BC Advice

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Hello all, I am new to diving and looking for gear to buy. I have come across two BC's that I like but I don't know how to choose. I have only completed my open water dives as well. Of course I would want a travel friendly BC since I will do primarily vacation dives. Also I want a durable and versatile BC for warm and cold water. The two BC's are the Mares Hybrid Pure and the ScubaPro Equator. Any help would be much appreciated.

When you say you "like" these BCs, I assume that means you have tried them on in a dive shop but not dove with them? Unfortunately this tells you almost nothing about how they will perform in the water. The conditions, weight loading, etc, are almost opposite in nature. Most jacket-style BCs sold in typical recreational dive shops are very poorly designed for diving IMO; they have lots of added things that are mostly a nuisance under water and require extra weight just to overcome their own positive buoyancy. I believe this is mostly because new divers are trying these BCs on in the shop, where the padding, cumberbund, and extra plastic doo-dads seem like a good idea. They're not.

In general, less is more when it comes to BCs. The ideal BC would be one that completely 'disappears' in the water, leaving the diver feeling like he's wearing nothing but a tank and regulator. This is one reason the simple webbing harnesses are so popular with divers that have used them.

Warm and cold water have different requirements in a BC and you won't find one that's ideal for both. One solution would be to have a single backplate/harness and two different wings. Lots of divers compromise and get a BC that has enough lift for cold water, but then is bulkier than necessary for warm water. It works, but it's far from ideal.

I would suggest at this point that you either buy nothing and try to rent some different types of BCs or spend as little as possible on a SIMPLE used jacket BC (you can find them for well under $100) to get some dive experience and take opportunities to try several different types of BCs including a backplate/wing with webbing harness. It does take some experience to be able to really evaluate the different feel in trim, stability, weight distribution, etc, that these types of BCs offer.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

When you say you "like" these BCs, I assume that means you have tried them on in a dive shop but not dove with them? Unfortunately this tells you almost nothing about how they will perform in the water. The conditions, weight loading, etc, are almost opposite in nature. Most jacket-style BCs sold in typical recreational dive shops are very poorly designed for diving IMO; they have lots of added things that are mostly a nuisance under water and require extra weight just to overcome their own positive buoyancy. I believe this is mostly because new divers are trying these BCs on in the shop, where the padding, cumberbund, and extra plastic doo-dads seem like a good idea. They're not.

In general, less is more when it comes to BCs. The ideal BC would be one that completely 'disappears' in the water, leaving the diver feeling like he's wearing nothing but a tank and regulator. This is one reason the simple webbing harnesses are so popular with divers that have used them.

Warm and cold water have different requirements in a BC and you won't find one that's ideal for both. One solution would be to have a single backplate/harness and two different wings. Lots of divers compromise and get a BC that has enough lift for cold water, but then is bulkier than necessary for warm water. It works, but it's far from ideal.

I would suggest at this point that you either buy nothing and try to rent some different types of BCs or spend as little as possible on a SIMPLE used jacket BC (you can find them for well under $100) to get some dive experience and take opportunities to try several different types of BCs including a backplate/wing with webbing harness. It does take some experience to be able to really evaluate the different feel in trim, stability, weight distribution, etc, that these types of BCs offer.

That's a really good explanation about BC's, to strive to make them 'disappear' as much as possible underwater.
My whole plate making carreer was based on this theory, to essentially mould the plate to ones back while providing some integrated balast and simplicity. I can't understand to this day the disconnect between manufacturers of jackets and the reality of what is the forward path of design in BC's.
The parallel would be a car company that insists on designing cars that are heavy, get horrible mileage, are big and bulky with horrible wind drag, but have a nice comfy seat so when potential buyers sit in them on the showroom floor they're comfortable.
I don't get it.
The problem is that diving is small enough that there isn't enough volume and competition to spur innovation and changes. There is innovation but not enough volume to support that innovation, so the status quo and mediocrity prevail.