Recommendations for a new BCD

[buddhasummer]

What's with all these macho and angry BC names? Fury, Rogue, Stiletto, Rebel, Stealth, we going to war, joining a bikie gang or going diving. Interestingly the woman's BCDs have softer names like Soul and Lotus. It's funny.

 

[halocline]

I hate to spend someone else's money (ok I don't hate it that much) but to me it sounds like the OP could use two different set ups; one for tropical diving and one for cold water. A BP/W could do that; one plate and a small wing for your tropical stuff and a larger one for the cold water. I also would strongly suggest looking at a way to split up weight between the BC and your body if you are really carrying anywhere near 30-35 lbs of lead. At that point I think it's a little dangerous to have it all on the BC, not to mention uncomfortable.

Think about a steel plate (it's not much extra weight in luggage compared to many jacket-style BCs) and a 20 lb wing for travel, with camband pockets on the waist belt. That way you'll have your weight distributed between your upper body and hips. For the cold water stuff, just use a bigger wing and a weight harness to add weight to your body apart from the ballast of the plate and whatever you put in the camband pockets.

 

[Blackcrusader]

Does ANY BCD allow carrying 14kg in weight pockets? Sounds like a weight harness to me....

My Scuba Pro Black XXL can in both inserts and trim pockets. I could also put them in side pockets as well.

 

[Bigbella]

What's with all these macho and angry BC names? Fury, Rogue, Stiletto, Rebel, Stealth, we going to war, joining a bikie gang or going diving. Interestingly the woman's BCDs have softer names like Soul and Lotus. It's funny.

Zeagle's "Sugar Plum Fairy" tactical BC will surely be released, later this month, in time for The Nutcracker . . .

 

[BoltSnap]

My Scuba Pro Black XXL can in both inserts and trim pockets. I could also put them in side pockets as well.


View attachment 757261

How do you like it?

 

[Blackcrusader]

How do you like it?

I prefer it to a back plate wing setup. I love diving the BCD I bought. Being quite large ( fat ) I really enjoy how this BCD has trim pockets above the back shoulder blades, the inserts are great and no way for them to drop out. I like the really large pockets on the BCD as well as the 8 stainless steel D rings I can clip things onto if I want. One tip, if you put weights in the trim pockets which are like a mesh, put the weights in socks. Weights can have nicks which over time can cut into the mesh. It also means I just pull on the sock and the weight slides out effortlessly. I remove my weights in between tank changes cause my 8kg in weights makes it heavy.


It's great for me. I also had another large dude try it on he was really surprised how snug and comfortable it is for tall fat dudes lol.

 

[Blackcrusader]

And I am going to tell you as someone who sold and dives this BC to never max out the ditchable weight pockets. Ever. Doing this puts 1/3 of your weight in a situation where if you have to dump lead, you will not be able to control your ascent.

I use 8kg of weights. So two kg of weight in each of my four weight pocket. So for me would be 25%. at 6kg with 50 bar at 5m I can fin down without too much effort. However I then add on my camera rig so that's another 1kg plus perhaps 1.5kg I should really weigh it to make sure.

 

[BoltSnap]

And I am going to tell you as someone who sold and dives this BC to never max out the ditchable weight pockets. Ever. Doing this puts 1/3 of your weight in a situation where if you have to dump lead, you will not be able to control your ascent.

What do you teach for people using BC's without weight pockets and only use one weight belt and all lead used is on this belt? If they have to ditch the belt underwater (should or shouldn't underwater is another thread), won't they be ditching ALL lead this scenario? At least the bc offers them to ditch one pocket and not the other.

 

[BoltSnap]

Being quite large ( fat )

We call it "prosperous"

I love diving the BCD I bought.

I believe that it is one of SP's best jacket style BC's with best fit. The new Glide is another contender for being one of their best fitting jacket style BC's. I have been using the the SP X-FORCE BC for few years and it has been a great BC especially for swimming long distance on surface in full kit to get to a dive spot far away from shore. Too bad it is discontinued in our region.

 

[Blackcrusader]

We call it "prosperous" I believe that it is one of SP's best jacket style BC's with best fit. The new Glide is another contender for being one of their best fitting jacket style BC's. I have been using the the SP X-FORCE BC for few years and it has been a great BC especially for swimming long distance on surface in full kit to get to a dive spot far away from shore. Too bad it is discontinued in our region.

Actually that is the thing. This BCD recommended to me by a good instructor friend who uses scuba pro. Also the waist band is several inches longer than I need. Also in 5 weeks of diving I lost 7kg lol I've used BP/W I just prefer the scuba pro black. If not for this BCD I would probably go back to a BP/W no other BCD really suited me and getting the largest size in Asia was not possible. One of my friends bought the BCD from the UK for me. BTW, it cost me around US$460. In Taiwan the same BCD would cost be US$ 1300 so those who complain about me buying online and not a local LDS would understand why. Prices here are just nuts because locals never bother to check overseas prices.

Photo is a bit deceptive, once in the water I can slide the BCD down enough the band is under my fattest part lol Great adjustment on the shoulder straps as well. I shorten the shoulder straps just for entry off a boat to make it so the tank is a bit higher up on entry. Also apart from the wait band you also have the clipped in band from front of BCD as well.


Agree this is probably the best BCD on the market. I've had it since Dec 2019 but only done around 80 dives in it as not much diving during covid. 70 dives in last 2 months and really happy with it. It was great to have large bladders when waiting at the surface in 3m swells in Lombok.