sharky60
Contributor
I just had to recently purchase a new BC after my 24 year old ScubaPro developed some "unrepairable" leaks. I loved that old BC, I don't know the model name or number, but it was the top of the line BC for ScubaPro back in the early '80's, international orange in color, I have the combo inflator/octopus second air source, which is still in good condition.
So, I go to buy a new BC, not wanting to spend a small fortune I l purchased the Sea Quest Passport. I was able to get it on sale for around $340, about an average price from what I have been able to determine.
We headed out for Cozumel June 4th for a nine day trip, here's that report http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=99262
The Passort is designed for the traveling diver, light weight construction and has it's own detachable mesh bag velcroed in the bottom. The bag tucks neatly away into the back of the vest when not being used. The vest folds into a nice little package and slips into the bag for easy packing. It's a little tricky to get into the bag, the first couple of time you do it you almost need 3 hands but actually works pretty good once you get the hang of it and saves a lot of room in the ol' gear bag.
It was very comfortable in the water easy to put on and take off with snap latches on the shoulders like most modern BC's have. I put my old ScubaPro combo power inflator/octopus on the unit and it functioned perfectly, as always.
The only 2 drawbacks or design flaws I have found so far after using it for 6 days of diving was that the intergrated weight pouches have a tendancy to slip out of the BC. I would be swimming along and notice that the pouches were about 1/3-1/2 out of the vest. On the last dive of the trip, both pouches fell out, my wife recovered one of them and I lost the other not knowing it had slipped out also. I thing I may have lost the second one while trying to replace the first after the recovery.
My wife's BC has intergrated weights also and her packs have a plastic retainer to help hold the weight pouches in place. The Passport only has a velcro flap to hold it in place and it is not enough.
The second flaw is that the back pack of the BC does not have a handle on it, this worried me a little as handing the vest up to the boat on exit, the only place for the DM or Captain to grab onto was the vest it's self and I think with time this could cause damage to the unit.
I guess for overall function as a bouyancy device I'd give it a 6.5 to 7, (my old ScubaPro was a 10, maybe the Smithsonian is looking for antique scuba equipment). It's lightweight construction and packing ability are really good, it held air fine, it was comfortable to wear and I had no bouyancy problems other than when I lost my weight, luckly it just as we were going into the safety stop and I could get close to the DM's surface marker and force myself to stay under water and not be a safety hazzard...experience and being a strong swimmer are a good things!!!
If I had to do it all over again, I'd spend a little more money and get a BC with a better weight pouch retaining system.
So, I go to buy a new BC, not wanting to spend a small fortune I l purchased the Sea Quest Passport. I was able to get it on sale for around $340, about an average price from what I have been able to determine.
We headed out for Cozumel June 4th for a nine day trip, here's that report http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=99262
The Passort is designed for the traveling diver, light weight construction and has it's own detachable mesh bag velcroed in the bottom. The bag tucks neatly away into the back of the vest when not being used. The vest folds into a nice little package and slips into the bag for easy packing. It's a little tricky to get into the bag, the first couple of time you do it you almost need 3 hands but actually works pretty good once you get the hang of it and saves a lot of room in the ol' gear bag.
It was very comfortable in the water easy to put on and take off with snap latches on the shoulders like most modern BC's have. I put my old ScubaPro combo power inflator/octopus on the unit and it functioned perfectly, as always.
The only 2 drawbacks or design flaws I have found so far after using it for 6 days of diving was that the intergrated weight pouches have a tendancy to slip out of the BC. I would be swimming along and notice that the pouches were about 1/3-1/2 out of the vest. On the last dive of the trip, both pouches fell out, my wife recovered one of them and I lost the other not knowing it had slipped out also. I thing I may have lost the second one while trying to replace the first after the recovery.
My wife's BC has intergrated weights also and her packs have a plastic retainer to help hold the weight pouches in place. The Passport only has a velcro flap to hold it in place and it is not enough.
The second flaw is that the back pack of the BC does not have a handle on it, this worried me a little as handing the vest up to the boat on exit, the only place for the DM or Captain to grab onto was the vest it's self and I think with time this could cause damage to the unit.
I guess for overall function as a bouyancy device I'd give it a 6.5 to 7, (my old ScubaPro was a 10, maybe the Smithsonian is looking for antique scuba equipment). It's lightweight construction and packing ability are really good, it held air fine, it was comfortable to wear and I had no bouyancy problems other than when I lost my weight, luckly it just as we were going into the safety stop and I could get close to the DM's surface marker and force myself to stay under water and not be a safety hazzard...experience and being a strong swimmer are a good things!!!
If I had to do it all over again, I'd spend a little more money and get a BC with a better weight pouch retaining system.
