First BCD

[shoturtle]

That's not quite what he said. He said that he was looking at a couple of products and there weren't a lot of options at his LDS. In that context, suggesting that he check out a vendor like DSS seems to make sense.

If you have follow the op posts, even after the recommendations about z, he has always comes back to x and y. Never mention z. He seems like he really wants the opionion about x and y not z.

 

[Matt S.]

I'll freely admit I could have read the OP's posts more carefully.

 

[shoturtle]

I'll freely admit I could have read the OP's posts more carefully.

That was the reason for my post #75

we had 5 pages on the bp/w and all the op wants were opinion of black inflates. But form my reading of the whole thread, that ****storm brewed up because the bp/w side wanted to state again, that it is the end all be all equipment.

 

[rstofer]

You guys are right! The OP only wanted opinions re: Zeagle Escape and that French thing.

As I will never buy anything made in France, the Zeagle gets my vote. By all accounts, Zeagle makes great products and has terrific support. I have a couple of their regulator bags and they are outstanding.

Richard

 

[shoturtle]

You guys are right! The OP only wanted opinions re: Zeagle Escape and that French thing.

As I will never buy anything made in France, the Zeagle gets my vote. By all accounts, Zeagle makes great products and has terrific support. I have a couple of their regulator bags and they are outstanding.

Richard

Nothing wrong with French made stuff, the A320 is a more comfortable plane then the 737. It has a better cost per passenger then the 737. They make some nice clothes and other stuff. If you buy a nissan, you are buying french as renault owns it.

 

[Bonairetrip]

I do realize as a beginner I will not be diving with a tremendous about of weight but I would like to buy a bc that will last me passed beginner status. I am also thinking what if a fin strap breaks and loose a fin. I'm sure I will need some sort of help to make it to the surface. Would it be better to ditch some weight or inflate the bc some? Just to let you all know I tend to way overthink things.

If needed, you would use the BC -- it can be adjusted up and down. Dumping weights is much less precise (it is hard to dump weights in a 1# increment), can't be easily reversed (the lead is at the bottom and it hard to get it back on your person) especially as you will likely become more bouyant as you rise in the water column, and costs you money (to replace the lost weights).

1) If you inspect your fin straps regularly and replace them when appropriate, a break is a very rare case.
2) When diving, you should be neutral. When neutral, you should be able to swim up easily with one fin. If you had to, you could add some air to the bc (a few puffs and then be ready to dump air as you ascend).
3) Dumping your weights, for me, is only if the #@! has hit the fan. The most common scenario (and that would be rare) would be at the surface in choppy conditions and you are unable to inflate your BC (catastropic failure of the bladder, etc.) Scenarios at depth that come to mind (although none would apply to you): catastrophic failure of a shell drysuit, getting caught in a giant downdraft, major BC failue combined with being overweighted.
4) A properly weighted diver is what you want to be. Often, newer divers tend to be over weighted and find they can do without some of the ballast as they gain confidence and skills.

 

[Bonairetrip]

The one downfall it seemed the beuchat had was the lift was high for a beginner non tech diver. From most of the looking around i have found for the bp/w setup they all seem to high lift also. For now I am interested in back inflated bc's.

Not trying to talk you in to anything but, to clarify, with a bp/w you get to pick each component. The wings vary in lift a great deal (using just one brand of wings, you can buy a wing with 12, 17, 20, 26, 30, 35, 38, 40, 42, 49, 50 or 57 pounds of lift). Some of those are singles wings and some doubles.

Lots of pros and cons of different choices but lack of lift choices just isn't one of them.

 

[JenCell]

Hello all,
My wife and I just got back from vacation were we took a resort course scuba dive. We loved it. I now want to get certified. I have been reading on SB for a while and think I want to purchase my dive gear before the class so I can learn in my own gear. I know you all are going to say go to the LDS and try them before you buy, but in southern Iowa there is not much option for that. I have been looking zeagle escape and Beuchat Masterlift TEK. The latter of the two does not seem to be very popular but seems to have alot of desirable features as I progress in diving. Any thoughts are welcome.
Thanks,
Steve

Get fitted with a BP/W because the more you will progress the more you will find the BC suck...so it's better to buy the best first right? will save you money! But I would not buy right away just to do the course...it takes time to choose what's right for you. Visit shops that carry them, talk to experienced diver, you came to the right place, welcome to diving!

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Get fitted with a BP/W because the more you will progress the more you will find the BC suck...so it's better to buy the best first right? will save you money! But I would not buy right away just to do the course...it takes time to choose what's right for you. Visit shops that carry them, talk to experienced diver, you came to the right place, welcome to diving!

Did you read any of the thread, including the original post you quoted?!!!?

Why is it so hard for many of you to not answer questions by not posting. Instead you do not answer questions by posting, which makes you appear to have little reading comprehension.

 

[RonFrank]

While there's nothing 'wrong' with having different rigs, there are downsides.

For most divers, it's impractical.

Don't think that BP/W divers have less equipment, quite the opposite.

It SOUNDS good to have one BP, and multiple wings, and some divers do in fact do exactly that. But the cost of a BP is not the issue, the cost of a wing is. So many divers find that it is easier just to buy multiple BP's for different applications.

For example, my BP is a singes rig, and I want it heavy. If I purchase a double bladder, my choice in a BP would be Alum because I don't need a lot of weight to dive doubles.

If I wanted a warm water BP setup, my current BP would not be the best choice as it is heavier than what I need to dive warm water salt conditions.

Most folks that dive BP/W's may only have a couple wings, but they almost always have two or more BP's. These folks don't show up with less gear, they show up with more compared to the average rec diver.