Anyone here that has tried out SUBEA brand by decathlon or has seen its BCD firsthand?

[Harshit Bajpai]

Hi
Go for it.
As Emoreira said, this is from Decathlon which is a major outdoor company with a lot of shops in plenty of countries.
And I am sure all the bcd from the "diving brands" are from the same 3 or 4 factories.
In India, it may be the most "make sense" choice.
But of course, personally I would go for a BP

We too have lots of stores in India as well and several outlets have opened up in India as well and have established themselves as a reliable brand in just a few years. I have bought general sports items such as jackets, hiking shoes, etc and they have all been fantastic so far. They generally have pretty good reviews but I have never bought Scuba gear from them.

Anyway, I have placed the order as they had a fantastic 90 days return policy. I do have a holiday coming up but I am not sure if I will be able to go diving considering the lockdown alerts here. Will post an update if I do about my impressions.

Any particular things that you might advise I should look for when the BCD arrives to check its quality?

 

[Harshit Bajpai]

It’s probably OK for a while. I’m sure it works.
The problem might be that for that price it’s not going to be any high end or even moderate end BC, it’s going to be barely marginal in quality as far as thickness of material, stitching, clips, plastic components, etc.
This is something that is the very bottom and like I say, it probably works OK, but don’t expect long term durability. It’s for very lightweight diving in tropics. Don’t expect to use big tanks and a lot of ballast. I have no idea where you plan to dive but if it’s warm water with benign conditions then go for it, even if it falls apart in a few years your’re not in it that much.
If you plan to do a lot of diving and progress into more challenging stuff then I’d skip it and go straight to an basic Back Plate and Wing unit which if you look around can be had for not too much more than that jacket.
Search Dive Gear Express website. They have a basic BP/W for under $400 and it would last many years. There are no frills though, if you want frills then you’ll be back to a jacket.

Most of the diving will be in Asian waters (Andamans sea, Indonesia - Raja Ampat and probably Japan)

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Most of the diving will be in Asian waters (Andamans sea, Indonesia - Raja Ampat and probably Japan)

Cool!
Give us a report about it when you get back.
Cheers!

 

[Cdncoldwater]

I´m astonished that you can measure the nylon thickness with only a pic. I've worked with many main line BCD brands and models and they all have a lot of plastic.
Decathlon is an European sport gear company and very rarely seen in America unless you travel to Europe and buy sport gear.
I bought several items, not only scuba gear, shoes, jackets, etc. Several co-workers also bought items there and all of them are also happy with the quality and durability of the Decathlon and related brands products. Decathlon is a "must go" shop if you travel to Europe. I know that Decathlon buys white label items and apply their brand, but quality and durability is part of the specifications when buying wholesale white label products. Just like any major brand in America.

I got the nylon thickness from the description, which listed "400d". If they rebrand then are they getting industry seconds or a comparable product and can you cost compare to the original manufacturer? As you stated it is not a known brand in North America so yes we will compare it to what we know. For example SEAC also European, has a full spectrum of scuba products and is known internationally and hence more people to have experience with their equipment. I see that this has 2 years of warranty so it may be a place to start if you're already familiar with the company.

 

[jale]

We too have lots of stores in India as well and several outlets have opened up in India as well and have established themselves as a reliable brand in just a few years. I have bought general sports items such as jackets, hiking shoes, etc and they have all been fantastic so far. They generally have pretty good reviews but I have never bought Scuba gear from them.

Anyway, I have placed the order as they had a fantastic 90 days return policy. I do have a holiday coming up but I am not sure if I will be able to go diving considering the lockdown alerts here. Will post an update if I do about my impressions.

Any particular things that you might advise I should look for when the BCD arrives to check its quality?

Just check the bcd in detail. Inflate it and leave it like that overnight. in the morning it should not have changed

 

[emoreira]

I bought several years ago (2010) a Travel BCD from Divers-Supply own brand SeaElite.
When I've got it everyone that saw it told me that I've done a horrible purchase. It's too thin, no backpack, unknown brand and so on.
It was one of the best purchases I did. It has more than 300 dives and it's still in perfect shape.

 

[Belzelbub]

It doesn’t look terrible, but I’m not familiar with the brand. I’d prefer the back inflate version, which doesn’t appear to be available on the US link.

Not sure if you can see this in person to compare to the SEAC you mentioned. If you can, do that and compare the materials. The price in the US link is very inexpensive. So much so that it probably wouldn’t hurt to buy it and try, but I have no idea if the Indian version is as inexpensive.

A couple things to think about.
Inflator and hose looks to be a standard version, which is good. As long as the connections aren’t proprietary, then it’s easy to replace with another if needed.
Weight pockets look like they are proprietary, but this is also true with most other brands of weight integrated BCs. They look the same as the US version, so that might mean good availability. Check to see if you can get replacements if needed.

 

[arbby]

Your questions are being answered by those in America so not surprised by them not knowing the brand.

Decathlon is a massive sports chain in Europe - you can't go hiking in France without every second person wearing something of theirs.

Subea will just be their in-house scuba brand. I've no experience of it but if like their other stuff it will be decent quality for lower or middle quality.

 

[Harshit Bajpai]

Cool!
Give us a report about it when you get back.
Cheers!

I just came back from a dive trip after using this.

From my recreational and a less experienced diver (30 dives only) POV, it worked great for me. It was very comfortable, had lots of rings and clips to attach things, size was a great fit as well. Upon inflating it fully, it wasn't pushing me forward that much even when I had weights clipped on the back of the cylinder. It has two weight pockets on either side and two small pockets on the cylinder strap which helped me to distribute the weight evenly. Also, it comes with another big packet to keep a backup mask as well. I felt great with it underwater as well and was able to move my hand freely and adjust my straps and/or re-attach anything that was dangling inside the water.

From 2-3 instructors POVs who were on the boat, it looked really well made for recreational diving and the quality felt good as well. For taking classes back inflation might not be the top choice but it looked good enough to stay on the surface comfortably as well. The lack of available sizes was the only issue that was pointed out. I bought the smallest one. Me being 5'9 and slightly chubby, it fit well but for most of the other guys, it was too big and there is a no smaller size available (at least on India store). Although, some of the instructors were interested in buying this in wholesale in 10-15 units for rental purposes for their shop as it is quite cheap and does what it says.

Overall, considering the price point, it's an amazing deal and there is no other brand that provides this kind of BCD at such a low price with no cuts on the quality front.

 

[Harshit Bajpai]

I bought several years ago (2010) a Travel BCD from Divers-Supply own brand SeaElite.
When I've got it everyone that saw it told me that I've done a horrible purchase. It's too thin, no backpack, unknown brand and so on.
It was one of the best purchases I did. It has more than 300 dives and it's still in perfect shape.

Thank you for your comments earlier. I bought it and used it. It was great