New divers and BCs

[Miller64]

I think I may be able to add something for new divers and BCs.New divers are always asking what BC to buy.Zeagle,Cressi,Mares,Oceanic,Scubapro,ect are all good.What do you think you will be doing 2-3 years from now.What can you afford now.What can you afford 2-3 years from now.If your like me and want to be a recreational diver for a couples of years,I suggest,as many do here,a back inflate,more comfortable,streamlined than a jacket,less pockets,but easier to use,bouyancy,ect.The forward push is easy to deal with.In 2 -3 years,I decide to move to more than recreational.I can afford to go BW/P,but my back inflate will serve me well until then.If you can afford it now and have plans to do doubles,ect,get a BP/w now.If you have $300 now,wait ,save abit more and get what will suite you down the road.if you think you will be able to afford a BP/W later,but not now,,get a BI and enjoy it.I know I'm not as experienced as a lot on here,but I have been reading SB alot and see the same questions,same answers,so I am tryng to give a simplified version here to new divers,BUY THE BP/W IF YOU CAN,IF YOU WANT THAT LATER ON.IF YOU WANT TO PLAY,HAVE FUN and later on get into BP/w,,get a BI.You will be happier with a BI,over a jacket.

 

[Miller64]

after rereading,my typing and spelling sucks,,but you can get the idea

 

[Sas]

BP/W is cheaper so why get a back inflate-BC over a BP/W if you only intend to use it for 2-3 years? I wish I'd gotten a BP/W straight up as they are way more comfortable, and would have been $200 cheaper.

Fair enough if you find the back-inflate BC more comfortable, but then you wouldn't bother getting a BP/W at all.

 

[Coldwater_Canuck]

I don't know if beginners should get BP/W or not, but I wish they'd done a better job with explaining some of the equipment in OW class. The impression I got was "at this point, the only normal thing to purchase is jacket styles". I just looked at my PADI book and it mentions back inflate models (which they didn't even bother to seperate from BP/W) as something basically for double tanks.

I know it's a beginners course, but many people will be buying a BCD not long after this course, they could do a better job of explaining the differences. I'm lucky I found this site or I may have limited my search to jacket models (since sites tend to seperate BCDs by the types).

Also to the original poster, doubles and other advanced diving do not necessarily require a BP/W. I know the Ranger allows double tanks with slight modifications and is often advertised for technical diving. It is also modular, so the bladder could be updated to a redundant system with more lift while keeping the rest of the BCD the same. I assume there are other models built like this.

Personally, with my knowledge I just didn't want the hassle of a BP/W and really don't understand them that well.

 

[Miller64]

There you go,,,If you have a long term plan,from what I see,go with a BP/W,,dont waste the money on a BI,I may never need a BP/w,but I can get it later if I have a need.Me personally,It will take 2-3 years to see what I may want to do,and a gain,I can change if I need.I am just trying to get new divers to maybe think about the future.Do you need/want a BP/W later? Do what you can to get it now,See the big picture.I may wish I had gone BP/W sooner,but I will enjoy the BI now and for awhile til I see where I am going.This thread was intended to get comments and thought s out front for new divers wanting to know what to get,thanks for the input..maybe we can help a few save money and get what they need/want in the beginning,maybe simpify it for some......Safe diving to ya

 

[NudeDiver]

What do you think you will be doing 2-3 years from now.What can you afford now.What can you afford 2-3 years from now.If your like me and want to be a recreational diver for a couples of years...

I don't think it is that complicated - at least not for me. First question is, do you NEED to buy a BC? If your goal in diving is to make a once (or maybe twice) a year trip of some kind, then I'm not so sure one even needs to buy a BC. You can just rent one and call it good. Even if it costs you $50/trip to rent a BC, you'd have to make a lot of trips before you get to the cost of buying one.

Now - assuming one wants to dive "locally" - wherever "locally" may be, then it seems like it would make sense to buy one. So, what to buy? For me, it was a reasonably easy decision. I bought my BC before the first pool session. I wanted to train with the same thing I would be diving with, and I knew I would be making a 50 dive trip to Australia immediately after my OW course, and I also knew that trip would represent the majority of my dives for quite some time - so if I were EVER going to buy a BC, I should buy it before that trip....so I didn't have much "lead time" to decide what to buy.

I didn't know about SCUBABoard and did no research, and just relied on their advice. I know, not the way to do things, and not what I normally do with things, but in this case, its what I did. I ended up paying full price at the LDS - and definitely could have done better "elsewhere". Sure wish I had that to do over again. I would have tried to talk them down - or SOMETHING.

I needed something suitable for cold water, drysuit diving. My LDS only had 2 or 3 that would meet the need (and nothing in a BP/W). As it was, I bought the Seaquest Black Diamond, which is a back-inflate with the ability to carry a fair amount of weight and provides a fair amount of lift - which is what I need for local diving. I really like this BC too. Had I had it to do over again, I would have done independent research and got edumacated - but I probably would have bought the same BC - or possibly a BP/W - but that dive shop was not in town at the time and I had no clue about such things.

As for the "what will you be doing in 2-3 years from now" thing - I didn't see how it would possibly be any different from what I would be doing initially. Here it is, 5 years later, and that's still true. In 2-3 years from now (7-8 years after initial certification), I hope to still be using the original BC I bought. However, a few years ago, I did buy a lightweight (jacket style) BC for travel purposes. My main BC is rather bulky for this purpose - which I found after taking it to Australia. In retrospect, I think maybe I should have not bought it, and just kept using my main BC. I didn't realize that I can "break it down" a bit for travel, but now I do...so, oh well. Live and learn.

Once my main BC wears out, I'll probably buy a BP/W - not because I necessarily NEED one (i.e. doing tech stuff), but just because it seems like a better way to go. However, I'm not going to replace perfectly good equipment to get there. That's why I don't take the GUE Fundamentals course. I just can't justify replacing perfectly good equipment (and quite expensive) that meets my needs, no matter HOW much much better the alternative is.

Hope this helps....someone.

Cheers!
nd

 

[Miller64]

altho.I need to add age to this..I'm 52,I may never go doubles,cave,ect.If your young and just starting,and can afford it,,look and see what the future holds,dry suite,doubles,tech,,,from what I see again,if I were younger,and after reading a lot,,I may have gone BP/w right off the bat because it's expandable,,but happy with BI ,,for now,,,i'm not old or broke down,,I may do some tech and cool stuff later,but again,I can get what I need when I want it..Lets help the new and up and coming younguns.Most ,like me had to get the best,useable,? what we could afford at first,but as life goes on,,we can get more .Think what you may do,want to do,,,if you can get a BP/W now,get it.Not to argue,but save some time of running all the other posts of the same questions,over and over..Lets get them info here and now..and have some fun

 

[Miller64]

Lots of people,,me one,,dont like rental..I lke my own...even if i use it twice a year,,which I plan on diving a bunch,somewhere,somehow,,,

 

[Sas]

I did research on my BC (I dive locally so it was worthwhile for me to buy one) and I heard about BP/W + backinflate ones on Scubaboard (before that I didn't know there was anything beyond jacket style). I went to my LDS to ask for a BP/W but they told me 'only technical divers wear them, you don't need one at all'. They said they could sell me a backinflate one. I trusted their advice over what I had read here and bought the backinflate one (wish I'd listened to here over a shop now, and these days I do ).

Now not even a year after getting certified I want to set up doubles and my current BC won't handle doubles greater than two 7's. So I need a BP/W... wish I'd gotten it straight away! Also I tried out a BP/W before (tks almitywife ) and it was very comfortable, much more so than my back inflate BC. My back inflate BC is much more comfortable than the jacket BCs I used to rent before I bought so I guess it could have been worse - could have started with a jacket one

The shop I am going to by my BP/W from, I went into there early on when I started diving and the store person asked 'why didn't you buy a BP/W??' I wish I'd gone there first! He recommends them straight away for new divers - cheaper, more modular and also most people find them more comfortable.

 

[Miller64]

more good advice...thanks saspotato