RetroDiver Jr:
I would like to hear others opinions on this matter, and about your experiences. Your advise is greatly appreciated.
Some general observations about the comments we might give you here on SB. In general, 1) more people who post here express a preference for a back-inflate BC than for a standard BC and 2) more people who post here express a preference for BP/W than for a back-inflate BC. (There are no data available to indicate whether people who post on SB represent a cross-section of the recreational diving 'community', or are part of a smaller, skewed community of space aliens, or an even smaller and more skewed community who regularly speak to Elvis at the mall.) There is not universal agreement, these are merely the numerical patterns. (And, one other point - most who post here dive from a boat, or in a quarry, or from an ocean shore, where they need only to carry gear a short or modest distance before entering the water.) The intensity of expressed preference varies according to SB member, and may or may not reflect quality, functionality, cost or value of any particular gear configuration. A few manufacturers post on SB and their advice is valuable. Tobin (Coolhardware52), for example, is in the business, he knows what he is talking about, and he consistently provides intelligent, thoughtful and informative comment, as he has in this thread. Of course, most of us are ideally positioned to give you the, Oooh, oooh, use what I use!! response. We generally like what we use, which is why we are using it. Things we dont like we have already gotten rid of. If we dont like what we currently use, we generally dont tell others about it because they, naturally, wonder why we continue to use something we dont like. Are we an idiot, in which case whatever we say would seem to be useless? We also refer to a simple BP/W which is somewhat humorous in a way. The gear may be simple, but there are a remarkable number of choices available, such as: 1. Brand (Dive Rite, Halcyon, Zeagle, OMS, FredT, Frogman Jerry, custom,
); 2. Material (aluminum, stainless steel, ABS / plastic); 3. Model (standard, long / short, custom made); 4. Harness (simple, complex -which does NOT mean complicated, rather it is just not simple, in that different configurations - padding, quick releases, sewn in D-rings, etc - are possible); 5. Wing (brand, lift, style - donut, horseshoe, etc.); 6. Single tank attachment (cam bands only, single tank adapter, etc.). It can be overwhelming, but you have to start somewhere. So, good for you to go with a BP as you initial rig. A Zeagle BP and a deluxe harness fine. Buying from your LDS, who helps you figure out what you need to start, and how to put it all together - great! (You might reference check prices on-line, just to be comfortable that the value - the price of the gear + the value of the service you receive - is in a reasonable range, so you feel good afterward, then buy from the LDS). If you like the rig, keep it, tweak it, dive it, refine it. If you dont, post that on SB and try something else. There is NO one true, absolute universal solution for all.
