Air Trim vs. Hose

[Eat my Bubbles]

Well, I am heading out to buy my first gear, and since I have logged over 30 dives, i know I am going to be serious and as such want to buy equiptment that I will be happy with for the next 10 or so years. Equiptment is limited up here, so I have to get most stuff over the internet. I am hung up over BCDs though. I like the idea of the air trim BCD, but cant find much user info on the internet, like how it works. If Anybody has ever used an airtrim and wouldn't mind giving me some information and preferences/dislikes about them I would extremely grateful!
-thanks for your help!
-bubbles

 

[SBP Studios]

From someone who went through this recently if I have it to do over again im going to get one of the MARES Dragons with the Air trim. I have to admit I was a bit jealous of the guy who had one last time I went diving.

He raved about it too. Its pretty sweet.

 

[spectrum]

I did see one at the LDS and I didn't really care for the feel of the big plastic buttons.

I did see a recent post where it was appealing to a diver with a limited range of motion. Beyond that I think Mares got carried a way again. I think it's interesting that on the website they don't list the Airtrim with their mainstream BC. Rather it's burried in the LAB section with the infamous HUB.

I'd steer clear. The limited streamling it provides is insignificant so don't even go there.

Pete

 

[wreckchick]

Here's a note on the Airtrim system... if your air supply is cut off, you can't DEFLATE the bc either.

Had one, hated it, ditched it, drank the Kool-aid. I'm pretty happy now

Rachel

 

[Phil Mintz]

Here's a note on the Airtrim system... if your air supply is cut off, you can't DEFLATE the bc either.

Had one, hated it, ditched it, drank the Kool-aid. I'm pretty happy now

Rachel

I am no equipment expert, but the previous two posters are incorrect. Airtrim BC's do have a pull dump valve as a back up and in the BC section of our website both the Dragon AT and Vector 1000 AT are listed. The Mares Lab section is the place we list the technical features for all our products when someone is looking for additonal information.

I would suggest you try it and see for yourself as many who use it seem to like it.

Regards,

Phil

 

[SteveAD]

Hmmmm.... the only positive comment comes from a mares employee. put me down as another tried it and was highly unimpressed. it struck me as an idea that was different for the sake of being different rather than better.

 

[Phil Mintz]

Hmmmm.... the only positive comment comes from a mares employee. put me down as another tried it and was highly unimpressed. it struck me as an idea that was different for the sake of being different rather than better.

I think scrapdizzy had the positive comment, mine was more towards try it and see for yourself. I typically do not post on whether a product is good or not, that is for the user to decide, but I did want to correct the error in the post on dump valve and our website listing.

In the end the consumer decides and Airtrim is not for all, but many do like it. It is also nice that other companies are now trying to imitate this system.

Regards,

Phil

 

[Luc Dupas]

I have a few colleagues with a Mares BCD with Airtrim and they are utterly enthousiastic about it! No matter in what position you are, just hit that single deflate button and the system automatically opens the proper valve and deflates your BCD... quite handy and especially very handy for disabled divers. 2nd half of october I was on a dive trip in the Red Sea with of group of 9 disabled divers and really, being a buddy of such a diver makes life extremely easy underwater when you have to operate their BCD as well.
Personally, for myself I would not purchase an Airtrim system since I like to keep things simple and the more things you add, the more things can break at the wrong moment, so for the time being I myself stick to the classical inflator and corrugated hose and manual dump valves, etc.

 

[Fordan]

I did see one at the LDS and I didn't really care for the feel of the big plastic buttons.

eh. The buttons seem fine to me. I thought they were a bit oversized until I took my BC into waters where I needed decently thick gloves, then they seemed appropriately sized. Oddest thing for me is that the top button inflates, and the front button deflates.

I did see a recent post where it was appealing to a diver with a limited range of motion.

That was probably me. I love the airtrim; it makes diving a lot more comfortable for me, and I'm focusing less on the mechanics of diving and can spend more time enjoying myself and working on the more subtle aspects of buoyancy control.

Having said that, if I didn't have a limited range of motion in my left shoulder, would I still have bought it? Not sure. There's definately a strong arguement for everyone having similar equipment, so that there's no question that you know how to operate your buddy's gear. Since I don't have a permanent buddy, I'm going to be explaining the airtrim a lot. If I'm ever in the situation where I need rescue, anyone attempting to help is going to be challenged when trying to inflate my BC. Manually inflating the BC isn't too bad (there's a tube that pokes out of the left pocket that you extend and blow into), but again, it's different.

Here's a note on the Airtrim system... if your air supply is cut off, you can't DEFLATE the bc either.

As the Mares rep pointed out, there is a manual dump (on my Dragon AT, it's on the right shoulder). Huge issue? Hmm. If the pressure I heard it stops working at is correct (100psi or so), your regulator is going to be having issues as well (or will shortly), and you're either on an alternate air source like a buddy's octopus or pony, or you're doing an emergency ascent. Only having 1 of the 2 ways to dump air from the BC during an emergency ascent isn't great, but I know I use both methods of dumping air regularly when I dive, so it shouldn't be too unnatural.

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

I have a Mares Dragonfly air trim. I've had for about 5 or 6 years and love it.
The air trim is so much easier than a inflator hose. There are 2 pull dump valves to manually deflate it and an oral inflate hose in case the air trim fails (never has)