Aqualung Outlaw

[gobyrider]

Retail on this puppy is 389. The surelock weight system is 70. Mine came from Ocsc in orange, ca.

 

[stuartv]

Any updates from anyone on the Outlaw?

 

[StefinSB]

Retail on this puppy is 389. The surelock weight system is 70. Mine came from Ocsc in orange, ca.

And there is your $500 price tag @StuartVA. $389+$70+CA sales tax =$500

 

[Diving Dubai]

Boy you guys get ripped off....

Normal retail here is $385

Currently on sale here for $231. I'm just buying two for my boys (14 & 16) who will take their OW in Oct and have them as a first BCD (it's only $3 more than the entry level AL wave) Bargain

 

[george_austin]

They market this bcd to experienced divers...any reason why a beginner couldn't use it? If they buy the 25lbs lift and use it in warm waters only?

Are you comfortable doing any dives to any depth in a pack and harness with no BCD?
If you're correct in the attention to detail you pay to proper weighting and you're a confident and experienced swimmer, you'd have no problem training yourself to dive without a BCD.
I see you're in Dubai so that Outlaw may be a very nice set up for warm water beginners but do a few dozen dives with getting your weighting perfect and get used to diving without a BCD. - if you haven't done that yet.
I RARELY in fact never see beginners ( less than 300 dives in all kinds of locales and conditions) that are competent enough to dive like that but in the misty days of yore it is how everyone (and beginners) dived as the modern stuff wasn't on the market yet and people dived either without aviator floatation vests or maybe towed along an inner tube - something to use to rest on the surface if they got tired or worn out - not feeling well etc etc

 

[george_austin]

Boy you guys get ripped off....

Normal retail here is $385

Currently on sale here for $231. I'm just buying two for my boys (14 & 16) who will take their OW in Oct and have them as a first BCD (it's only $3 more than the entry level AL wave) Bargain

Very nice to see trainees being brought in orientated more toward skill dependency as opposed to equipment dependency -

 

[scubadada]

Any updates from anyone on the Outlaw?

Hi @stuartv, thanks for reminding me.

I purchased an Outlaw with the Sure Lock weight pockets and the 25 pound wing at the end of July from Boynton Beach Dive Center. Interestingly, I could not find a dive center in the Philadelphia area that had the Outlaw in stock at the time. I paid $389 for the BC, $70 for the weight pockets, with Florida sales tax it was a little less than $500. I did 35 dives over the next 12 days, a couple on the Castor, 3 in Jupiter, and the rest on the reefs of Boynton Beach and Delray. I have been diving a Scubapro Knighthawk since 2006, 1200 dives, this flavors my review of the Outlaw.

The large BC fit me well but the waist belt was too large. I ended up getting the large BC with the medium waist belt, a perfect fit with ample room for adjustment. I would suggest trying on this BC for fit prior to purchasing. The BC, shoulder straps, and waist belt all come in 3 sizes. The modular lock connectors work very well, I used a small screwdriver to remove and replace the waist belt and to attach the weight pockets.

Overall, the Outlaw is very light, sleek and comfortable and felt very secure in the water. For me, it was necessary to use the chest strap for secure fit, as the shoulder straps tended to fall to the sides without it. The Griplock tank band worked very well but I like the Scubapro version better, smoother, with a shorter throw of the handle. The Outlaw has a built in tank anti-roll system that kept the cylinder very secure, with no noticeable movement. The BC has no real back plate, the back pad is soft and reasonably flexible. For this reason, the cylinder seems to ride quite close to your back, rather than being held slightly away by some type of hard plate. For instance, my Knighthawk has a hard plastic plate. This may have contributed to my only significant complaint about the BC. Besides the Griplock tank band, there is a modestly adjustable strap for the tank neck used to secure the upper part of the BC and control the vertical placement on the cylinder. My primary regulator is DIN and I use a yoke converter for rental AL 80s in Florida. No matter how I placed the Outlaw on the tank, the 1st stage hit me in the back of the head, this never happens with my Knighthawk. If I placed the BC quite high on the tank, the problem was nearly alleviated but still occurred with maximal neck extension. I switched to a yoke 1st stage, and with proper placement of the BC, the problem is solved. This is not a fatal flaw, but for me, a nuisance.

The Sure Lock weight system worked just fine but I am not particularly fond of the design, perhaps because of my long experience with the simple Scubapro system. The Outlaw weight pockets are arranged vertically, rather than horizontally, behind the waist belt. It is modestly inconvenient loading and unloading the pockets when the tank and BC are in the rack, particularly if the racks are crowded and full with other divers. The weight pockets snap into the securing system, which is hidden inside the pocket. They seem to work fine, but I am used to being able to see that the pockets are properly secured. The pockets release with a firm pull on the handle. I have a small fear in the back of my mind that I may be able to catch the handle on something and release the weights while I am swimming horizontally and the handles are facing backwards. Perhaps this is just my paranoia. I may buy the small, non-ditchable trim weight pockets to use, as I use very little weight in warm water and a 3 mm wetsuit.

I was skeptical about the 4 larger webbed loops and the smaller daisy chain loops in place of D-rings. They actually worked just fine and gave flexible placement for attachment. There is no way to attach a SMB pocket to the rear of the BC, as I do with my Knighthawk. The BC has no pockets for storage, so, unless you have pockets on your wetsuit, all accessories must be attached to a loop, you add a pocket to the waist belt, or you wear pocket shorts. I wore pocket shorts for a few days but then just attached the few things I wanted directly to the BC. I attached my SPG to the left shoulder strap large loop, attached my SMB and spool to a waist belt loop, put my Trilobyte cutter on the waist strap, put a small knife on the inflator hose, and put my light on the right shoulder strap. I may buy a pocket to put on the waist belt at some point.

So….what’s the verdict. For me, it’s not perfect, but I think it will make a very good BC, particularly for travel and diving in warm water with a light wetsuit. I think it shows some innovative thinking by the folks at Aqua Lung. I still like my Knighthawk, too bad it’s increasingly being held together by Aqua Seal. I see another new BC in my future, maybe a BP&W .

I’d be glad to try to answer any questions. I would have attached some photos but I am in Philadelphia and the BC is in Boynton Beach. I’ll be back down for Goliath Grouper aggregation in a couple of weeks to give the Outlaw another spin.

Good diving, Craig

 

[stuartv]

Thanks, Craig! It sounds pretty nice - except for that part about your DIN reg always hitting you in the back of the head. That would be super annoying. And I don't see how an interested buyer could test that out short of actually getting in the water with one. Bummer.

 

[scubadada]

Thanks, Craig! It sounds pretty nice - except for that part about your DIN reg always hitting you in the back of the head. That would be super annoying. And I don't see how an interested buyer could test that out short of actually getting in the water with one. Bummer.

Hi Stuart, yes, I believe you are right. I have not heard of others complaining about it, maybe it's just me. Too bad most shops don't have BCs to try before you buy.

 

[Diving Dubai]

Hi Craig

Good review.

One comment regarding the regs. I found I was having a similar issue with my cylinders when I first had a BPW No amount of fine adjustment on the harness or cylinder would solve this (I had my cylinder as far down as it could go) In the end my solution was to "invert" the 1st stage so that the "top" was close to my cylinder as all was well.

I know what you mean with the Surelocks. I have them on my Axiom which I use for pool work and OW dives with students. I've found they dont' like soft weights, because the weight bags bunch up and make them hard to fit. I've been using my rear trim pockets for the summer because like you I don't need much weight.

Regardign the Outlaw, I'm now the proud owner of 2 for my stepsons - I think I have the right size, but I can exchange them when they come back in the Autumn if they're too small.

My one concern is that there's little inherrent buoyancy in the Outlaw. Do you find that?

There's more fat on a french fry than there is on my 2 stepsons and so, with just board shorts and a rash vest even with an Ali cylinder they may be overweight