deepseafalcon
Contributor
To be clear, this is what I typed that you do not seem to be clear on. Let me rearrange the words for you;
For infrequent/vacation warm water divers who's certification lds will or did use jacket in class, there should be a sound reason (to recommend a bp/w). Most of the sound reasons to use bp/w are not sound reasons in the infrequent / vacation warm water/ jacket lds / just or not yet certified scenario.
at the risk of beating a dead horse that's dead twice over
what exactly are the disadvantages of a BP/W that a new diver should not consider them, or in other words, which reasons to use them are not valid for new divers?
I just don't get it.
So let's try to be methodical, so the poor thread-opener - if he hasn't given up yet - at least gains something from the endless argument
I'll start a list with pros and cons of both choices. Others feel free to add, but please refrain from judging - the idea is that anyboday sees all arguments at once and can make their decision
Traditional BCD - pro
- familiarity after certification
- widely available in LDS
- immediately usable "out of the box"
- quickly adjustable to diff. divers
- very low cost models/promos available
Traditional BCD - con
- clutter/squeeze at chest and belly
- complex design with unecessary failure points
- not expandable
- doesn't promote horizontal swimming position
- addtl. weight needed to overcome bouyancy of padding
- can be heavy after dive due to water in padding
BP/W - pro
- no obstructions around chest/belly
- simple & robust design with minimum failure points
- expandable to future needs
- minimum drag in water
- promotes horizontal swimming position
- light travel and after-dive weight
- reduced need for weights
BP/W - cons
- initial familiarization
- less options at LDS/internet order only
- initial setup needed
- more difficult to adjust to different divers
- less low cost choices (but available)
I conciously left out "specialty arguments" like "can be used for side mounts" etc.
I believe it's obvious there is valid pros and cons for both.
I do believe both are valid choices for many types of diving including novices. BP/W needs some more upfront effort and rewards with practical advantages later - if the diver cares for them. The BCD is the quick and easy choice that "works out of the box" and is perfectly usable for many, as long as their preferences don't change.
Safe diving by one happy BP/W user
d.s.f.