Gear Recommendations

[rspdiver]

Okay, I am looking for recommendations for BCD's...Here's what we are looking at:

Lifeguard Systems
Zeagle (Tech, Ranger and 911)
OMS

Anybody using these? pros/cons? Likes/Dislikes

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. The BCD would be worn over a harness for tethered diving.

Thanks,

rspdiver.

P.S. (next time I'll post gear issues on the proper forum..oops)

 

[MSilvia]

What's tethered diving? I mean... tethered to what, and for what reason?

 

[cyklon_300]

Diver wears a harness which is connected to a line which is held by a tender on shore.

Used to perform search patterns in PSD work, etc.

 

[MyDiveLog]

The Zeagle Ranger has, in my humble opinion, one of the dumbest integrated weight mechanisms on the market. The weights are based on a nylon cord that is threaded through a series of loops that hold the weight in place. This presents two problems:
1) If you ever take additional training you'll inevitably be doing weight ditch drills. The tedious and time-consuming process of threading the cord through the loops is frustrating and, under water, nearly impossible.

2) In the event that the diver does ditch their weights ... say, when they are panicing on the surface, the weight bags will all fall independently, making them harder to locate.

My recommendation: None of the above. I like the SeaQuest Balance BCD, although the Knighthawk and the ProQD are also great BC's ... Seaquest makes the best BC dump valve (on the inflator hose) on the market. You'll inevitably get a lot of recommendations for the DiveRite BC with wings also ... I saw one this weekend and found it frustrating because it didn't have the quick-release clips (it was a rescue course).

 

[Gary D.]

We are all in the Zegle Tech's.

For Rescue work you don't want your weight in the BC so we don't use the system which I'm not fond of anyway.

We have found it to work great for us and they have for a lot of years. They are tough enough to hold up to haz-mat stuff and lots of abuse.

It was just two years ago when I retired a Zeagle that was so old it had cuunks of the Ark's bottom on it.

What ever you go with wear a seperate harness and DO NOT use the BC rings.

Gary D.

 

[BigJetDriver]

The Zeagle Ranger has, in my humble opinion, one of the dumbest integrated weight mechanisms on the market. The weights are based on a nylon cord that is threaded through a series of loops that hold the weight in place. This presents two problems:
1) If you ever take additional training you'll inevitably be doing weight ditch drills. The tedious and time-consuming process of threading the cord through the loops is frustrating and, under water, nearly impossible.

2) In the event that the diver does ditch their weights ... say, when they are panicing on the surface, the weight bags will all fall independently, making them harder to locate.

I would have to strongly echo DiveLog's comments. I had one for a short time. It was extremely difficult to manage the weight on-and-off operation. I sold it for a considerable loss. Seemed like a good idea at the time---Duh!!

P.S.---Gary D. is absolutely right. You must use a separate body harness (such as a Miller) to clip the tether onto.

 

[MSilvia]

Forgive my ignorance, but why must you not use the BC rings for a tether connection(assuming you have good stainless steel rings, and not POS plastic)?

 

[rspdiver]

Forgive my ignorance, but why must you not use the BC rings for a tether connection(assuming you have good stainless steel rings, and not POS plastic)?

As public safety divers, doing searches, we are tethered to a shore tender and usually diving solo in blackwater. This means you must be proficient to perform a self rescue and/or clear obstacles.

If for some reason you must remove your BC to clear an obstacle or entanglement, you are still tethered to the shore tender and your safety diver can hook on and come down the tender line to assist if needed. If your line is hooked onto your BC, and for some unknown reason you lose your BC, things could get really bad... Thats the reason for the harness.

rspdiver

 

[rspdiver]

Thanks for everyone's input....I actually purchased a ZEAGLE Ranger last month and have to agree....The iw system is difficult to deal with, but i do like some other features on it, ...We demo'd a Lifeguard Systems BCD last month and really liked that, however, it was not a back inflator and had lots of pockets on the front for storing gear, it collected alot of mud and debris in the pockets when doing bottom searches.

Bottom Line, I still don't know.

 

[MSilvia]

Okay, thanks... that makes a lot of sense.

As for the BC recommendation, since you're looking at back-inflate systems and no one else has mentioned it, have you considered bp/wing as an option?