5 Tips For Choosing Your First BCD

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scubateena A new article has been posted

5 Tips For Choosing Your First BCD

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Continue reading the Original Article.
 
Leaves a lot to be desired information wise and point 1 is only partly true. If you have to pay more you are getting ripped off.

Point 2 is simply wrong. Underwater padding is not necessary. On the surface if you need to carry your gear far you break it down and make several trips.

Point 3 is screaming for clarification. Most divers need 3 D rings. 4 is nice. More important is being able to place them where you need to. Not where the mfg thinks they should be.

Back inflates will push people forward due to improper weighting and weight distribution. Not because of what they are designed to do.

Point 5 is actually spot on correct.
 
I can wholeheartedly agree with point 5; there others, not so much. Point 1 is correct for jacket style BD's because of the design and a woman's anatomy, but it should not cost any more than a comparable man's version. For back-inflate harness style BC's, there isn't any difference as nothing crosses the chest except a sternum strap. Regarding point 2, I agree that a little padding is necessary if only to protect your wetsuit or drysuit. The edges of the webbing can easily damage these items. Excessive padding makes the diver more buoyant and thus requires more weight.
Point 3 is less about D-rings than about hanging equipment from them. I agree with Jim Lapenta that most divers need three or four d-rings for carrying things like cameras, back-up lights and stage bottles. A BRW setup allows the diver to place the D-rings in the right spot for them. What really gets me, however, is the diver who thinks he or she has to carry every accessory they own on every dive. Some of these look like walking Christmas trees and I am amazed they are able to get to the back of the boat. An experienced diver takes only what is needed for the dive.
Finally, the old canard about back inflation versus jacket style regarding attitude on the surface. The simple fact is that no BC is designed to support a diver face up on the surface. Look at the warning label on your BC! All BC's are unstable when fully inflated. Jacket BC's will roll you sideways and back inflation styles will pitch you forward. All that is needed is enough air in the bladder to float you comfortably. Any more than that is a problem. When I see a student struggling on the surface, I have them let some air out of the jacket and lean back. That usually solves the problem quickly.
 
well the floodgates opened, so here we go.

1 is complete garbage because the simple harnesses on a backplate work insanely well to conform to lady curves... without a chest strap the straps go outside of their chest, come down at the narrow part of their waist, and then fit whatever hip size they have. The crotch strap removes any possibility of the waist strap riding up on their hips, so no need to buy some special lady bcd

2 is also a load of garbage because you hang below the bc in most circumstances, and you don't need any extra padding because you're wearing a wetsuit most of the time. If you aren't, then yeah a backplate pad is nice, but certainly not necessary.

3. you NEED 3 drings for most all types of diving. you NEED 4 drings if you are using a dpv or are clipping stuff off *front crotch vs back crotch*. You need 5 d-rings if you're doing technical diving where you need the right shoulder for light clipping and primary regulator clipping, left hip/shoulder for SPG and stage bottles, front crotch for DPV, and rear crotch for things like reels and what not. You can put a 6th d-ring on the right hip if you put stage/deco bottles over on that side or want it for temporary storage. Anything more than 5/6 is completely unnecessary in any backmoutn circumstance. Sidemount will sometimes have 2 additional d-rings on the shoulders so you can have a low d-ring for cylinder attachment, and a normal height d-ring for everything else, but that is extenuating circumstances.

4. as mentioned is completely wrong and a function of people that don't know what they are doing loading too much weight on the belt, typically too far forward on the diver. If you are weighted properly, you can chill out at the surface with no problem.

5. isn't really a tip, just a generic statement. Yes, good divers should be able to dive any rig without any problems, however that doesn't fix the fact that a small woman diving a big steel tank in a 7mm wetsuit may not have enough lift in her jacket bc because the amount of lift they have is typically set by the size of the rig, or the big guy diving an al80 without a wetsuit with a 50+lb lift jacket bc.
 
Coming from a super noob and his super noob wife thanks for the article scubateena. it hit alot of good points that the wife and I just experienced. we both just got certified & we both had fit issues with the learning/rental gear. none of the gear( we tried many gear combos) felt like it was just right the entire training period for either of us. it felt like we were fighting our gear. i run into fit issues with my clothing frequently being 6'4 and the wife runs into fit issues too because she is very chesty. after searching a few local dive shops and trying on various bcds we finally found ones that just "fit" right. usually, for me anyway, when something fits & feels right...it is right and i buy it. one day i'll stop wearin my new bcd around the house.

ps: it has 6 d-rings

have fun
 
1 is complete garbage because the simple harnesses on a backplate work insanely well to conform to lady curves... without a chest strap the straps go outside of their chest, come down at the narrow part of their waist, and then fit whatever hip size they have. The crotch strap removes any possibility of the waist strap riding up on their hips, so no need to buy some special lady bcd

Even in a bp/w setup, lady curves are an important consideration! If a guy wants to move his backplate farther down on his back, he can shorten his crotch strap and put the waistband around his hips. A woman with larger hips and a smaller waist can't do that. I ended needing to buy a smaller backplate despite all the guys telling me that a standard size would fit just fine. Even on something as infinitely adjustable as a simple backplate and harness, fit matters, and it can be more of a challenge for women.

I'm still wondering about that picture though...
 
What is this picture an example of?
She does look very overweight, but I do like the ears on her hood!
 

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