BCD question from a Noob

[DeltaBruin]

Hey all,

I'm fresh out of OW certification and starting to look at gear purchases. I'm originally from So Cal (Los Angeles) and still visit often but currently living in Austin, TX. For now most of my diving will be in our local lake, 5mm or maybe 7mm (if I turn out to be a wimp) wetsuits.

I do plan to dive in So Cal (Catalina, Channel Islands) with my bro-in-law, probably start with a guided Casino Point trip to get a taste of cold water diving and am also planning to dive Oahu next year.

I'm pretty settled on a back inflate BCD for my first one. I used a Scubapro Knighthawk in my OW class and liked it. Of course I have nothing to compare it to. That said, I'm pretty settled on buying a Zeagle and my LDS is confident the Stiletto will have enough lift for cold water (California) diving and that a Ranger would be overkill. I'm 5'9", 175lbs. I used a 7mm full wetsuit, no hood or gloves in a quarry for my checkout dives and had 18lbs of weight which seemed to get me pretty neutral with no air in my BCD. I'm hoping to find a BCD that will work here and in So Cal but don't know if that'll be asking too much. If the Stiletto will have enough lift in cold water then that indeed seems to be the answer.

That said, I found this board and figured I would see if some of you with some real life California experience can offer any advice. Since I'm brand new to the sport, I'm hoping to get gear that is not way more than I need but that I won't outgrow immediately. I considered renting for a while but since I have some local shore diving that renting gear at $50 a pop will quickly get cost prohibitive. I would also like to get comfortable with my own gear on a few shore dives before I sign up for AOW.

Thanks in advance for any input. This board has been an awesome find.

 

[driftwood]

First welcome to Scubaboard. Sounds like you got certified through Scubaland. If you haven't run into him already this is a guy you should talk to, Robert Weiss. Robert is a p/t instructor at SL and is captain of the Giant Stride on Lake Travis. Welcome to Lake Travis Scuba

Great guy and the instructor I will send my wife to for a refresher before we hit Coz in '14.

Here are my thoughts on getting a BC. First, I dive the Ranger and love it. Second, they are super durable and easy to fix/maintain. I bought mine used, put over 500 dives on it without needing a repair. Third, right now used ones are dirt cheap on Fleabay. You can probably get a good used one for less than $300. For your size and weight, go for a medium.

There are a lot of things you really need to buy from your LDS (fit/service), but a BCD isn't one of them.

 

[diversteve]

There are several people who read this forum who dive a Stiletto in SoCal without problems. I have a Ranger since I had thoughts at purchase of diving doubles occasionally - thought I might add a Zeagle AL backplate.. I don't see why it would be overkill - I had a Stiletto once briefly and they weren't much different - maybe the Stiletto was a little less bulky. For me, the XL Stiletto was tighter than my XL Ranger so it went back.

Another option you might look at is a Scubatoys Brigade, it's a Ranger jacket with a Escape wing. Custom for them. 35lb. bladder like the Stiletto and it's about $130 less than a Stiletto currently. Zeagle Brigade BCD discounts on sale Zeagle It doesn't have the rear weight pockets but you can add them for $50. The Ranger jacket does have bigger front weight pockets than the Stiletto IIRC.


Unless you have a deal on Oahu, go to Maui instead. The diving is better...

 

[DeltaBruin]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the help. Sounds like a used Ranger may be the way to go but I'll definitely check out the Brigade too.

I did indeed get certified through Scubaland and everyone over there is great. I'll keep my eye out for Robert and definitely want to go out with Lake Travis Scuba.

I'll be joining a family trip to Oahu next year so I'll be stuck there unless I can find a great Island hopper deal to Maui. Since I'm brand new, I'm sure any diving I do will be amazing. haha.

 

[diversteve]

Don't get me wrong, diving off Oahu is excellent also. Gabe Scotti is often recommended here. Scuba Diving in Hawaii with Kaimana Divers | Dive Oahu | About Us

The problem with the island hopper scenario is that all inter-island flights are pressurized and to elevation so you'd have to burn a day after any sort of repetitive dives done elsewhere.

 

[cdemith]

You may want to look into a standard BP/W. I bought one a year ago and have loved every minute in it. In fact, I wish I would have never spent the $300 on my used whatever it was called BCD. There are many forum posts discussing the pros and cons of a BP/W on Scubaboard.

The one I got is DRIS Dive Gear 28lb BP/W System | Dive Right In Scuba - Plainfield, IL. The 28lb lift is plenty for singles, even with my drysuit.

Just something else to consider.

 

[Vegan Shark]

For gear purchases I highly recommend checking the online prices before getting from an LDS. If they are priced similarly, I go with LDS usually, but sometimes the price hikes are insane. My regulator and BCD were $370 and $300 on Leisurepro, but one LDS I walked into was selling the reg for $900, and the BC for $500, for example.

That said, LDS sometimes have great deals that beat internet prices. I just feel like a sucker for buying all the gear they required for certification from my LDS, then realizing later it would've been half price online.

 

[DeltaBruin]

I've read a lot of good comments about BP/W's. I'm so new though that I like the idea of having some pockets and integrated weight, probably because that's all I've used up to now. I guess that's why I like the idea of a back inflate for my first one. Based on what I've read I could definitely see switching to a BP/W down the road. If I can find a deal on a decent used BC now, I'll have no problem justifying something new later when I've got some experience and a better idea of what will work out best for me.

As for the LDS, I always try to shop local when I can but you're absolutely right from what I can tell, just in the money I spent buying the snorkeling gear there versus what I would've paid had I bought it online. That said, at the time, I didn't know what the heck I really needed and tried on several masks, with the shop's help I think I got good stuff, so I want to try to find a balance between finding deals online and buying things at the shop that they can help with or that I may need to have them service down the road. As long as they're not price gauging. If they can make some money but I can still get a decent deal, we all win. Hopefully, my internet searching and great advice from folks here will help me get the right gear for me now and at a decent price.

 

[Imla]

A BP/W is in essence a backinflate BC. It is just a bit cleaner. And you can still have integratet weights (Just add pockets). You just do not need to buy a new bc when you "outgrow" your old one.
Find a good dealer, and try one on.
Personally, I never looked back. I used to dive the Zeagle Tech. And did my OW in the Zeagle Ranger.