here (again), but I'm thinking of venturing over to NESS to play around with bp/w rigs now, and maybe end up a bit poorer by the end of the day.

Of course, if I hate my bp/w once I get in the water, I'm coming back to SB to rant at all you tech bozos who pointed me this way.

-Don

 

[Centrals]

The point is, there are people into performance at anything they do.,..and there are people that don't care about performance.

With BC's or bp/wings, this discussion moves somewhat into this territory. And the more a non-diver hears about the fun involved in the performance aspects--and the adventures, the closer they may get to get to appreciating the performance aspects, and the more they may try to experience these aspects.

There are also people who are into performance but the circumstances won't allow it.
I used to ski a bit but usually 1-2 wks per yr and I have to travel far for the fun. I would love to improve but did/do not have the time and money.
For a vacation diver who done eg. less than 20 dives a yr, performance is the less concern. They want fun.
Perhaps one day when PADI introduce a OW course based solely on BP/W. Then the industry might stand up and take notice. In the mean time the idea of BP/W still require a lot of convincing, education etc.
I dive with BP/W but most of rec divers that I met still use the jacket. And I don't think I have ever came across any dive shop that use BP/W for rental purpose.

 

[demed]

...
But, most definitely I see some influence on the manufactures in developing "tech styled" gear that is still way too fluffy and over done.
...

N

interesting trends in the High Plains - elsewhere we are not so "lucky", look at Zeagle that after 20+ years of shipping tech-inspired back inflation BCDs is now introducing jacket BCDs.

 

[boulderjohn]

I spent a few days in Key Largo last week, and there was a HUGE scuba store right next to the place I was staying--Divers Direct. It was the biggest scuba-based store I had ever seen in terms of floor space. I went in and checked it out.

Not a single BP/W to be seen anywhere.