First Bcd Research

[stuartv]

I am not familiar with kydex, what is it, an alloy?

And certainly true, but the only thing I am concerned with is (if I understand it correctly) one cannot replace the bladder if it is damaged, you've got to replace the whole wing. Their quality is exceptional from what I have heard, but the maintenance in that aspect seems to be a little difficult. Fingers crossed one never damages the bladder, but accidents do happen.

A nice thing about the DSS wings is that if you do get a hole in the bladder, they will replace the bladder for $50. The bad thing is, you have to send it back to them to have it done.

I have an older LCD30 from DSS. Older meaning that the bladder is not as thick as their current material. But, I have repaired 3 pinch flats in it in the 14 months that I have owned it. If I hadn't been able to fix them myself, I would have been renting a BCD in order to keep diving on that trip. Thus why I personally would not buy a wing that doesn't give access to the bladder to allow for field repairs. Some Aquaseal, a piece of bicycle inner tube, and a few minutes is all it takes to fix a pinch flat or puncture. Why limit yourself to not having that option?

The LCD30 is a horseshoe shape. I prefer a donut shaped wing and now use a HOG wing for single tank diving, instead of my LCD30 (which I still have). The LCD30 is very streamlined, which also means it's a bit long. Which means it's a bit more likely to fold under and be subject to a pinch flat than a shorter design of the same lift. Or so it seems to me, anyway.

If it was me, and I wanted to be diving up where you are, and I wanted to purchase my rig through my local dive shop, I would probably save some money over H or DSS and go for the HOG stainless plate and 32# wing.

The HOG plate doesn't offer the bolt-on weight option. But, do you really want to spend an extra $100 for 8# of bolt-on weights? That is the price for the DSS bolt-ons, I believe. I have them, but I got mine via the Classifieds here for much less money. Also keep in mind that if you start diving doubles, you can't use the bolt-on weights (and probably wouldn't need them). And if you dive in tropical water, the bolt-on weights may be more weight than you want and you'll end up choosing to go with just your SS plate and possibly 2 - 4 pounds in a trim pocket or on a weight belt. IOW, the bolt-on weights are really nice - for the right scenario. But, if you need much less or much more weight, then you'll probably end up diving with a weight belt anyway and maybe wondering why you spent that $100 on those weight plates.

And the HOG wing is a donut and offers a zipper to access the bladder, in case you need to do a field repair.

 

[guyharrisonphoto]

I would just add that I think it is a mistake to discourage ditchable weight. Any review of the accident statistics shows a very large percentage involve divers who could not establish positive buoyancy at the surface. While it's true that many of these probably were not balanced but over-weighted, in an emergency you do not want the "just barely positive" status of a balanced rig, you want significant positive buoyancy.

I dive a balanced rig. I need about 10 lbs with a 3 mil and AL 80. 6 pounds are in my backplate, but the rest (depeinding on tank and exposure suit) are ditchable. Personally, I use the Halcyon ACB pockets which hold up to 12 pounds total (never need that much, being in warm water). The pockets are very small and unobtrusive, are a great place to tuck the long hose, and with the snap release you must make a conscious decision and effort to ditch weight--no way it will happen by accident. I think it's a good system--way better than a weight belt. Fortunately, I have not had to actually ditch my weights.

 

[dmaziuk]

I'm currently thinking of what I can do with a couple of pieces of webbing and available hardware to work out an easy, secure, and ditchable way to attach weights to shoulder straps. I now have them in xs scuba pockets, I like them there better than on the tank strap, but they do get in the way a bit. Getting rid of the pockets should help with that.

 

[Slym]

Stuartv: Now that I found out that when I ship to a US PO box it only costs 25 dollars from California to NY I am not as concerned about the shipping. 100 bucks to fix a bcd is a good deal i suppose.

GuyHarrison: well I know I am a noob and all but I will have 35 pounds of lift on my back to keep me afloat and I will not have that much weighing me down so shouldn't I be fine without the ditch able weights? If I have a weight belt I will have 4 pounds on, as I only need 16 pounds with a 7 mm.

And I really like the pocket shorts instead of the bcd pockets, I'll probably be picking up a pair of them