Has anyone seen or used the new Scubapro Hydros Pro BCD

[Tchau]

I finally saw a Hydros with the modified bungees..

In order to see it, you have to remove the wing and look at the backplate. The “mod” is recessed into the BP. I repeat - this cannot be seen without removing the wing. It is really not obvious. The only way to tell is by tugging gently on one side of the bungee and seeing if you get a corresponding movement on the other side. You cannot retrofit this into an old BC. And there is no free upgrade from SP.

Can you please share the LDS and address/website? Thanks

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

First, let's be clear. @tridacna noted that you can't SEE the update without removing the wing. Don't be distracted by that. You don't need to SEE it to know if it's there. As tridacna also noted, if you just pull gently on the wing on one side, if it does not have the update, it will pull away from the back plate and the opposite side of the wing will be pulled towards the back plate. If it DOES have the update, when you pull on one side, the other side will not move.

Second, I think any wing - even a wing on a Back Plate and Wing rig, will let you create problems for yourself if you don't demonstrate some basic competency with using it. When you are in horizontal trim, the air cell on ANY BCD is going to float up at the sides and duck down under the tank at the front/top and rear/bottom.

That means that air cannot move freely from one side to the other. When you are horizontal, air is not going to shift from one side of the wing to the other by running down to pass under the tank. Air in your BCD is always going to go to the highest point.

So, if you do a barrel roll, or just roll to one side and back, or put air in your BCD while you are rolled slightly to one side or the other, you can end up with more air in one side of your BCD than the other. It's not going to balance out until and unless you do something like go vertical, to get it all to the top of the wing and let it balance itself from side to side.

This is part of the reason the more forward thinking wing manufacturers have narrowed up their single tank wings so much, to reduce taco’ing and the affects of having sides that wrap around the tank excessively and trap air at the highest points on each side. The bottom crossover can be used just as easily as the top crossover, you just go butt up for a second and air will cross over and balance out. This is why I’m still a huge fan of full 360 donut wings and dislike horseshoe designs.

 

[Tchau]

Mine arrived from LP the other week, what am I specifically looking at on the bungee to see if it's the updated version?

Hey @FezUSA, I just received mine from LP yesterday. Only the lowest bungee is locked in the center of backplate by a piece of metal. Would you mind check yours? Thanks

 

[Anish]

I have the Scubapro Hydros and was experiencing the unbalanced air issue when it was new. A dive master suggested rinsing the inside and then storing it inflated. That stopped the fabric from sticking to itself and creating air pockets. Still sometimes on the surface if I put a lot of air into it it can feel unbalanced, but only at the end of the dive. In the beginning when my tank is full its fine even on the surface and inflated. But overall I still like it. I got the large(based on their size charts) but medium would have been Ok. On the large I am fully tight and comfortable on a 3 mil suit. On a rash guard only its a tad looser than Id like.

 

[stuartv]

...I’m still a huge fan of full 360 donut wings and dislike horseshoe designs.

Ditto!

 

[T Mogle]

Ditto!

That means ditching the Scubapro Hydros Pro altogether. SP X-Tek with hardness and wing of your own choice is a better alternative every time.

 

[stuartv]

That means ditching the Scubapro Hydros Pro altogether. SP X-Tek with hardness and wing of your own choice is a better alternative every time.

Why? The Hydros is a donut right?

And if you're choosing another harness and wing, why would you specifically want to choose a SP X-Tek back plate? If I were buying a BP by itself, I'd be looking at Deep6 or Dive Gear Express.

 

[T Mogle]

@stuartv You are right Hydros is a donut!

I suggested X-tex just to stay with Scubapro.

 

[Kalicocat]

I just sent mine on Friday to our distributor to get all of the upgrades and bungie fix, I should get it back towards the end of next week. I have seen the latest units with the bungie fix and all 3 bungies are fixed to the back of the plate so that there is no movement of the wings from side to side. Here's hoping mine comes back the same. Mine was so bad that air would migrate to the right by just looking at it, you didn't have to be wearing it. Trim weights were impossible to use due to this issue. If the fixes are not the same as a new Rev 3 unit and still cause me issues, I might jump to a Lotus. I tried a ladies Zena this week and had a tough time getting the zipper done up once the weights were in the pockets and the BC was strapped to the tank. I'm sure it would have been easier on dry land but this was a shore dive. Otherwise it was the best fitting BCD I've ever worn.

 

[tridacna]

Which “upgrades”? Are you talking about the shoulder strap replacements? That’s a recall, not an upgrade. SP is not fixing the bungees on existing BCDs; I’m not sure what your LDS is doing about that.