Buoyancy Compensation Preference

[EricJ]

I'm amused by people who have the need to use the equipment they use as a way to boost their own self-image.

I've come across many divers who boast about their equipment and put down other people's equipment. Usually, they're compensating for some other type of personal shortcoming.

I enjoy reading people's opinions about various equipment, but too often it turns into an ego issue on this board.

 

[StSomewhere]

It does look kind of skewed only 26% use jacket style but if you go on a boat the majority have jackets.

Isn't the vest style mostly what's available for rental BCs?

Also opt-in polls are rarely statistically valid b/c (as others already said) the more strongly held your belief is the more likely you are to want to participate.

Back to the poll question, keep that in mind that I've only ever dived with a Probe QLR, a SeaQuest Pro QD and a SeaQuest Balance... I don't like(/trust?) AAS inflators and definitely didn't care for a back inflation BC on the surface. I can't imagine using a BP/W when I didn't like the Balance. I went with the Probe (vest style) with an older-style reliant inflator with the one way check valve in the pull dump. Maybe when I have as many dives as some of you I'll change my mind. :06:

 

[Quarrior]

Isn't the vest style mostly what's available for rental BCs?

Also opt-in polls are rarely statistically valid b/c (as others already said) the more strongly held your belief is the more likely you are to want to participate.

Back to the poll question, keep that in mind that I've only ever dived with a Probe QLR, a SeaQuest Pro QD and a SeaQuest Balance... I don't like(/trust?) AAS inflators and definitely didn't care for a back inflation BC on the surface. I can't imagine using a BP/W when I didn't like the Balance. I went with the Probe (vest style) with an older-style reliant inflator with the one way check valve in the pull dump. Maybe when I have as many dives as some of you I'll change my mind. :06:

Now there's a perfect example. You tried some different gear and found what you are happy with and sticking with it.

Good for you.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Now there's a perfect example. You tried some different gear and found what you are happy with and sticking with it.

Good for you.

Thing is, at least for those who dive regularly, what you're happy with has a tendency to change.

When I started diving, my first BCD was a Tusa Imprex Pro. I loved it ... far superior to the rental BCD I was using at first. I used it for a couple hundred dives ... then I tried a ScubaPro SuperHawk. I loved it ... far superior to the Tusa. So that's what I dived for another couple hundred dives. Then I tried a Dive Rite TransPlate with a Rec wing. I loved it ... far superior to the ScubaPro. Coupla hundred dives later I tried an Oxycheq wing. I loved it ... far superior to the Rec wing.

You get the idea ... your skills improve, your goals change, your ideas on what's right for you will change with it.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[jonnythan]

But what if you had tried the TransPlate before the Tusa?

 

[Quarrior]

Thing is, at least for those who dive regularly, what you're happy with has a tendency to change.

When I started diving, my first BCD was a Tusa Imprex Pro. I loved it ... far superior to the rental BCD I was using at first. I used it for a couple hundred dives ... then I tried a ScubaPro SuperHawk. I loved it ... far superior to the Tusa. So that's what I dived for another couple hundred dives. Then I tried a Dive Rite TransPlate with a Rec wing. I loved it ... far superior to the ScubaPro. Coupla hundred dives later I tried an Oxycheq wing. I loved it ... far superior to the Rec wing.

You get the idea ... your skills improve, your goals change, your ideas on what's right for you will change with it.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Bob, I agree completely. As you know, I did a significant amount of research on my gear before I purchased my BP/W. I also test drove/dove several pieces.

However, as you stated, interests change. In my case, I always knew I was going to go Tech, therefore, purchasing a standard Jacket type BC was not worth the $$ for me. Not everyone coming into Scuba knows up front what they are going to be doing in a year or 2. I'm fortunate in that regard, I'll be in some wrecks up in the Great Lakes with doubles and a drysuit.

Brian

 

[NEWIN50]

Hi this is my first post on Scubaboard. I enjoy it and find it a good place to learn alot about this sport. I started diving last February (04), and bought a lot of equipment up front, as I don't like paying rental fees, and felt I would dive more often with my own gear.

My LDS recommended a Jacket type BC, and I bought a Scubpro Glide, It has seemed fine so far, but I can see where if you get into diving with doubles, you would possibly want more lift. I also wonder if a weight harness (like DUI) sells may not be better than the integrated weights. With a steel HP tank and the integrated weights, it makes handling the whole BC setup a bit cumbersome.

I have been happy with the equipment recomendations from my LDS, as I have had no significant equipment problems, and any issues I have had have been quickly respolved - no questions asked. Part of what I feel I get from my local distributor is the benefit of their experience in selecting quipment appropriate for my skill level and needs.

I am really enjoying getting into diving, and hope to see a lot of this part of the world thus far, hidden from me.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

But what if you had tried the TransPlate before the Tusa?

That's a fair question ... and I honestly don't know the answer.

Between the Tusa and the TransPlate my diving knowledge, style, and goals changed quite a lot. It's entirely possible that the concept of a modular system wouldn't have appealed to me back then ... whether for reasons of convenience, budget, or simply because I wouldn't have known enough to appreciate the difference in performance.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Tanked Monkey]

Hi this is my first post on Scubaboard. I enjoy it and find it a good place to learn alot about this sport. I started diving last February (04), and bought a lot of equipment up front, as I don't like paying rental fees, and felt I would dive more often with my own gear.

Well, then, welcome to Scubaboard.com. I'm a newbie too (OW in June, 04), and have found lots of great info and advice on this site.

I suspected that the BP+W was right for me, but was unsure. I have always rented back-inflate and jacket style BC's, but finally found a LDS in the DC area that let me take out a BP+W for a spin. Loved it. Haven't bought yet, but I'm planning on buying in a month or so. I'm so glad that I tried it out first, before buying, so I wouldn't be in for any surprises with a different rig than the rental stuff I'm used to.

Mike

 

[Mandy3206]

I got the OMS SS BP with a 45# bungied wing. I love this rig and made sustancial research before buying, after checking all the options available, I decicided for this rig. My only complain is why I didn't switched 250 dives before, I'll never go back to anything else other than another BP/W, maybe other brand, diferent lift, diferent BP material, but definetely BP/W setup.

I've never saw another BP/W setup in a diveboat, all other BCs are Jacket style and ocasionally some back inflated BCs, the only BP/W setups I've seen, are my buddys and mine, we bought them the same week.

On the first time out using the BP/W setup, one diver asked how old those relics where, imagine my face when she refered to my brand new $650.00 gear as a relic, I just looked at my buddy and let him explain to her that that was a tech BC and how it worked, at the end of the day, they were all asking questions about the BP/W and how can they get one.