I would ask a couple of questions: (1) Who is going to wear it in the water? and (2) What choice will make a new diver most comfortable (easiest to handle) in *and* out of the water?
People can learn to dive with and get used to just about anything. I started out with a horse collar vest (oral inflate only, unless you were rich and had one of them fancy CO2 cartridge models that never worked), a horrible little piece of bent plastic against my back with a lever on it to tighten down a metal tank band (also unreliable), and no option for weighting but molded weights on a belt. And for people who had the money, DIY wetsuits. It was glorious.
If you can show her why you like your rig and explain how it is different from other choices, and let her try them out before having to buy anything, that's all to the good. But if a person is going to enjoy diving, they have to feel comfortable in the water as soon as possible, and next to safety I would put that first on my list of considerations. There are a lot of things that experienced divers dismiss as unnecessary or "easy to handle" or get used to, but that can add to a new diver's anxiety. I just saw somebody in a pool trying to get used to her new back-inflate BC this weekend. People who are most uncomfortable on the surface and want to ride high in the water will overinflate and then struggle against tipping forward. If they were comfortable riding lower in the water, that wouldn't be a problem. Everybody knows it's easy to figure that out, but it isn't so easy for a person who is still anxious and whose "instinct" is to add even more air to make the problem worse.
If you want her to enjoy diving, go slow and let her learn skills and equipment at a pace that fits her comfort level. You don't want to waste money buying garbage and then replacing it, but *all* of the money is wasted if the person you buy it for doesn't want to dive.
People can learn to dive with and get used to just about anything. I started out with a horse collar vest (oral inflate only, unless you were rich and had one of them fancy CO2 cartridge models that never worked), a horrible little piece of bent plastic against my back with a lever on it to tighten down a metal tank band (also unreliable), and no option for weighting but molded weights on a belt. And for people who had the money, DIY wetsuits. It was glorious.
If you can show her why you like your rig and explain how it is different from other choices, and let her try them out before having to buy anything, that's all to the good. But if a person is going to enjoy diving, they have to feel comfortable in the water as soon as possible, and next to safety I would put that first on my list of considerations. There are a lot of things that experienced divers dismiss as unnecessary or "easy to handle" or get used to, but that can add to a new diver's anxiety. I just saw somebody in a pool trying to get used to her new back-inflate BC this weekend. People who are most uncomfortable on the surface and want to ride high in the water will overinflate and then struggle against tipping forward. If they were comfortable riding lower in the water, that wouldn't be a problem. Everybody knows it's easy to figure that out, but it isn't so easy for a person who is still anxious and whose "instinct" is to add even more air to make the problem worse.
If you want her to enjoy diving, go slow and let her learn skills and equipment at a pace that fits her comfort level. You don't want to waste money buying garbage and then replacing it, but *all* of the money is wasted if the person you buy it for doesn't want to dive.
