Buying a BC: questions.

[Malpaso]

Thanks all.

As far as fit, a big reason I narrowed down to Aqualung and Cressi is that every rental (various models) that fit well at my LDS was one of the two. The old BCs (and some are real old) are Aqualungs and the new ones are Cressis (but no Start model). I figured if something was as old as the Aqualungs, still functioned great and was still comfortable, then it was probably one that would last. In addition, I tried on a new one with the Wrapture harness and couldn't believe how comfortable it was, albeit I was not in the water.

With regard to the weight, that will go down, my 7mm 2 piece is relatively new. I've already dropped a couple pounds in recent dives. I put most on a belt (~#30) with the rest on the BC. I wear an XL BC anyway (only 5'10" 185 but all my size in is my upper body), so handling the weight has not been an issue.

Ah, the BP/W! I've read a lot about them, especially here where it's praises are sung quite high. My concern is that I can not try before I buy, as the LDS does not rent them.

I've yet to find a feature that makes a big difference one way or another. This is one reason why I've waited until last to get a BC.

 

[Zesty]

BP/W is the way! I have been diving just over a year and have already turned in my ScubaPro Knighthawk for a BP/W. There are a lot of good reasons to go with a wing (even if you have not had the opportunity to dive one):

You loose about 6 Lbs from your weight belt
You put the weight distributed right over your center of mass - I think it is easier to get neutral
You have a modular system - you can upgrade / change out the wing and/or the harness without having to trash the entire system
You can start with a single tank and move to doubles without having to buy another entire system - swap the wing
You are much less congested in front - cleaner and more simple - easier to access things

 

[MaxBottomtime]

My favorite feature of a BP/W is the stability. I hated the fact that jacket BCs cannot hold a tank still. The constant tug and pull from the tank was aggravating. I prefer to be able to move around without feeling that the BC will rip any minute. BTW, I had a "tech" BC rip twice.

 

[elan]

Wow 36lbs...you better make sure whatever you buy can float your rig plus that 36lbs at the surface.

His wet suit will do that for him pretty normal weight for that suit in salt water

@OP
Personally I would invest into getting a shell drysuit now and keep renting the BCs. Some drysuits can be had fairly inexpensive.

My reasoning is that two piece 7 mils are pretty inconvenient suits. As you see theyrequire a lot of lead. At a 100 ft it will copress as much as 4 times and loose most of its buoyancy. So you will need to compensate it with the BC. Those suits will require you to buy an oversized lift BCD.

Shell Dry suits do not lose buoyancy and you need a smaller wing.

I believe in New England you will end up with dru suit anyways if you plan to do any more or less serious diving.
So if you switch to a dry suit later youwill either have to live with an oversized bc or sell it YMMV

 

[elan]

With regard to the weight, that will go down, my 7mm 2 piece is relatively new. I've already dropped a couple pounds in recent dives. I put most on a belt (~#30) with the rest on the BC. I wear an XL BC anyway (only 5'10" 185 but all my size in is my upper body), so handling the weight has not been an issue.

Your BC size seems to be big for your metrics. I used to wear L in a 7 mil and it was big - I switched to M. Im 6ft 190
XL seems to be to much. Your suit will compress with depth so if you have a big bc that will be moving around that will be terrible experience.

Dive shops like to give bigger BCs (a guy at my LDS was about to give an XXL BC to a guy who needed an M size)

 

[mjatkins]

Shell Dry suits do not lose buoyancy and you need a smaller wing.

What if it becomes torn and floods?

 

[diversteve]

There's another recent thread here from someone who got water in his I3 equipped BC and was asking how to get it out.

Evidently

• Utilize a one-way valve to prevent water from back flushing in when all of the valves open

failed somehow.

There was a more complicated process detailed on the Aqualung website to get the water out since the flat valves didn't appear to be easily removable. On a conventional system you can usually open the inflator and unscrew all the dump valves to drain/dry the bladder efficiently. So you might want to check with your dealer about that.

Also if you're going to be penetrating wrecks, I'd personally be a little concerned with snagging the I3 lever on something and causing an unexpected buoyancy change. If doing so caused a silt situation, that might not be good. A conventional inflator with a button is less likely to be accidentally pressed. Most wreck divers that I know keep their gear as streamlined as possible. I'd venture that many/most also use BP/W's - or back-inflate models. I don't personally know anyone who does wreck penetration in a jacket BC.

One advantage the Axiom does have for that type of diving is the bladder retraction system. But there are other systems that do as well.

You might look at something in the Zeagle line also, most of their better models are heavy duty cordura, have sufficient lift and interchangeable components should you get more serious later. All are back-inflate models. Zeagle sells wings up to a double85 and a steel backplate is an option. It won't be as stable as a BP/W but the Ranger or Express Tech can also handle doubles.

I personally find it a little weird that with the I3 and some Mares models, they have to provide a separate manual inflator hose. I like having the ability to do both functions with a conventional inflator.

Boy there's a lot of toys on that I3. In a couple of years, each one may become more of a liability than it's worth. How many times are you really going to adjust the chest strap up or down? And I've never had either of these problems changing tanks:

Gone are the days of complicated web weaving and you don't have to worry about pinching your fingers with the innovative finger saver feature (pat. pend.)

It's a different technology (pneumatic) but I have a friend who bought a fancy Mares BC a couple years ago. She's had nothing but problems with the dump valves working reliably - any silt and there's a problem. Not good in a wreck situation.

 

[elan]

What if it becomes torn and floods?

You ditch enough weight so your BC can still provide enough buoyancy

 

[chironomidkraut]

getting back to the backplate and wing settup! if you bought that first off if u did not like it you could sell it and get most of your money back, with a poodle jacket you would take a huge loss trying to sell it, i sold a bare blackwing a couple years ago and even though it had like 6 dives on it i had to sell it for almost 50% of what i paid for it...
i was a sceptic making the switch over to bp/w but now i will never go back to the jacket style.. fits perfect every time, comfy, and when floating on the surface the bp/w doesn't ride up around your ears and the tank does not shift around.....

 

[Malpaso]

Your BC size seems to be big for your metrics. I used to wear L in a 7 mil and it was big - I switched to M. Im 6ft 190
XL seems to be to much.

I guess everyone is built different. Everything I wear, t-shirts, jackets, coats are all XL, my shorty is XL. All my size is in my chest and shoulders, that's why I had to buy a two piece wet suit, XL top and L bottom. I can't get into a L BC.