BP&W vs jacket BC, AGAIN!

[-hh]

Not listed in the poll options.

Started with a horsecollar
Went to a Jacket
Then went to a Wing
Now have gone back to a Jacket


-hh

 

[nimoh]

dove a back inflate, and then tried a friends BPW and promptly traded my back inflate for a new printer, and bought an eclipse.

why wasn't this a poll option?

 

[ams511]

Mine was a Central SkinDivers knock-off of a SeaTec design.

I haven't thought of these guys in years, there were the Leisure Pro of their time along with Barry (or was it Berry?) Scuba.

 

[buddhasummer]

Started with an Oceanic BC, moved to a DR plate and an Oxy wing, onto Hollis plates and Oxy wings and "finally" AGIR plates with Oxy wings. Im going to stop honest, although would like a DSS rig

Wouldn't go back to a BC.

 

[illFisch]

Not sure if I agree with dumping sidemount in with BP&W as I dive either a jacket or a homemade razor style harness. I find either is ideal for the type of diving I do with them and personally hated the BP&W when I tried one. The club I dive with actually has a mix of jackets, BP&W and sidemount rigs. Generally the sidemounters ridicule the BP&W guys and vice versa (all in good fun) but it's each to their own. I agree that the majority of divers will simply use what they were sold (jacket) and are not typical of the scuba board posters. They just aren't that interested in SCUBA beyond "Look at the pretty fish!" when they are on holidays or raping and pillaging to prove their manhood.

 

[Diver0001]

It has been a while since we have had a good BP&W vs jacket BC thread on SB. Let's take a poll: what kind of BCD did you first use when diving, and what kind do you now use?

[Edit: I have tried to include sidemount as a separate category but then I need 17 fields and SB only allows 12 fields in a poll so (sorry) let's assume that BP&W=sidemount.]

I say this in all seriousness.

I've been diving for 28 years. I did actually begin using a horse collar BCD in combination with one of the first trilaminate drysuits on the market (in fact, mine was a custom made prototype complete with permanent marker lines drawn on it) from a company called "Fitzgerald" which you may recognize under their current name of BARE.

I bought a jacket style BCD in .... mmmmm.... 1995 or so? and loved it... although I had "out grown" my original drysuit and needed to buy a new one... also a BARE.

In about...mmmmm... 2002 I started technical diving and bought a new set of kit... including twin tanks and a wing.... However, I never sold the jacket style BCD I had and to this day I still use it for training in the swimming pool.... oh yeah... I became and instructor at some point along the line too....

And let me tell you.... I look awesome in all of it.

Seriously.

Look at my profile. I don't have any pictures of me in my tech kit but both the profile picture and the picture of me diving with a dolphin show me in the jacket and I can guarantee you that the whole jacket vs wing discussion is a complete and total crock of ****. If you can dive, then you can dive in all of it. End of discussion.

R..

 

[rhwestfall]

If you can dive, then you can dive in all of it.

R..

with the caveat of it fitting....

 

[Diver0001]

Is that any different with a jacket than with a wing?

Your gear has to fit.... oh snap!

R..

 

[-hh]

Is that any different with a jacket than with a wing?

Your gear has to fit.... oh snap!

R..

Some people will make a big deal out of this. However, in many instances they're probably 'exceptions' to the general anthropometric dimensions of adults ... ie, they can't buy an off-the-rack dress suit either.

Of course, if that's an issue for them, a BP/W isn't the "only solution" for them no matter how much they may insist: the adjustments for a backpack setup with a horsecollar are functionally the same strap setup (except that these historically had more 'quick adjust' points).


-hh

 

[Diver0001]

So what you're saying is that for morbidly obese people the BP/W may be the best option.

That may be true, but I don't really have an opinion about that. I don't live in the USA and therefore I don't know a lot of morbidly obese people.

What I do see among the divers I see around me is that the vast majority of divers with normal body types, it doesn't matter at all.

R..