Beginner Equipment Advice

[inquis]

IIRC, the harness was not well adjusted (admittedly I was trying it out once) and it was very loose. So it felt like the BCD was floating a bit above my back and I was constantly holding on to it.

Also on the surface, it was a bit weird as my weight belt was pulling my down, the BCD riding up and the crotch strap digging into my groin.

A bit of background info: the shoulder straps on a one-piece harness should be adjusted to be quite loose (at least a fist of space between strap and chest), but the waist tight.

It shouldn't float away from you. Your exposure suit makes you positively buoyant and the gear is negative, which presses both together and is neutral overall. Even with a weight-belt, you should be slightly positive. (This lets you be neutral with an empty wing and reserve gas.)

My first impression is you may have had more lead than necessary, leading to the tug of war between wing and weight-belt with your groin in the middle. A steel BPW, for example, probably requires 2-3 kg less lead than a traditional BCD.

 

[FreqFlier]

BCD Choices - mainly looking at back inflate BCDs

You're in EU - I'd check Seac EQ-PRO bcd, I use it when teaching and I like it very much. My main is Xdeep Zen bp&w

 

[gokulsrinivas]

Hey folks - thank you all so much for the advice. Wanted to come back with some updates

I ended up buying the Scubapro Mk17 Evo + C370 + R095 Combo in DIN as my regulator. I believe this will serve my warm water + slightly cold water diving very well.

I also got a good deal on a lightly used (~20ish dives) ScubaPro LiteHawk (250€) so I went ahead with that. This is super convenient as I can take it back to India when I'm travelling and also use it here in temperate waters as my BCD.

Did a dive last weekend and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Here's to more dives

 

[BabyLitigator]

You can look into a strap on pocket( diverite makes a good one) or tek shorts if you need pockets for gear.
I am a fan of backplate and wing, you can go super simple or you can add some comforts like soft webbing or crotch strap protectors.

I've had meaningful issues with the Dive Rite strap-on pocket. I never got it to work, and I've seen a lot of people struggle with it (our LDS AOW kit includes the pocket). Currently diving dry but will likely buy Tek shorts once I get back into a wetsuit.

 

[happy-diver]

I barely fit my hand in a diverite pocket.

OTG Dive

<p>- 100% Brand New, OTG Technical Scuba Diving Anti Slip Thigh Pocket #OG-06N</p> <p>- Attaches to any standard webbing waist belt and can be moved higher or lower on the thigh</p> <p>- Two adjustable anti slip elastic bands on the back of the pocket s

www.otgdive.com

These work well

 

[cgblake]

I've had meaningful issues with the Dive Rite strap-on pocket. I never got it to work, and I've seen a lot of people struggle with it (our LDS AOW kit includes the pocket). Currently diving dry but will likely buy Tek shorts once I get back into a wetsuit.

Tek shorts are definitely better than the pocket, I have yet to buy tek shorts tho I may do that soon.

 

[KPV]

Hey there folks, In the past I've gotten some really good gear advice from the posts here, so asking for some more advice.

I'm a recreational diver with no intention of getting into tech diving.
In the future, I might try to be a divemaster as a side hustle.

Some info about me:
* Based in Spain, so I'm mainly diving in the mediterranean during summer (may - september). However, I might also go diving in India
* Have the following certifications - Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Nitrox, Deep Specialty (upto 40m)
* I have ~50 dives

Equipment I already own
* Mask - Apeks VX1 (although is leaking more because I grew a beard)
* Boots, Fins - 5mm boots, Mares Avanti Quattro Fins
* Computer - Shearwater Peregrine
* SMB - Mares all-in-one with 20m reel
* Mouldable mouthpiece - I have issues with jaw fatigue

Context: I recently dived locally with my partner and I was a bit uncomfortable with the rental equipment.
The regulator was a bit hard to breathe from initially, the BCD was a fairly beat down aqualung jacket and the 5mm wetsuit had holes.

It wasn't horrible, but it definitely wasn't the best. Most of the local shops are also fully booked out during summer so they don't have a lot of spare equipment to change as well. In the past I've dived with other operators and the rental gear was much better.

Given the fact that I would like to dive more in the future (local + dive trips), I'm considering buying some equipment and I've narrowed it down to a few choices.

I'm considering buying equipment in the following order - Regulator, BCD, 5mm wetsuit

Regulator Choices - optimally with cold water rating to future-proof it in case I go on a diving trip to colder waters.
I'm staying away from aqualung (due to the financial issues).

* Apeks Sets
* DS4 + ATX40 + ATX40 set
* DST + XTX50 + XTX40 set
* Apeks XL4+ set
* Scubapro Sets
* Mk11 + C370 + R095 set
* Mk17 Evo + C370 + R095 set
* Mk17 Evo + C370 + C370 - a bit more expensive, but keeps both second stages similar

BCD Choices - mainly looking at back inflate BCDs, tried a BP/W and didn't like the crotch strap and lack of pockets (but open to trying it again)
* Scubapro Litehawk
* Scubapro Seahawk 2 - lots more lift, a bit heavier and bulkier
* Aqualung Rogue - I actually liked the BCD a lot except the weight pockets (slipped out once)
* Cressi Patrol
* Cressi Scorpion

I'm also looking at serviceability in Spain for my purchases as well. I see all these brands have service centers here in Spain, so please correct me if I'm wrong here.

Any advice / recommendations on the above choices? I'm also open to other suggestions.

I don't know if it will be helpful at that time but I give you my advice.
I recently bought and dived with Scubapro Seahawk 2 in Egypt on a liveaboard. I was in search of Litehawk as lighter and simplier option, but it was hard to find.
Seahawk 2 will be a good choice. It has a lot of wide D-rings, trim pockets on the back and big side pockets. Tech divers said that I can use this BCD with stages or in sidemount configuration. But you can't use it with twins.
My weigth is 69-70 kg, heigth is 175 cm. With 3 mm shorty I use 4 kg weights in trim pockets only. I do only recreational dives.

There is 2 problems with this BCD:
1. If you want to put weights in ditchable pockets your side pockets will be smaller in size because they interfere with each other.
2. Pullers on the zippers are too small and it hard to open pockets even without gloves. I had to attach additional pullers to them and now it's fine.

I consider these to be minor shortcomings that the Scubapro needs to work on.

And there is a big pro with this BCD. Wing is detachable and you can use wing with backplate by attaching it with cambands. However, it is not as convenient as with a wing, which was originally intended for use with backplate. And you can use harness with another wing. So you don't need to change the whole BCD if some part fails.

I haven't found any reviews on this BCD so I think I'll have to do one.