Pockets on back inflate BCs

[Damselfish]

I'm looking to replace my jacket BC with a back inflate. What I have has too much stuff in front and the back inflate seems comfortable. I also want something compact for travel without a ton of padding (what I have now takes forever to dry.) I am thinking weight integrated would be nice, though I usually only use 2-6 pounds. From everything I've read the Zeagle Escape and Seaquest Balance sound like the first ones to look at, but I haven't tried them yet.

However, I love pockets for spare light, slate, rolled up snorkel, signal tube, whatever - in most cases I'd rather stick something in a pocket than having it dangle from someplace. I get the impression the pockets in these BCs aren't very useful, that they're smallish or hard to get into because of the position. Anyone use these that can comment on that? If it worked out trimwise on the Zeagle, I might just use the rear weight pockets - would this make the front pockets any more usable for stuff? The drop/hide-away pocket on the Seaquest sounds weird, is this any good for regular use? Any other suggestions? (other than a BP/W, please

 

[TostitoBandito]

The side pockets on the Zeagle are fairly large and end up right on your side when you are wearing the BC. Once you get familiar with the BC, accessing those pockets is pretty easy. As for the rear weight pockets, you are going to want to have a little of your weight in there but probably not all of it. The integrated side weight pockets are just inside of the normal pockets but they aren't really pockets since they have the ripcord along the open bottom. I wouldn't really want to put anything other than weights in there. Plus, what's the point of having an integrated ditchable weight system if you aren't going to use it? The outside side pockets combined with a couple of retractors or clips should be plenty of storage unless you are bringing a whole pawn shop down with you.

 

[d33ps1x]

Have you considered not worrying about storage space in your BC and instead going with thigh pockets either permenant or temporary just as the fifth d x-shorts?

www.fifthd.com

Honestly I think after you go with thigh pockets you will find them much easier to gain access to and you can actually see what you are doing as they are in you line of sight completely.

 

[jagfish]

I'm with d33ps1x (tough name to type!)
I had the balnce for a while, loved it really. Very open feeling. Was lacking in pockets, the fold down zipper pocket it has borders on being useful.

If you want to keep yourself steamlined I would folow the advice to look into the leg pockets. It's so much more natural for access. Some BC pockets can be difficult to get into (like the left one on my Black Diamond that has a velcro flap I can barely use wth one hand.)

JAG

 

[DA Aquamaster]

The front pocket on the Genesis Recon is a fold out design and large enough for daylights, but the BC is not as compact as you would probably want for travel.

A backplate and wing is also one approach to take if limited clutter and streamlining is your goal. Both Dive Rite and OMS have 10" by 6" and 12" by 9" pockets designed to thread onto the waist strap. And both offer integrated weight systems. (I personally prefer the Dive Rite integrated weight pockets over OMS or Halcyon weight pockets.)