Not A Clue On Bcd's

[LioKai]

Lynnemari,
If you have been renting your BCD's up to this point, then you most likely have been using a vest style BCD. You might wish to stick with this concept. The only suggestions that I can offer to you are to keep it simple. You do not need all of the bells and whistles. A simple vest will be fine. Perhaps intagrated weight pockets so you do not need to wear a belt. Check with your local dive shop (LDS) to see what they have to offer. They might have a few different styles that you can test dive in a pool. They might even have a few used BCD's for sale. Many shops that rent gear will sell off their rental gear every year. Your local dive shop might not have the best price but they will most likely have better hands-on service than any mailorder company.
Enjoy the warm water vacation!
Matthew

 

[JonnyB]

Hi,
As you have only dived with rented equipment you have not had the chance to dive in and get used to owning. When this is done then any good brand, is going to be ok, try to see what you local LDS carries and instead of looking blind into brand try to see how far you need to travel to get spare parts, service and other small gimmicks that you might want to purchase.
But as everyone else are adding their 2 cents... so here are my: Halcyon Eclipse
Then you have something to grow in(And by that i mean experience), get to know how to dive DIR straight away while you are still new to diving.

Hope this helps
Kind Regards
Jonny Bekkestad

 

[Willar]

I should have said on my previous post:

I had already decided to try to go with back-inflation style but wasn't going to buy one as expensive as the Black Diamond. However, when I went in they had the BD on closeout because it had the velcro weight ditch system and SeaQuest has switched to a new buckle type. I saved significant money on the closeout, and my buddy has dove with the BD with velcro for many years and never had a problem with it.

The point is, you may not want to spend as much since you aren't sure what you will be comfortable with. You can rent for a while until you know what you like. Some dive shops will let you "rent" one to try on a trip and apply the rent to the purchase if you like it.

 

[kd5izq]

Something to give a lot of thought to, is what do you plan to do with your diving? Are you interested in pursuing certain diving activities? Mostly travel to blue water dives? Vollunteering with your local community's rescue team? Spear Fishing? These choices can very easily have an impact on what kind or style BC you choose. Most of all, remember to get something that you'll be comfortable in and be happy with for at least a couple of years, it's a lot of money to invest. As far as brand goes, as long as you stick with one of the major manufacturers you should be fine regardless. Everyone has their preferences, and usually with good reason, but your the one who has to use this and spend the money on it. My self, I love my Oceanic Chute III. It's extremely comfortable, easy to trim out for a back inflate, pockets galore (unusual for most back inflates), very dependable integrated weight system, padded lumbar, carry handle, very well made. The down side is that it is a little bulky to pack and ...that's about the only downside I've found to it.

Best of luck on your choice!

 

[waterwraith]

Try divesports.com or scuba.com I highly recommend both and between the two they cover a lot of different manufacturers. If you are willing to spend the money I recommend sea-quest black diamond or pro QD+ SL (my personal choice).

 

[neophytediver]

I wouldn't recommend Dive Sports to ANYONE. Extremely over-priced. Not to mention, the actual shop is seriously lacking too. I'd go to LP, then take my quote to scuba.com and have 'em price match it.

 

[TostitoBandito]

I wouldn't recommend Dive Sports to ANYONE. Extremely over-priced. Not to mention, the actual shop is seriously lacking too. I'd go to LP, then take my quote to scuba.com and have 'em price match it.

I'd have to recommend scubatoys.com over scuba.com. I have dealt with both and got much better communication and speedier service from scubatoys. They are both authorized dealers and will match leisurepro prices.

 

[IowaDiver]

My husband and I are also newbies--obviously from Iowa. I am 5'3" and spent a great deal of time looking at BCs for me. I found the Diva LX and the Lady Hawk were my favorites. My husband found that he wasn't nearly as picky about BCs as I. He went with an Oceanic Probe worked well for him.