Buy or rent BC for 14 year old

[kinoons]

My daughter is 11, 98lbs and 5’4”. I found her a woman’s small jacket bcd used for a reasonable price (sub $100) and she got hand me down 1st and 2nd stages from me. She got to train with her own equipment. Now she continues to dive with that same equipment. Sure enough she’s quite happy with it and I didn’t have to break the bank getting her kit set up.

Even if she outgrows the bcd in a year or three I’ve saved cash vs renting.

 

[VikingDives]

oops. snip!

 

[Altamira]

You are never going to get a consensus on this board about what kind of bcd to buy, and these bcd threads go on, and on, and on with the same result. But, whoever recommended you get your son involved in the decision process hit the target. The important thing is what he likes and wants. Your, my, or anyone else's opinion about what is best for him is really irrelevant. Find a dive shop that has jackets, back inflates, and wings, then let him try them until he finds what he likes.

 

[DiveGearExpress]

Are the edges of the DGX plate beveled?

Back at the dawn of technical diving, metal backplates were machine stamped and typically poorly finished. The outside edges were usually hand polished enough not to cut your hand or the wing, but the inside slots were often sharp and there were plenty of burrs that would cut the webbing. Today almost all the openings in modern backplates are laser or waterjet cut and thus there are no burrs by virtue of the manufacturing process. At least for the brands we commonly encounter (Apeks, DGX, Dive Rite, Highland, Mares, OMS, etc) their backplate slots are well finished and will not cut the webbing. The lower corners of a few brands have a slight bend outwards, but the purported benefit of additional comfort from the bend is questionable for setups that are properly sized and configured. The DGX plate does not have the bottom corner bends.

 

[DrSig]

W

I think this is a reasonable decision. If you go with the hogartharian webbing, he'll have plenty of room to grow.

I use this config for all my students and I've had people that were 6'6" and people that were 5"6" in the same bp/w.

I have a few gently used student bp/ws if you want to give me a call or shoot me a PM. I would be happy to give anyone on scuba board a good deal.

What kind of used BPW do you have for sale? My 12 & 10 yo just got certified.