BertStevens
Contributor
They should just post the standard Scubaboard replay...Get a BP/W!
5 Tips For Choosing Your First BCD
- Thread starter scubateena
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
No one is saying that. What is being said is to not spread MIS-information. You can do pros and cons of each all day long and that is fine.
Here is an example:
Jacket BCD - Comfy, easy, stylish, secure
BP/W - Comfy, easy, cheaper replacement parts, YOU GET ANTHRAX AND DIE, adjustable,
Well on down the road people get to where they heard their instructor one time say YOU GET ANTHRAX AND DIE and now that has been repeated enough that people take it as truth. A. It is not the truth B. Should not be used as a con for one device and a pro for another.
Here is an example:
Jacket BCD - Comfy, easy, stylish, secure
BP/W - Comfy, easy, cheaper replacement parts, YOU GET ANTHRAX AND DIE, adjustable,
Well on down the road people get to where they heard their instructor one time say YOU GET ANTHRAX AND DIE and now that has been repeated enough that people take it as truth. A. It is not the truth B. Should not be used as a con for one device and a pro for another.
tekkydiver
Contributor
- Messages
- 652
- Reaction score
- 482
Let me save the investigation work for purchasing a BCD. Purchasing a BCD is like buying a car. New ones are pricey and lose their value quickly. A sharp buyer can get a gently used one at a considerable savings. That said, there are a lot of folks who go all in for diving, buy a ton of equipment, use it for a season, maybe two, and then for one reason or another never dive again. That is the equipment you should be looking for. It is also not hard to find.
Get a Zeagle Ranger. A sharp E-Bay user can get them in good condition in the $200.00 range. If you must have something with more of a technical look, get a Poseidon BESEA, They don't come up as often on E-Bay, but they can be purchased for a fraction of the retail price. Both are functional, durable, and comfortable.
Get a Zeagle Ranger. A sharp E-Bay user can get them in good condition in the $200.00 range. If you must have something with more of a technical look, get a Poseidon BESEA, They don't come up as often on E-Bay, but they can be purchased for a fraction of the retail price. Both are functional, durable, and comfortable.
DevonDiver
N/A
1. Ladies First
[...] BCD’s designed for women make all the difference. They are fitting for our smaller shoulders, wider hips and most importantly… our chests.
Whilst not really qualified to comment upon 'ladies bits', I'd note that people of both sexes fit into a wide range of body shapes and proportions. It's important to find equipment that fits YOU. Basic harness systems seem to be a good solution for fitting all shapes and sizes.
It's also rather bizarre to talk about 'fit' in regards to jacket BCDs.... as the very nature of these designs vary in fit dependent on whether the bladder is full, or empty, of air. Back-mounted (and wing) bladders do not cause fit variation over the phases of a dive.
2. Comfort Is Everything
Comfort is a given. The BCD will be your backpack carrying a very heavy tank and if it doesn’t sit right you will only hate wearing it.
First point to note is that the rig is NOT load bearing once submerged.
---Good cushioning on the back plate is important.
Really? Sounds like you're propagating manufacturer waffle.
Here's a lady using a bare metal backplate..... to support 2x 18L cylinders, 4x AL80 cylinders AND a scooter for a standing entry.
Photo courtesy of UW Frontiers on Facebook
--- Even if you don’t have to do a shore dive where you walk with all your gear, those moments before you get in can either be utter bliss or sheer pain if your BCD is pushing into your lower back.
If a single tank is causing "sheer pain" when carried briefly - it's down to pathetic backplate design that insufficiently supports a trivial load. Compensating for bad design by adding masses of padding is...... very stupid.
Other than good back support wearing integrated weight pockets can help. By shifting the weight from your belt to your BCD you take immense pressure off your hips and back. If you are someone who uses a significant amount of weight then this is particularly important.
In what way does shifting weight from a belt to integrated pockets take "immense pressure" off the hips and back?
Physically, carrying weight on the hips (belt) rather than shoulders (integrated) is far less strain. Just ask anyone who's served in the military or done some serious hiking....
3. Lord of D-Rings
Something you probably did not pay attention to when you were completing your open water course were those D-rings on your shoulder straps and pockets. These are of vital importance to dive instructors but they are also important to novice divers. Soon you might get into underwater photography and will need to securely attach your expensive camera somewhere safe. Maybe you love night diving and need to safely secure your back up light.
Again, this is merely an unquestioning regurgitation of disingenuous manufacturer blurb. Many diving courses, even at recreational level, caution divers against 'danglies' (masses of unrestrained equipment dangling from a plethora of superfluous D-rings). These pose a hazard of entanglement, increase task loading and also reduce streamlining.
The fact of the matter is you will eventually get a new gadget, and will want to make sure that it can be attached to your BCD so that you won’t lose anything and can stay streamlined.
As mentioned.... in what way does clipping numerous 'danglies' to a multitude of D-rings help you "stay streamlined".
Better advice would be to counsel divers to choose a BCD that has easily accessible and ample POCKETS. Or better still, put thigh pockets onto their exposure protection. Those pockets should have attachment points inside... to which items can be secured.
Where the D-rings are placed is also something to be aware of.
Better still, choose a more flexible system that lets YOU designate and decide exactly where YOU want your D-rings to be located.
In some cases there are too few D-rings
See that photo of the lady diver carrying 6 full cylinders and a scooter... in full technical kit?
She has only 5 D-rings.
Nobody needs more than 5-6 D-rings... not even for expeditionary cave diving or even world depth record attempts....
4. Wings Or No Wings?
Chances are you used a jacket-style BCD for your first dives. The other style is what they call a wing BCD. They work just like the name suggests – like wings.
In that they cause a pressure differential above/below the wing, thus creating a lift effect? Because that's how wings work.....
When you are at the surface instead of floating comfortably it will usually push you forward.
As others have said.... an utter crock.
Being 'pushed forwards' is neither usual or acceptable. It stems from operator-error, not an equipment or design fault.
The reason for this is when you are diving the wing style is designed so you hang effortlessly.
All BCDs should be designed to have a similar effect.... and all can be dived that way. When they aren't, it's down to individual human factors... i..e bad training, low experience, over-weighting etc...
These factors are generally illustrated in examples like that posted by the OP (below)...... where training has created an instinctive response to go vertical and/or bad equipment set-up has promoted feet-down 'non-trim'....
5. Gear Isn't Everything
With either a wing or a jacket style BCD nothing can beat experience when it comes to being a good diver.
Experience can be good or bad. As the photo (above) demonstrates.... bad habits can become insidiously foundational and instinctive if that's how you were trained.... and nothing was ever remedied thereafter.
As the famous sporting quote goes.... "Practice does NOT make perfect. Only PERFECT practice makes perfect".
The wing BCD won’t make you a better diver just because of its design.
If something is easier, simpler, or more intuitive to operate, it demands less skill to achieve relative results.
Whilst 'diver skill' remains a constant in different equipment, the results are not necessarily a constant.
When you first learnt to dive you were probably slightly overweighed and this can be for several reasons.
One reason. The instructor has problems exerting effective control over multiple students, so it's easier to pin divers to the floor on their knees. Often this is necessary due to over-crowded classes. This is then not rectified beyond confined water training. It becomes a habitual approach for that instructor.
[...] BCD’s designed for women make all the difference. They are fitting for our smaller shoulders, wider hips and most importantly… our chests.
Whilst not really qualified to comment upon 'ladies bits', I'd note that people of both sexes fit into a wide range of body shapes and proportions. It's important to find equipment that fits YOU. Basic harness systems seem to be a good solution for fitting all shapes and sizes.
It's also rather bizarre to talk about 'fit' in regards to jacket BCDs.... as the very nature of these designs vary in fit dependent on whether the bladder is full, or empty, of air. Back-mounted (and wing) bladders do not cause fit variation over the phases of a dive.
2. Comfort Is Everything
Comfort is a given. The BCD will be your backpack carrying a very heavy tank and if it doesn’t sit right you will only hate wearing it.
First point to note is that the rig is NOT load bearing once submerged.
---Good cushioning on the back plate is important.
Really? Sounds like you're propagating manufacturer waffle.
Here's a lady using a bare metal backplate..... to support 2x 18L cylinders, 4x AL80 cylinders AND a scooter for a standing entry.
Photo courtesy of UW Frontiers on Facebook
--- Even if you don’t have to do a shore dive where you walk with all your gear, those moments before you get in can either be utter bliss or sheer pain if your BCD is pushing into your lower back.
If a single tank is causing "sheer pain" when carried briefly - it's down to pathetic backplate design that insufficiently supports a trivial load. Compensating for bad design by adding masses of padding is...... very stupid.
Other than good back support wearing integrated weight pockets can help. By shifting the weight from your belt to your BCD you take immense pressure off your hips and back. If you are someone who uses a significant amount of weight then this is particularly important.
In what way does shifting weight from a belt to integrated pockets take "immense pressure" off the hips and back?
Physically, carrying weight on the hips (belt) rather than shoulders (integrated) is far less strain. Just ask anyone who's served in the military or done some serious hiking....
3. Lord of D-Rings
Something you probably did not pay attention to when you were completing your open water course were those D-rings on your shoulder straps and pockets. These are of vital importance to dive instructors but they are also important to novice divers. Soon you might get into underwater photography and will need to securely attach your expensive camera somewhere safe. Maybe you love night diving and need to safely secure your back up light.
Again, this is merely an unquestioning regurgitation of disingenuous manufacturer blurb. Many diving courses, even at recreational level, caution divers against 'danglies' (masses of unrestrained equipment dangling from a plethora of superfluous D-rings). These pose a hazard of entanglement, increase task loading and also reduce streamlining.
The fact of the matter is you will eventually get a new gadget, and will want to make sure that it can be attached to your BCD so that you won’t lose anything and can stay streamlined.
As mentioned.... in what way does clipping numerous 'danglies' to a multitude of D-rings help you "stay streamlined".
Better advice would be to counsel divers to choose a BCD that has easily accessible and ample POCKETS. Or better still, put thigh pockets onto their exposure protection. Those pockets should have attachment points inside... to which items can be secured.
Where the D-rings are placed is also something to be aware of.
Better still, choose a more flexible system that lets YOU designate and decide exactly where YOU want your D-rings to be located.
In some cases there are too few D-rings
See that photo of the lady diver carrying 6 full cylinders and a scooter... in full technical kit?
She has only 5 D-rings.
Nobody needs more than 5-6 D-rings... not even for expeditionary cave diving or even world depth record attempts....
4. Wings Or No Wings?
Chances are you used a jacket-style BCD for your first dives. The other style is what they call a wing BCD. They work just like the name suggests – like wings.
In that they cause a pressure differential above/below the wing, thus creating a lift effect? Because that's how wings work.....
When you are at the surface instead of floating comfortably it will usually push you forward.
As others have said.... an utter crock.
Being 'pushed forwards' is neither usual or acceptable. It stems from operator-error, not an equipment or design fault.
The reason for this is when you are diving the wing style is designed so you hang effortlessly.
All BCDs should be designed to have a similar effect.... and all can be dived that way. When they aren't, it's down to individual human factors... i..e bad training, low experience, over-weighting etc...
These factors are generally illustrated in examples like that posted by the OP (below)...... where training has created an instinctive response to go vertical and/or bad equipment set-up has promoted feet-down 'non-trim'....
5. Gear Isn't Everything
With either a wing or a jacket style BCD nothing can beat experience when it comes to being a good diver.
Experience can be good or bad. As the photo (above) demonstrates.... bad habits can become insidiously foundational and instinctive if that's how you were trained.... and nothing was ever remedied thereafter.
As the famous sporting quote goes.... "Practice does NOT make perfect. Only PERFECT practice makes perfect".
The wing BCD won’t make you a better diver just because of its design.
If something is easier, simpler, or more intuitive to operate, it demands less skill to achieve relative results.
Whilst 'diver skill' remains a constant in different equipment, the results are not necessarily a constant.
When you first learnt to dive you were probably slightly overweighed and this can be for several reasons.
One reason. The instructor has problems exerting effective control over multiple students, so it's easier to pin divers to the floor on their knees. Often this is necessary due to over-crowded classes. This is then not rectified beyond confined water training. It becomes a habitual approach for that instructor.
LuccaTheFox
New
I agree, especially for a newbie diver being uncomfortable at the surface sounds scary. BP/W does not push you forward.
melrose
New
thanks for the brand recommendations. My son (14 years) was certified last summer. After renting equipment for several days at a time for dive trips I've decided to look for a BCD for him. He hasn't yet hit his growth spurt so I know we'll be buying a larger size in the future. In the meantime I'm looking for a good basic BCD and found a few online. some new and some barely used... but I don't know anything about them! Is there a certain brand that I should either definitely look for or stay away from? Thanks in advance!
Tip #1: Save time, money, and hassle by buying your SECOND BCD first.
Similar threads
