pros/cons to hard vs. soft backpack bcs?

[potato cod]

Hi all,

I'm in the final stages of selecting my first reg and bc. I've chosen my reg and have narrowed my BC choice down to the Zeagle LaZer or SeaQuest Libra and will be doing a pool session to try them out in the water next week. So far, the LaZer definitely fits better, but the dive shop is getting the Libra in another size for me, so this could change.

The major difference between these two bcs seems to be that the LaZer has a soft back and the Libra has a hard back. I'm curious about the performance of soft vs. hard backpacks. Certainly, the soft back would be easier to pack for traveling, but I wonder if not having a hard backpack makes much of a difference in terms of tank stability? What are the pros/cons of each (or does it not really matter)?

edit: input doesn't need to relate directly to experience with these two models of bc, just general hard vs. soft back bc usage, but if you have used either of these, your general impressions of these would also be appreciated. Thanks!

Cheers,
P-cod

 

[Dive Rite]

Hi all,

The major difference between these two bcs seems to be that the LaZer has a soft back and the Libra has a hard back. I'm curious about the performance of soft vs. hard backpacks. Certainly, the soft back would be easier to pack for traveling, but I wonder if not having a hard backpack makes much of a difference in terms of tank stability? What are the pros/cons of each (or does it not really matter)?
Cheers,
P-cod

Hi P-cod,

Have a look at our Solution Finder under the question 'Should I get a metal backplate' This should give you some ideas about the advantages of the soft and hard backplate systems and what might suit you better. Both systems work very well, which one you chose depends on the type of diving you do, your thermal protection and personal preference.

Best,
Ag

 

[potato cod]

Hi P-cod,

Have a look at our Solution Finder under the question 'Should I get a metal backplate' This should give you some ideas about the advantages of the soft and hard backplate systems and what might suit you better. Both systems work very well, which one you chose depends on the type of diving you do, your thermal protection and personal preference.

Best,
Ag

Thanks, I took a look at this, but this doesn't really address my question. Maybe I'm not asking it clearly. By hard backpack I don't mean a metal backplate like you'd use with a bp/w setup, just the hard plastic piece in the back that some bcs have versus none at all.

 

[spectrum]

I think a lot of it is in the implementation.

A good number of BCs use a variation of the classic plastic backpack design that goes back decades. In these cases how the pack integrates to the jacket and harness elements has a lot to do with feel. The pack is usually quite concave so it moves the cylinder away from your back by a limited distance.

A jacket can also mean anything and lots of schemes are used to try to stabilize the cylinder. My Sherwood avid uses 4 rubber pads to craddle the clylinder and 2 cam bands and this is all tightly integrated to the jacket and lumbar pad. The thing feels solid with the cylinders I dive, the largest of which are HP100s and AL80s.

Mt wife's old Diva LX has the cylinder on a high cradle block and one cam band and I find it sloppy.

In the end getting in the water as you are planning is the best test since fit trumps many of the design features.

Pete

 

[djanni]

This is a wild guess... maybe the hard plastic backpack is there to help secure the tank.

My Zeagle BC has 2 tank straps and does not have a hard plastic cradle for the tank. I also have a DiveRite Transpac that has 2 tank bands and no hard plastic cradle . My wifes Oceanic has one tank band. The Oceanic has a contoured hard plastic cradle for the tank to sit in. It's probably 16" tall. Personally, I like the 2 tank band design. That doesn't mean any BC with 2 tank bands will not have the hard plastic backpack but I've never seen one that does.

These cradles are not intended to accomplish the same thing as the plate in a bp/w. That plate is intended to provide additional attachment points for things like HID lights, stage bottles and etc, etc, and it spreads the load over a larger platform which probably adds stability to a heavy load such as twin tanks. Being steel or aluminum, it provides a stronger attachment point. I'm not a tech diver but I think those are the principle reasons.

Maybe someone in the Manufacturers forum could better answer your question about the 2 BC's you're interested in. The bladder on the Zeagle may be tougher than the one on the Libre.

 

[rstofer]

Since you get to try them out, you can be the judge. Personally, I don't think I would like the soft back design. I have a very old SeaQuest ADVi that has a fairly massive plastic backplate and the tank simply can't shift. Unfortunately, it has only one tank band so the tank can fall out. It has slipped a few times but never fallen out.

My wife has an Oceanic Ocean Sport that has a minimal backplate - not quite a soft back. It doesn't work at all. The tank isn't held tightly by the single band and the tank actually rotates such that the valve is behind a shoulder. It kind of picks the shoulder as you go along. Flip, flop... Flip, flop... The tank HAS fallen out.

Some cam buckles are better than others. Some REALLY tighten the band. Others do essentially nothing. Play with the cam bands and see how they work.

Losing a tank at depth is a real pain. I think I would only consider BCDs that had dual cam bands OR I would buy one of those Apollo Bio-Tank Lock devices Buy Apollo Bio Tank Lock 138-13-07-000 with reviews at scuba.com I really want the tank to stay in one place.

Actually, I have given up on jacket or rear-inflate BCDs and moved on to a BP/W (Deep Sea Supply). Dual cam bands and an unencumbered harness appeal to me. I just don't want to swim with all the bulk of my old jacket style BCD. I will miss the pockets...

It is also worth the time to play with the buoyancy compensator spreadsheet (sticky for this forum). Check how much flotation the BC provides and compare it to the amount you require. You may find two things: if you integrate all of your weight, the BC doesn't provide enough lift or, the weight of the BC, tank and ballast are just too darn heavy to lift all at once. I have given up on weight belts (old and fat) so I would consider using a weight harness for the ballast or at least some large fraction of it.

If you dive cold water, testing in a pool is nice but it doesn't tell you anything about trim because you won't be wearing a wetsuit and are unlikely to be wearing a weight belt.

There are so many choices in dive gear it is hard to give the alternatives sufficient evaluation.

Enjoy!

Richard

 

[potato cod]

Thanks for the detailed response, Richard!

The Zeagle (soft back) does actually have 2 tank bands. Based on the responses it sounds like that might make up for no plastic back plate.

Both bcs have tons of lift, so no problem there, even for cold water and lots of exposure protection, and as a skinny girl I tend to wear a lot of exposure protection! I'm actually planning to wear my 2-piece wetsuit and hooded vest in the pool (even if it is a little warm) because the dive shop owner has offered to work with me on getting my weighting and trim set for the bcs and recommended I bring my wetsuit so I could really see how the bcs will fit. I also like that both bcs have pockets--it will be interesting to see which are easier to access while in the water.

 

[DiveMaven]

I would honestly say that you should pick whichever BC fits better and is more comfortable in the water, regardless of brand.

You're right that if you have a hard pack you only need 1 tank band, without it you need 2 tank bands for stability. Personally, I prefer 2 tank bands as my husband used to have a BC with a hard pack and 1 tank band and more than once I had to resecure his tank when the band wasn't tight enough. Since he switched to a Zeagle Ranger and 2 tank bands, I haven't had to do it once. Also there's definitely a difference when packing for travel, which for us is huge since we travel to dive. The hard pack BCs had to be packed a certain way due to their design, but our Zeagles take up less space and are easier to mold to how we want them.

Both my husband and I started with SeaQuest BCs and now have Zeagles (Ranger and Zena). The advantages of the Zeagles far outweighed other BCs for us, in particular the lack of weight pouches and hard pack, and the wing design. After my husband lost a weight pouch (on a dive) from his SeaQuest BC and we replaced it to the tune of $25+, he began to feel the weight pouch design wasn't so user friendly. He often had difficulty loading it since the little pockets were just barely big enough for a 5# hard weight, and he was always paranoid about losing one, so was vigilant about checking that they were tight...and once he lost one, he was done. Zeagle's ripcord system is much more user friendly in that you unzip to place or remove weights and if you do ever have an emergency and pull the cord, it takes 2-3 minutes to rethread.

Bottom line, it all comes down to personal preference and fit. Pick the one that is best for YOU.