Equipment Trends: The BCD

[MXGratefulDiver]

BP/W looks more or less the same to untrained eyes! But jacket bc is just the opposite.
Only the All Black wear black!
I seldom met female divers on BP/W.

They're pretty common here ... even among purely recreational divers. I'd say the majority of my female dive buddies are in BP/W. Among non-BP/W users, a back-inflate BCD is more common here than a jacket-style ... typically Zeagle or ScubaPro.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[DivemasterDennis]

It's the old dog, new tricks thing. And the scuba community is aging. As we geezers retire or die off, the percentage will go up, but slowly. Heck, some of my colleagues still swear by the wheel for dive planning.
DivemasterDennis

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

They're pretty common here ... even among purely recreational divers. I'd say the majority of my female dive buddies are in BP/W. Among non-BP/W users, a back-inflate BCD is more common here than a jacket-style ... typically Zeagle or ScubaPro.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Jacket BC's have a lot working against them in cold water, the biggest issue being that they require weight just to sink the unit itself.
I'm guessing that most people that continue to dive up your way have a fairly good experience level and exposure to other divers, so I'm guessing that Jackets get passed over pretty quickly by BP/W units and similar that lend themselves to cold water diving much better.

 

[drbill]

Of course many of us old geezers started diving without the convenience of a BCD (or even a Mae West). I didn't use my first one until 28 years into my diving experience (and that one malfunctioned so I just disconnected the inflator hose). Yes, I see a trend towards more frequent recreational use of BP/W although it is still surpassed by those wearing jacket style BCDs in my area. I own BP/W set-ups but I don't like them for single tank diving so I use my soft harness and wing instead for comfort and security of fit.

 

[cool_hardware52]

Not sure why anybody cares about the percentages of divers using any particular BC. These percentages say nothing about the utility of one design over another.

The most significant factor in BC usage is what the LDS stocks, promotes (has their instructors use) and realizes the greatest margin from.

The question for any diver should be "what BC serves me best?"

Tobin

 

[rhwestfall]

The most significant factor in BC usage is what the LDS stocks, promotes (has their instructors use) and realizes the greatest margin from.

Winner! Winner! Winner!

---------- Post added February 26th, 2015 at 02:34 PM ----------

The question for any diver should be "what BC serves me best?"

But, when that question is answered with some form of poo that relates to the point above.....

 

[Dr. Lecter]

Maybe 1 in 40 divers I speak with know what the buoyancy of their suit is

To digress for a moment, this is somewhat understandable when one considers that this is somehow not standard information provided by wetsuit manufacturers so far as I know, it's a bit of a PITA to figure out even if the actual process of 'put suit in water, add lead until it starts to sink' is simple enough, and the actual number can change quite dramatically over time (my 7mm used to be quite buoyant, but after repeatedly taking it on 100m+ dives it's much less fluffy now). It'd be very helpful if more wetsuits came with a "new" and "after X dives at 130'" buoyancy figure for each size/thickness.

 

[MichigandiverJon]

To digress for a moment, this is somewhat understandable when one considers that this is somehow not standard information provided by wetsuit manufacturers so far as I know, it's a bit of a PITA to figure out even if the actual process of 'put suit in water, add lead until it starts to sink' is simple enough, and the actual number can change quite dramatically over time (my 7mm used to be quite buoyant, but after repeatedly taking it on 100m+ dives it's much less fluffy now). It'd be very helpful if more wetsuits came with a "new" and "after X dives at 130'" buoyancy figure for each size/thickness.

But then how do you figure that for a drysuit where the amount of air in the suit is quite variable?

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

But then how do you figure that for a drysuit where the amount of air in the suit is quite variable?

... choice of undergarment is the biggest factor in determining how buoyant you will be in your drysuit ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Not sure why anybody cares about the percentages of divers using any particular BC. These percentages say nothing about the utility of one design over another.

The most significant factor in BC usage is what the LDS stocks, promotes (has their instructors use) and realizes the greatest margin from.

The question for any diver should be "what BC serves me best?"

Tobin

BP/W have been out now in the public or internet eye for what, 12-15 years now?
The biggest obsticle to spreading the knowledge are the LDS's which are basically fed and run by Manufacturers. If the manufacturer the LDS is tied in with says "sell this", they sell it. I suppose an LDS could get away from the big names and have a go at being independent and carry what they want but good luck with that.
The whole chain from manufacturing to shops to instructors to even agencies to some degree have done everything in their power to try and squash the phenomenon of BP/W use and the training behind it.
One thing I can say for sure is that BP/W growth, even though very slow, has been very solid with mostly word of mouth and physical exposure. The proof is in the pudding.
Those that switch to BP/W never go back. That says everything right there.
Despite all the trash talk and all the energy they have expended to try and extinguish the growth of the BP/W, they can't do it.
Perhaps people are smarter than they think.