I am debating on whether to buy an Oceanic Excursion or the Oceanic Excursion 2. Is the Excursion 2 that much better? Is it worth the extra $?????
Thanks in advance for the input!
I dive an Excursion. I'm not familiar with the Excursion 2 unfortunately so I'm not going to be able to give you much advice there. For me (completely subjective) I prefer back inflation to vest and I'm certainly comfortable making that claim having spent some time on both types. You'll often hear divers complain that they're back inflate BC pushes them face down while on the surface and I can confirm that this is occasionally an issue depending on how much trim weight I'm using and wether or not I'm diving a steel or aluminum cylinder. It's a problem that for me, has yet to detract from the overall function of the BC when compared to the vest and the cumbersome nature (I find it cumbersome, you may not) of that style.
As for the Oceanic BC, I'm happy with the fit, finish and utility of mine thus far. I take extremely good care of my gear and so far, this BC has performed well, been without fault and looks almost new after about 35 dives. I have the Air XS Oct/Inf combination (wouldn't probably do that again, and yes, you can breath it while inflating the BC) and it's also been flawless.
I'm in the process of changing my direction with regard to my scuba education and I don't think my Oceanic gear will survive this process however. From a purely recreation perspective, I'm happy with the stuff. Two of my friends also use an Excursion and are quite happy with the product. I'm no Oceanic salesperson but all of my kit is Oceanic (EOS/FDX10 reg, ProPlus2.1 computer and Excursion BC) and I'm happy with all of those products.
If you have more specific questions, fire away and I'll try to give you my impressions. Also, I'll take a look at the Excursion 2 and see if I can figure out the differences to provide a bit more of a usable comparison for you. Take care.
EDIT:
I've had a chance to take a cursory look at the Excursion 2. A few of things stand out.
1. More lift, it looks like the bladder is larger, quite a bit by my estimation but I could be wrong.
2. A different QLR weight system ( find no faults with mine thus far)
3. Utility pockets, or at least more of them. This is a nice addition in my opinion. The Excursion 1 has one small relatively useless pocket. If the Excursion 2 has genuine, useful pockets, I'd take that as a positive in it's favor. In this case, you may trade slimness for storage....your choice.
4. Integrated instrument retractor mount. That's not on the Excursion 1. Again, I see no particular gain/loss there. That's your choice.
