Balance Vs. Ocean 5 Vs. Knighthawk

[diver_forever]

im in market for BC...what should I consider between those 3 beside the price?
Im having hard time to decide...they all look almost the same.

thanks

 

[swordfish66]

1. Try them on. Look, which one fits best to your body.

2. What do you want to do with the BC? Lots of traveling (for example)? Then the 5 Oceans is great because it's lightweight.

3. Do you need a lot of pouches and D-rings? Or the other way around: How much stuff do you want to take with you when you dive? If you take lots of things with you, the 5 Oceans (for example) wouldn't be the best choice, because it's very minimalistic.

Some questions like these will help you for a decision.

 

[buff]

Purchase a backplate and wing(I'll have this engraved on my tombstone!)

You wouldn't think that a flat piece of stainless steel against your back would be comfortable, but it's the best! Add a crotch strap and you've got a super stable diving platform.

I've tried a lot of BCs and nothing beats the wing and plate.

What about the Mares Pegasus?-less expensive than the ones you have listed....back inflate, weight integrated.

 

[SangP]

Exactly, how and where you do your diving matters. Make your purchase from needs not wants. It may initially seems nice to have all the stuff like quick release weight, large pockets, multiple d rings etc, etc but after a while a lot of these features just are unnecessary & create extra bulk & drag.

If you're going to do more photography, you might want to look at traditional jackets instead of back inflates as they are easier to adjust your body position for certain shots.

My preferences when I first got my bcd:
1. Comfort (I'm tall n skinny n most bcds fit me on like a oversized tee n gets worst on the surface).
2. Easy to pack n travel with.
3. Modular n easy to repair or replace whatever gets damaged.

I ended up with a bp/w cus it is almost totally adjustable n everything on it can be replaced easily if damaged & come with a crouch strap!

For the price of the knighthawk or the ocean 5 you can also consider the zeagel scout, stiletto or express tech.
or
You can also consider a bp/w like this:
BackPlate and Wing Package reviews and discounts, Dive Rite

Cheers,

SangP

 

[Wayne at DiveSeekers]

Just like most people here, 1st choice is BP&W.

If we stay on topic, of the 3 that you are looking at, then I would go with the Knighthawk. Comfortable, great quality BC. If all you are doing is travel/warm water diving, then I would look at ScubaPro's Litehawk.

If you're going to do more photography, you might want to look at traditional jackets instead of back inflates as they are easier to adjust your body position for certain shots.

This is false, majority of all of are photographers are in Back Inflation BC's and prefer them over Jackets and have no trouble getting into different positions. If you understand Buoyancy, you will be able to get into any postion you want.

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

Just like most people here, 1st choice is BP&W.

\

Not for me, not ever.

I have a Balance and a Nighthawk. I've used the Nighthawk more but I believe the Balance is better made.

 

[The Chairman]

None of these are my favorite, (neither is a BP&Wing), but I would suggest that you try them on with a tank in place as well as the tank off. The added weight will give you more insight into how they will fit as you kit up. Fit and comfort are the most important aspects of any BCD.

 

[Quero]

I wear women's BCDs so don't have personal experience with any of these specific models. However, I very happily wear a SeaQuest/Aqualung BCD for teaching that is women's back inflate, quite similar to the Balance. Back inflates are a nice compromise between a wing and a standard jacket, I find. (I own several bp/wing combos, and a several styles of jacket.)

When I counsel my divers on gear purchases, one thing I always encourage them to think about is how widely the gear is distributed. Aqualung is a big world brand, as is ScubaPro. This is important because if you are traveling and have any issues at all, you need to be able to find dealers and repair techs. If you never stray far from home, it's not as much an issue. The Aeris is not as widespread as the other two, so if you have an inflator hose thing or any other problem, it's very hard to find repair facilities outside North America, and where they exist, there are few of them (none in Thailand, for example). Just as an example, I recently had a diver lose a weight pouch from an Aeris BCD and there was no way to replace it here.

I agree with NetDoc's recommendation to add a tank to the BCD when you are trying it on. It's also very useful to get in the pool with it, if the LDS uses the same brands for rentals as for sales. I just had a tall, skinny guy with rather broad shoulders as a student. He seemed to me to be a ScubaPro size L by looking at his torso, but even tightening the cumberbund with the clips in the back he was uncomfortable in the pool because the BCD danced around his middle too much, so we traded down to a size M. It looked a bit small just eyeballing it, given the width of his shoulders, but he was hugely happier in the water. Maybe ScubaPro isn't the best brand for him, but that's not the point... we really didn't know what would make him comfortable/uncomfortable until he was in the water with a tank on. He'll be back in July for more training, so I'll see if he's even happier in a bp/w. Up to him. That gear configuration isn't necessarily right for everybody, but it might be best for him.

 

[fl-diver]

I have had the Balance and ProQD for about 6 years now and love them. After reading about 10,000 people say get a BP/W I finally gave in and put one together.

I put everything together and setup the BP/W in the pool and then went diving on Wednesday in my ProQD. :shocked2:
To say that the BP/W is as comfortable as something like the ProQD or other similar BCD's is untrue in my opinion.

I plan to give the BP/W a few dives before I make my final decision because I will admit the trim is almost perfect with very little effort. I did make the potential mistake of going with a more complicated harness and I think that is not helping matters. I might try to rig it with a hog harness and try that setup as well.
But, I love pockets! I carry lots of stuff with me while spearfishing and lobster hunting so being streamlined is sort of out of the question.

I don't think you can go wrong with the balance. The new design with the donut bladder looks really nice as well.
Good Luck with your selection. I dive with lots of very experience divers here in South Florida including commercial spearfisherman, divemasters, etc... and I have only seen 2 or 3 BP/W setups used in the last 2 years. I doubt the pros would choose to use production BCD's if they didn't work well.