Jacket or back-inflation bc?

[nalfein]

I don't know about tech diving.... but my wife and I both switched to back inflation a few months ago and neither of us would ever go back.
I find it tends to position me in a horizontal position at depth without pushing me on my face on the surface. I didn't feel like I was working to maintain a horizontal hover with the jacket, but I'm conscious now of a more relaxed dive with better trim characteristics. Plus there is no sense of squeeze with the wing, not that I spend much time with a lot of air in the bladder, but it is noticeable.
I'd be surprised if you went to a wing and were displeased with the choice... just my experience.

dive safe folks.

chris

 

[jplacson]

Ok, first off... I use a Halcyon Pioneer 27 rig. I always borrowed BC prior to my first purchase to get a feel of everything out on the market... rented a few stab-jackets, back-inflate BC...and borrowed a Zeagle Ranger and seriously considered getting one as well.

Why I got a BP/W? Well, to make it easier to understand, wearing a jacket BC is as restrictive as wearing an arctic jacket. I always felt like the Michelin Man. My original choices were the Zeagle Ranger (the NAVY seals look cool in them) or a BP/W setup.

I ended up with the Halcyon cuz I learned that as good as the Ranger is, it offered way too much lift for my single-tank needs, and I liked the firmness of a BP over the softback of the Zeagle line-up.

What I love about back-inflate BCs? The BC feels the same fully inflated as is does fully deflated. It just feels like you're wearing a comfy back-pack, rather than a whole clunky rig.

 

[MikeFerrara]

"I don't find that a jacket (or any bc really) does a very good job of stabalizing the tank on the back."

The days of diving without a BC are long gone (except when odd balls like me dive vintage), so diving without a BC is not really an option for the vast majority of divers.

Funny reply. We use a bc (wing) but we don't rely on it to hold the tank. A plate and harness does that for us.

 

[MikeFerrara]

"The back inflation has some advantages when used in technical diving."

What advantages?

I listed some above.

In addition to the balance and stability advantages you with a harness and wing you get a place to put you're can light and backup lights in a mannor that's streamline and easily deployable.

We clip the back end of the light to a d-ring and bungie down the front end to a shoulder strap. When the light is deployed we pull it through the fron bungie and turn it on before unclipping the back end. The light can be used to illuminate in front of you when you need both hands free without ever unclipping it from the shoulder d-ring. It's far more functional than putting it in a pocket.

The wing/back infation keeps the front of the diver clear for things that need to be there.

the harness also makes it easy to carry stage and decompression bottles and again the advantage of not having your air bladder between you and them. I'm not sure how you'd carry them at all with a jacket. Keep in mind it's common for us to carry three and when doing set up dives we've carried up to six in addition to our doubles.

 

[jplacson]

Don't forget... BP/W make you look cooler! More 'industrial'! :lol: hehehehe!

 

[Ari]

Walter,

IMHO, the back inflated design, and especially a harness and wing setup (wheter BP or other) gives you a "cleaner" frontal area, with many possibilities to hang/attach equipment. In most cases it is also less restrictive.

Ari

 

[rgo]

Thanks for all the replies.
A couple of weeks after I first posted, I went ahead and bought a zeagle ss backplate and 44-lb wings. I went on 10 dives with it in early April.
The first 3 dives were spent getting used to the new setup. Initially, while it was quite easy to keep myself in a horizontal, face down position, I noticed the bc had a slight tendency to roll and push me onto my back (face directly to the surface). Placing a weight near the tank (on the top tank strap) however neutralised most of this rolling push. By the tenth dive, I think I got adjusted enough to the new kit, and yes, started to appreciate the lack of chest squeeze, etc.
A question that has come up though is how to secure the wings' inflator hose to the rest of the kit. I noticed the inflator hose dangling vertically during most of the dives, and it became a bit of an annoyance. Any suggestion on this?

 

[japan-diver]

I use a little bit of bungy cord to attach to my sholder strap by the d-ring.

 

[Jeddah Aquanaut]

I found this thread to be really useful. I am just shy of 200 dives, all with a Scuba Pro classic jacket-style BCD. I am leaning toward buying a BI style BC, and have seen a Mares Jubilee MRS for a good price. It feels more comfortable and looks more stylish. Also, it just looks less bulky. I've seen many jacket types and as cool as they are advertised, they look like you could store enough supplies in the pockets to last a week if stranded on the surface. Immense. I just need to try one first, but am fairly certain I'll make the switch. Anyone with the above mentioned BC out there? Thanks, and thanks to rgo for the very pertinent thread. Cheers!

 

[Santa]

Definately an advantage in cold water. The heavy suits, and additional weight makes it so much easier to feel constricted in a regular vest. At least that's how I feel.