andrethediver
Contributor
I am looking to buy my first BCD. I always travel to dive and do no cold water diving at the moment and want to get an easily packable (preferably into a carry on), weight integrated, light, back inflate BCD.
I was almost ready to pull the trigger on Mares Icon due to easily foldable Quick-pack design, great reviews of the BC and my local shop recommendations. Then I decided to check on SB and elsewhere and quickly learned about a potential design flaw of the weight intergration MRS+ system - it seems there are hundreds of reports of people loosing weight pockets brushing against something at the bottom or even upon water entry. Concerned about this I decided to see what else is there and ended up looking at Scubapro Knighthawk and Zeagle Stiletto at a different shop. Knighthawk has a rigid plastic backplate and I would not say that packing-wise its in the same category as the other BCDs so I dismissed it as soon as I looked at it.
Zeagle rip-cord weight system, although more complicated looks like a safer approach - at least there should be no accidental release of the weights no matter what position you're in and since dropping the weight isn't something you do every other day re-threading the cord procedure isn't that big of a deal. Prices for both BCDs appear to be within the same range. Otherwise, I liked the construction of the Stiletto and the fact that it comes with waist band and double tank bands but I thought it was lacking back padding and I was not so sure about all the plastic bolts and grommets all around the inside of the BCD as I read some reports indicating that those cause piling/fraying of the wetsuit and can be generally annoying.
Can those diving with MRS+ (which seems to be an upgrade of the first generation MRS system) please comment on your recent experience using this system? I am also interested in experiences of other divers traveling with either one of these or other travel-compatible BCDs. Thanks.
PS. And no, I am not interested in BP/W configuration at this time.
I was almost ready to pull the trigger on Mares Icon due to easily foldable Quick-pack design, great reviews of the BC and my local shop recommendations. Then I decided to check on SB and elsewhere and quickly learned about a potential design flaw of the weight intergration MRS+ system - it seems there are hundreds of reports of people loosing weight pockets brushing against something at the bottom or even upon water entry. Concerned about this I decided to see what else is there and ended up looking at Scubapro Knighthawk and Zeagle Stiletto at a different shop. Knighthawk has a rigid plastic backplate and I would not say that packing-wise its in the same category as the other BCDs so I dismissed it as soon as I looked at it.
Zeagle rip-cord weight system, although more complicated looks like a safer approach - at least there should be no accidental release of the weights no matter what position you're in and since dropping the weight isn't something you do every other day re-threading the cord procedure isn't that big of a deal. Prices for both BCDs appear to be within the same range. Otherwise, I liked the construction of the Stiletto and the fact that it comes with waist band and double tank bands but I thought it was lacking back padding and I was not so sure about all the plastic bolts and grommets all around the inside of the BCD as I read some reports indicating that those cause piling/fraying of the wetsuit and can be generally annoying.
Can those diving with MRS+ (which seems to be an upgrade of the first generation MRS system) please comment on your recent experience using this system? I am also interested in experiences of other divers traveling with either one of these or other travel-compatible BCDs. Thanks.
PS. And no, I am not interested in BP/W configuration at this time.
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