please tell me your fav bc & why

[ew1usnr]

BIGSAGE136 once bubbled...
WASNT A BAD SETUP. CAN YOU GET ME ONE?

Unfortunately, the Dacor Nautilus is no longer manufactured. The people I know who have tried it agreed that it was a pleasant piece of equipment to dive with. But there was so much of a mind set in the diving community against trying something new, that it was never alowed to take off. "Experts" jumped all over it without even knowing what it was. Especially if their shop didn't sell it. The Nautilus was a truly innovative product with a lot of engineering thought built into it. Its a shame that blind conservatism can stifle creative new concepts such as this.

D.I.R.W.A.N. = Do it Right with a Nautilus

 

[ScottyK]

ew1usnr once bubbled...
.
Total dependence on a BC does not strike me as a DIR way of thinking.

Show me where I said that, and I'll glady retract it.

What I said was, know your equipments potential failure points, and have a plan to deal with them.

If you don't put blind faith in any equipment then we're in complete agreement there.

Scott

 

[ew1usnr]

ScottyK once bubbled...
Show me where I said that, and I'll glady retract it. What I said was, know your equipments potential failure points, and have a plan to deal with them.

I was not quoting you directly. I was responding to what seemed to me to be your belief that a BC failure is an automatically life threatening situation. And you seem to automatically assume that a standard BC is somehow inherently safer than a Nautilus even though I just explained the limitations inherent with a standard BC (different ways they can produce run-away ascents). Ones that the Nautilus was designed to nullify. Don't get locked into a mindset that your personal back inflate wings BC is the best and that nothing else has been or ever will be as good. If you are a sport scuba diver and your life is dependent on your BC (standard or Nautilus), then you are doing somthing wrong (being over weighted being the big one). We are not talking life support equivalent to an astronaut taking a space walk. A BC is simply a glorified air bag. If your BC quits you should still be able to breathe and swim. And that's 90% of the battle. I have anticipated the ways in which the Nautilus can fail (though I accept that it may also fail in ways unanticipated) and will deal with them if they occur. The same as I would with a standard BC. I also have wings BC's for single and double tanks, as well as stab jackets, horse collars, and .... a Nautilus. Just because I have a wings BC I have not closed my mind to the fact that there are other BC designs and that they work also. In some ways better than wings.

 

[ScottyK]

Then you misunderstood me. I'm not trying to knock you or your Nautilus system. On the contrary, I'd love to try it out

Before I let you put it on me, I'd want to know exactly how it works, and I'd want to be sure I knew what potential issues I might have with it. This way I can work out my responses before I go underwater with it.

I don't think I said my BC is the best anywhere on this thread. My fiance dives a different one than I do, and we're both planning on trying out BP/wings in the near future.

If the Nautilus was still in stores, I'd probably research, and try it out as well. Worst case is I'd get to drive my LDS guy even more crazy by monopolizing his pool for the hundredth time

No hard feelings intended..........

Scott

 

[DeepTechScuba]

I believe Zeagle makes the best B/Cs.

I love my Zeagle Tech, and I bought my fiancee a Zeagle Ranger size small in teal, her favorite color, and she loves it too.

With the Zeagle B/Cs you can control everything about the size and configuration. You can interchange the wings. You can easily take them completely apart, roll them up and pack them into your luggage or carry-one, and adjust them to fit you perfectly.

 

[Don Burke]

alcina once bubbled... Just woulld like to get a sense of the following from as many of you as possible:

1) favourite bc for recreational scuba diving - general use, day to day
3) favourite bc for special circumstances & what you use it for

I have had a look at the recent poll for SeaQuest, Sherwood & Oceanic and there was some good input there...more is appreciated...I get asked this all the time and would like input from those whom I don't dive with all the time (many of whom are reps or have dive shops so may be a tad biased!) for a change!

I am also after fav regs as above.

This is probably not a very good way to collect impartial data.

I like my BP/wing setup for all my diving.

I took my open water in a rented ScubaPro. My US Divers Cousteu has been donated to a marine science museum The SeaQuest ADV is kept around in case I get someone who can't stand a wing. The museum has ProSub BCs that are probably the best jacket BCs I've ever used.

 

[ew1usnr]

ScottyK once bubbled...
Then you misunderstood me. I'm not trying to knock you or your Nautilus system. On the contrary, I'd love to try it out

The aptly-named Nautilus is cool to dive with because it is more like piloting a submarine than just swimming with an ordinary BC. As you change depths the thing makes sounds as the regulator automatically squirts little bursts of air and burps excess air bubbles out the vents. The operation is thus: To sink you flood the ballast tank. You open the valve on the bottom. Water rushes in and excess air goes out the top vent. To increase bouyancy, you have first open the valve on the bottom before adding air. What you are actually doing is pushing water out (like blowing a ballast tank). Adding air without opening the water valve first would just cause the increasing air pressure to escape out the top vent. It sounds complicated, but you only have to establish your bouyancy once at the beginning of the dive and the Nautilus corrects itself automatically throughout the dive afterwards. And it really does work. Not in a spectacular way, but quietly and effectively. The only thing that you notice is that you are the same neutral bouyancy at ten feet as you are at fifty feet without having to do anything. I know that people will say "So, what? I can do that with my auto inflator and dump valve". Well, yea. But that doesn't mean that it makes it any less fun to experience an automatic BC making those changes for you. The Dacor Nautilus is an ingenious device. This thread asked me to describe my favorite BC's and why, and the Nautilus is top of the list because of its complete uniqueness. As far as I know it is the one and only automatic BC. There has never been another either before or since.

 

[jplacson]

OMG!!!! ew1usnr, that is such a COOL BC!!!!! :wacko:

Damn, they don't make them anymore? Sigh... I know what you mean about the diving community. I understand, however, that most people aren't willing to 'test' new equipment specially when it's life support.

The new Mares/Dacor HUB is getting as much attention as your BC did in it's day.

Although I feel your BC actually has a lot less failure points than the new HUB... the one thing I don't like about the HUB is that if the central hose 'hub' fails... everything goes... your reg, your BC, and your tank (air pressure tightens the tank band)

It's a nice concept... but I feel they need to think up 'worst case scenarios' more for this one.

How much did you get your BC for? It looks real cool... I like the hardshell concept... much less prone to 'tearing' And it looks like a rebreather!!!!

 

[jbichsel]

Weight integrated - SeaQuest Pro QD+ Surelock. Lots of lift (50 lb for my L), large pockets, lots of rings, padded back, comfortable, no squeeze. Sure Lock is great for keeping and one-hand ditching.

Non-integrated - Sherwood Genesis (showing my age). Lightweight, no backplate, soft, comfortable, easy to pack.

But I am also looking into a BP/wing rig. I need to get with roakey and try his.

 

[diverrick]

I noticed that very few people mentioned any of the Oceanic line of BC's. I am thinking of buying the pulse, but the dive shop thinks I should go for a back inflator. the only experience I have with a back inflator was in Monterey and I thought it made me ride a bit too low in the water. What do all the rest of you think of the pulse? I don't want to buy it then find something out about it that I didn't know.