Entry BCD

[The Chairman]

I first dove the Zeagle Express Tech back in 2009. Thousands of dives later and it's still my first choice: Zeagle's Express Tech: The first and last BC most will ever need (or want)

 

[Painter]

If you should choose to go with a regular jacket style, I would recommend a Cressi Aquaride. It was the first BCD I bought and have been happy with it for years. It is relatively light and packs well, but is suitable for cold water, too.

 

[MrBlenny]

I think your best option is a backplate & wing configuration. You buy one with stainless steel plate for the cold water, and get an additional aluminum plate for travel.

What brand? Doesn't really matter, whatever appeals to you in terms of colors and price. Most are very similar anyway, just avoid the ones with too many bells and whistles.

I'd start with DGX's basic setup (divegearexpress.com) as a good combination of price and quality: the simplest Hogartian harness, doughnut wing, and whatever combination of plates. You can also buy the second plate anywhere else.

Have a look here for example: DGX Custom - DGX Gears Singles Harness / Backplate / Wing Package

Even if you buy somewhere elese you can it as a reference which things to look for in your rig.

For travel I went with the softpack version of this and have been quite happy with it. For cold water I dive an Apeks WTX-D40 with steel plates and have no complaints. I second Jai Bar's comments about avoiding bells and whistles.

 

[xanaphyst]

As a new diver myself I'm recently wading through all the options. What I am quickly learning is that the scuba industry is very heavy advertising and full of unrequired fluff and feathers. Get a simple back plate and wing. That will prevent you from doing exactly that in one year from now.

 

[Nemrod]

I really cannot stand metal plates of any sort, especially metal bent doubles plates with single tank adapters (STA. They are okay in heavy exposure protection but toting around a metal plate for travel is just too much weight, too much room in the bag and just not comfortable. and they can pinch flat the wing or your skin. I prefer a soft plate for tropical and warm water. Ultimately, cold fresh water local diving is sufficiently different from the needs of warm water travel diving that two kits are ideal, each optimized for the particular mission.

 

[andersorp]

I've only been diving for a year but went with a back plate and wing and very happy with it compared to a jacket.

 

[went_postal]

Just some noob commentary here....

So I was recently going through this dilemma myself and wound up getting the Hydros Pro. Were I to have any complaint about it... just not enough D Rings.

I had SEVERAL people recommend backplate and wings. I've also dove with the BP/W and I did like the "freedom" of movement.

My overall concern though... Sure they are simple but they also give a ton of flexibility on how you can configure them. That sounds great for someone that knows EXACTLY what they want to do... but more options tends to be more confusing for people that are new to something (I say this as someone who does tech support for a living and see customers run into this time and time again. They want to hit the Advanced button and turn all the knobs... and it often runs them into problems).

For myself I was weighing being able to trick something out on my own not knowing what I would really want long term to something that pretty much just works out of the box. My ultimate decision was that the Hydros was not an "entry"/ throwaway BC and would work well as a goto BC for a lot of what I want to do in regards to diving.

I will say that one thing a LOT of people told me was that for traveling the BP/W will dry out MUCH faster than most "jacket" BCs and so then you aren't traveling home with wet gear. I guess that may depend on how much time is between when you come out of the water and when you head home. I had my Hydros out of the water and fully rinsed (inside and out) and it was dry within 8 hours. That doesn't seem unreasonable to me. But... like I said... I'm a noob.

 

[Jai Bar]

My overall concern though... Sure thiey are simple but they also give a ton of flexibility on how you can configure them. That sounds great for someone that knows EXACTLY what they want to do... but more options tends to be more confusing for people that are new to something

Nope, you are overthinking it. A BP&W is the most simple rig, you don't get confused and should know exactly what you want to do: dive.

You are a noob, hence probably diving a single tank. There you go, you need a backplate and a wings suitable for single tank. That's all, a simple single tank rig.

In the future you may decide you want doubles or something else? You can use same harness and plate, just change to different wing. Unlike a traditional bcd you can use today a doubles wing, tomorrow the singles. This is because the rig is modular, you can swap stuff as much as you like, from different vendors/manufacturers, whstever you like. Start with the most simple setup, in the future you can add or replace anything. Don't see the problem here.

 

[mcohen1021]

Yall still responding and the OP has been MIA since his 1st and only post.

 

[divingmb]

Yall still responding and the OP has been MIA since his 1st and only post.

After 10 years of diving, they can come back and appreciate all of the useful advice they could have had.

The universe hears even if the OP doesn't.