AlantaDiver
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Got certified a year ago and want to buy some equipment. I especially want a BC. Any ideas?
Hey guys! New from Atlanta...
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Welcome to SB. There is a wealth of information here. You interested in a BCD or a Backplate and wing? Do you have a brand preference? I don't see how many dives you have by your profile.
drrich2
Contributor
Tell us more about what sort of diving you will be doing. Where BC's are concerned, as you'll see from various discussions, you might consider:
1.) Jacket BCD's - make it easy to stay upright floating at the surface, don't lend themselves to as easily achieving horizontal trim during your dive from what I'm told, probably the most common option.
2.) Rear Inflate BCD's - I think they're intended to help with that horizontal trim issue; haven't read a lot about them, but some people prefer them.
1.) & I assume 2.) raise the question of weight-integrated vs. not. I strongly prefer weight-integrated, but even if you wanted to use a weight belt, with a weight-integrated BCD you still could, but without one? Well, hope you like a weight belt...
3.) BP/W - Back Plate with Wing. Puts most of the 'stuff' on your back, without wrapping around you the way a jacket does. Instead 'webbing' (cloth straps) come around & secure it to you. Very modular and customizable. Popular with tech. divers, but a lot of recreational divers like them.
Never mind side-mount rigs for now, unless you want to bring 2 tanks on your dive.
Hope I didn't manage to screw anything up. Just trying to give you a basic intro. overview.
Richard.
1.) Jacket BCD's - make it easy to stay upright floating at the surface, don't lend themselves to as easily achieving horizontal trim during your dive from what I'm told, probably the most common option.
2.) Rear Inflate BCD's - I think they're intended to help with that horizontal trim issue; haven't read a lot about them, but some people prefer them.
1.) & I assume 2.) raise the question of weight-integrated vs. not. I strongly prefer weight-integrated, but even if you wanted to use a weight belt, with a weight-integrated BCD you still could, but without one? Well, hope you like a weight belt...
3.) BP/W - Back Plate with Wing. Puts most of the 'stuff' on your back, without wrapping around you the way a jacket does. Instead 'webbing' (cloth straps) come around & secure it to you. Very modular and customizable. Popular with tech. divers, but a lot of recreational divers like them.
Never mind side-mount rigs for now, unless you want to bring 2 tanks on your dive.
Hope I didn't manage to screw anything up. Just trying to give you a basic intro. overview.
Richard.
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AlantaDiver
Registered
Not sure what you mean with what type of diving. I learned in lakes but want to go dive the ocean. I've got fourteen dives over the past year and hope to go somewhere cool like the Keys or the Bahamas. I'll be doing the diving they do there, I guess. Every time I ask the guy at the shop he brings out these multi thousand dollar packages. I'm a mechanic and my fiancé is a hair dresser. We have to budget the gear and still afford to travel.
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There are lots of good used gear for sale on ScubaBoard. I bought my very first Backplate and Wing here. I'm sure you can find just what you need in classified.
drrich2
Contributor
For mainstream recreational diving, most any of the BCD categories I listed would work.
If you believed you had a passion to get into cave diving, deep wreck penetration, or go beyond recreational depths and into technical diving (such as with 2 tanks on your back), then starting out with a BP/W setup could help you avoid buying again later. From what I understand only a small minority of divers go into technical diving.
I'm just a 'jacket guy,' but when I got into diving that's all I knew of, and it works fine for me, so I've little incentive to change.
This may or may not be good. Your gear setup may well feature 3 main 'big ticket' items; your dive computer (fairly likely to be the most expensive), your regulator & your BCD. Sometimes, package deals can give good savings, but make sure you actually want all the stuff in that package, or ask about making substitutions. If you show us the stuff in the package & the price, perhaps we can comment on it.
A jacket is perhaps the most common & simplest 'plug & play,' take it off the rack, put it on and go option.
A BP/W will make you answer questions; steel backplate (heavier, you don't need to add as much lead) vs. aluminum (travels lighter for your plane luggage restriction), whether you want padding, and so forth. If I were going for a BP/W, I'd want someone familiar with it to help me out with figuring out what to get, getting it fitted, etc...
Richard.
I used to be heavily into cave diving, and deep deco diving, and the wings/harness/backplate design is much better for tech diving, where you're toting extra tanks and other gear. But I also am very comfortable in an archaic vest style BCD, and even used to do deep wall dives with a sidemounted aluminum 80 tank, while wearing a Seaquest BCD, and it was perfectly fine (though, for back-mounted doubles and sidemounts in the caves, a wings/harness/backplate design is far superior).
But, it sounds like you're starting out and just looking for solid,basic gear, that doesn't cost a mint, in which case, a jacket/vest style is just fine (if not ideal). A lot of guys here have wings/backplate on the brain, and equate a BCD vest to diving in lead boots and a brass diving hat, LOL, but vest-style BCD's are still very solid,functional pieces of gear (and are often lighter and cheaper than a full wings/backplate rig).
You can go the used route, but it's easy to walk into someone elses problem, especially if you're not very knoweldgeable or experienced (and sometimes, even if you are!)
Do some reading and research before jumping into anything, and with careful shopping, you can find lots of great deals, on brand new stuff.
To answer your question, I would take a look at the Cressi Start BCD, at Leisure Pro. First off, if you're not familiar with them, Leisure Pro is a fantastic operation, with killer prices and selection, and they allow you to return stuff that doesn't fit or that you just don't like, and they'll ship you a replacement, for free ! It's pretty tough to go wrong with that.
Anyway, that Cressi BCD is a very simple and solidly constructed unit (10 denier nylon) without all the dopey frills that most companies goober-up their stuff with (like integrated weight pouches that get lost and cost a fortune to replace. What the hell was ever wrong with a $5 weight belt ???)
(here you go >........Cressi Start BCD )
The Cressi BCD is only $179, delivered, which is tough to beat, and virtually all reviews, from all over, are excellent (and I concur). And, at $179, it's not like you blew a big pile of money on a vest, and will later wish you had all that money back so you could buy a set of wings. Also, it's actually ok to own more than one BCD.
Hope this was helpful, good luck (from down near Columbus !!
)
But, it sounds like you're starting out and just looking for solid,basic gear, that doesn't cost a mint, in which case, a jacket/vest style is just fine (if not ideal). A lot of guys here have wings/backplate on the brain, and equate a BCD vest to diving in lead boots and a brass diving hat, LOL, but vest-style BCD's are still very solid,functional pieces of gear (and are often lighter and cheaper than a full wings/backplate rig).
You can go the used route, but it's easy to walk into someone elses problem, especially if you're not very knoweldgeable or experienced (and sometimes, even if you are!)
Do some reading and research before jumping into anything, and with careful shopping, you can find lots of great deals, on brand new stuff.
To answer your question, I would take a look at the Cressi Start BCD, at Leisure Pro. First off, if you're not familiar with them, Leisure Pro is a fantastic operation, with killer prices and selection, and they allow you to return stuff that doesn't fit or that you just don't like, and they'll ship you a replacement, for free ! It's pretty tough to go wrong with that.
Anyway, that Cressi BCD is a very simple and solidly constructed unit (10 denier nylon) without all the dopey frills that most companies goober-up their stuff with (like integrated weight pouches that get lost and cost a fortune to replace. What the hell was ever wrong with a $5 weight belt ???)
(here you go >........Cressi Start BCD )
The Cressi BCD is only $179, delivered, which is tough to beat, and virtually all reviews, from all over, are excellent (and I concur). And, at $179, it's not like you blew a big pile of money on a vest, and will later wish you had all that money back so you could buy a set of wings. Also, it's actually ok to own more than one BCD.
Hope this was helpful, good luck (from down near Columbus !!
)
Last edited:
TracysaCADiver
Contributor
I recently got this, and switched out the computer for an Oceanic Pro Plus. The BCD is a Hybrid, in other words, it's one that's a mix of Jacket and Back inflate. It's also weight integrated, so you don't need a weight belt.
The computer that I bought with it is also air integrated, which means it tells you how much actual time that you have underwater with the amount of air that you have in your tank, and there are also big numbers on it, so if the vision starts to go as one gets a little older, it's still easier to read.
Here's the link: Scubapro Equalizer BC, Reg and Computer Package | Dolphin Scuba Center
Also these guys have great customer service, and will match any price. They also will work with you if you want to do what I did and change out pieces and parts. Fortunately, these guys are also my LDS, so I am a little spoiled with that.
No, I don't work for them... they are just that good. Really good.
T.C.
Contributor
MULTI-thousand? Does the reg come plated in gold? Dive gear is expensive, but shouldn't be that expensive.
Atlanta? I used to live near there. Down in Newnan is a good shop that always did well for me; Peachtree Dive Center. They can help you out with what you need.
I'd steer him to Planet Ocean, but Columbus is a little far. Do you know if Jerry's still doing well?Hope this was helpful, good luck (from down near Columbus !!
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