Jacket Style BCD Recommendations

[SM Diver]

jonnythan once bubbled...


I think I disagree. Most all jacket BC's have quick release buckles on the shoulder straps. Unclip them, open the cummerbund, and you're not at all attached to the BC anymore. In the case of a webbing harness, you need to either be able to slip downward out of it or have the room to remove your arms by rolling.

Ok. The one's I've used don't. That would be a good feature to look for, if you've decided on vest.

 

[leadweight]

I am thinkong of, well heck, I don't know. After all, nothing is what it seems to be in something as simple as holding a tank on my back.

How about a third unsolicited opinion, like cement blocks.

 

[Mouth Breather old]

metridium once bubbled...
Ten or so of varying brands and sizes were enough of a representative sample for me...

Ten or so varying brands and sizes? Really?...No seriously...ten of them? I'm not sure I could even name ten manufacturers. AND VARYING SIZES??? Man where do you live? It sounds like gear heaven. Varying sizes? How much has your body changed since the time you got certified?

I guess if I had tried 10 different brands of various size and none of them worked I would wonder how much of it was me. Just a thought...not trying to antagonize you. But if I tried 10 of anything (skis, cars, computers, running shoes, rifles) and didn't like any of them I would wonder if it was me.










Ten? Really?

 

[metridium]

Mouth Breather wrote...
Ten? Really?

Yup. Tried on a couple of brands in OWT, including switching between sizes within brands to find the best fit. The other times were rentals from several different ops, and one or two loaners from other divers.

BTW, it was ten jacket BCs of various brands and shapes, not ten different brands.

Mouth Breather wrote...
I guess if I had tried 10 different brands of various size and none of them worked I would wonder how much of it was me. Just a thought...not trying to antagonize you. But if I tried 10 of anything (skis, cars, computers, running shoes, rifles) and didn't like any of them I would wonder if it was me.

If I'd been equally unhappy with the backplate, yes. But it wasn't.

I customized it to a perfect fit, so there was no more swimming around inside the BC, so to speak.

The air bladder's on the back, not on the front/side in a position to constrict breathing when inflated.

The difference between the two types for me was like the difference between driving a large SUV/pickup and a sports car in city traffic.

 

[Mouth Breather old]

metridium once bubbled...

Bottom line: I would most likely have quit diving if I hadn't found something remarkably better.

So, coming full circle back to your earlier post...if you had tried 10 SUV's and didn't like them. AND you couldn't find anything better...would you quit driving?

I guess I am saying that no mattter what I use I enjoy diving. The people who drove crappy cars in the 70's prpbably enjoyed driving as did the people who skied wooden skis in th 40's.

If someone were to take away by nice back inflate BC and told me for the rest of my life I had to use a jacket....I would still dive!!!

 

[metridium]

Mouth Breather wrote...
So, coming full circle back to your earlier post...if you had tried 10 SUV's and didn't like them. AND you couldn't find anything better...would you quit driving?

You mean if I didn't need to drive?

If I were to drive purely recreationally - and I'm not the type to do that - then, no, I wouldn't drive a vehicle that negated the fun value of the drive.

 

[Mouth Breather old]

You would really quit diving if you had to use a jacket BC?

It would take a lot more than that for me to quit.

 

[metridium]

Mouth Breather wrote...
You would really quit diving if you had to use a jacket BC?

It would take a lot more than that for me to quit.

Those early dives were not really worth the hassle, but nothing short of a catastrophe could make me quit now.

 

[Mouth Breather old]

metridium once bubbled...
Those early dives were not really worth the hassle, but nothing short of a catastrophe could make me quit now.

So if I read you right...you would dive with a jacket BC (even if wasn't your first choice) and find some way to have fun. If all that was available to you on a dive boat in the middle of the ocean was a jacket BC you would rather dive than quit? After the first dive...would you have enough fun to dive the second tank? Or would the fact that "the jacket squeezed too much on the surface" make you stay on the boat.

See the point I'm trying to make especially to the new divers on the board (I know you're not one of them) is that they should have fun diving...don't get so hung up on having to have their first choice in gear in order to have a good time. (Otherwise they end up like a certain Anthony Robbins disciple)

Have FUN...even with gear that isn't the ULTIMATE!

 

[metridium]

Mouth Breather wrote...
So if I read you right...you would dive with a jacket BC (even if wasn't your first choice) and find some way to have fun.

I'd consider it only if my backplate somehow didn't make the trip and I couldn't find a better alternative, and the diving would be worth the extra discomfort.

Mouth Breather wrote...
If all that was available to you on a dive boat in the middle of the ocean was a jacket BC you would rather dive than quit? After the first dive...would you have enough fun to dive the second tank? Or would the fact that "the jacket squeezed too much on the surface" make you stay on the boat.

It all depends on the quality of the diving, doesn't it? If the enjoyment of the dive doesn't outweigh the negative bits, what's the point? Having comfortable, superior equipment makes good dives better, marginal dives worthwhile, and maybe even bad dives break even.

Mouth Breather wrote...
See the point I'm trying to make especially to the new divers on the board (I know you're not one of them) is that they should have fun diving...don't get so hung up on having to have their first choice in gear in order to have a good time.

No, having the right equipment isn't the Alpha and Omega of diving, but it's an integral part of enjoying the dive. If you're distracted by your equipment, you're not enjoying yourself as much.

Ask yourself how you would enjoy a 120' site on a low-end reg that breathes hard and wet, vs. a high-quality reg that lets you focus on your dive instead of your breathing.

Mouth Breather wrote...
Have FUN...even with gear that isn't the ULTIMATE!

We're in full agreement on that...but get gear that maximizes, not diminishes, your fun.