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How do/did you choose? I know I'll get some very passionate responses.
I'm not actually shopping to buy at the moment as I'm just getting back into diving after a few years off and I want to make sure it's going to stick this time around, but even still I'm completely overwhelmed. I just recently did a scuba skills update and the rental BCDs were jackets. I didn't even bother to look at the brand because they reminded me why I didn't like jacket BCDs so much: I can't fill the waist/cummerbund on one that fits my shoulders, so there is nothing I can do to make it comfortable and not ride up at the surface. Maybe it's not just me, maybe all jackets are like that for everyone.
Looking back at my notes and some emails I sent to a friend who dove professionally, I see that I had the same feelings about a jacket BC when I first started out and I had tried a Halcyon BP/W rented from the LDS for one dive. I had a lot of trouble getting it adjusted at first, but after the adjustments, I apparently liked it much better than the jackets I had used the weekend before or the weekend after. So now I'm just looking at what options are out there to put together a sort of wish list and I'm not even sure where to start. If I buy gear instead of rent it, I don't like to do starter gear, then move up to something, then move up to something else and end paying for a bunch of junk I'm not going to use for long, so I would want to get it right the first time.
Here's where I am: Aluminum is lighter than steel, which is great for travel, especially if I want to keep checked bag weight down. There are different grades of steel: I commonly see 304, 306, 316 - seems 316 is best for saltwater because the other two will pit if not rinsed well, but a lot of them don't seem to list what grade they are. Advantage of steel, it seems for most people, is that you can move weight off of your belt because it is the weight. I dive with 6 lbs in saltwater and when I rented that Halcyon, I was heavy with no additional weight. When practicing a buoyant ascent in the pool during my SSI Skills Update last month, I dropped my 4 lbs and stuck to the bottom anyway. Other than weight, what's the advantage of steel? Longer lifetime? Less flexibility? Feeling more manly?
Are "soft" back plates even worth considering? Are they just floppy and the only support comes from having a tank strapped to them?
Then there is the question of branding. Maybe it comes down to grade and machining, but why does a DGX plate cost $75, a DiveRite $135, a Mares XR Al is nearly $200 (SS is $290)?
One more thing: I can't ask about this or try things on at the LDS because the one that rented my the Halcyon several years ago closed when the owners retired and the new one for some reason doesn't do BP/Ws. The closest they get is a couple of back inflates (and I'm not opposed to those, so long as they don't have a cummerbund).
I'll stop asking questions now because there are already too many and half of you stopped reading.
I'm not actually shopping to buy at the moment as I'm just getting back into diving after a few years off and I want to make sure it's going to stick this time around, but even still I'm completely overwhelmed. I just recently did a scuba skills update and the rental BCDs were jackets. I didn't even bother to look at the brand because they reminded me why I didn't like jacket BCDs so much: I can't fill the waist/cummerbund on one that fits my shoulders, so there is nothing I can do to make it comfortable and not ride up at the surface. Maybe it's not just me, maybe all jackets are like that for everyone.
Looking back at my notes and some emails I sent to a friend who dove professionally, I see that I had the same feelings about a jacket BC when I first started out and I had tried a Halcyon BP/W rented from the LDS for one dive. I had a lot of trouble getting it adjusted at first, but after the adjustments, I apparently liked it much better than the jackets I had used the weekend before or the weekend after. So now I'm just looking at what options are out there to put together a sort of wish list and I'm not even sure where to start. If I buy gear instead of rent it, I don't like to do starter gear, then move up to something, then move up to something else and end paying for a bunch of junk I'm not going to use for long, so I would want to get it right the first time.
Here's where I am: Aluminum is lighter than steel, which is great for travel, especially if I want to keep checked bag weight down. There are different grades of steel: I commonly see 304, 306, 316 - seems 316 is best for saltwater because the other two will pit if not rinsed well, but a lot of them don't seem to list what grade they are. Advantage of steel, it seems for most people, is that you can move weight off of your belt because it is the weight. I dive with 6 lbs in saltwater and when I rented that Halcyon, I was heavy with no additional weight. When practicing a buoyant ascent in the pool during my SSI Skills Update last month, I dropped my 4 lbs and stuck to the bottom anyway. Other than weight, what's the advantage of steel? Longer lifetime? Less flexibility? Feeling more manly?
Are "soft" back plates even worth considering? Are they just floppy and the only support comes from having a tank strapped to them?
Then there is the question of branding. Maybe it comes down to grade and machining, but why does a DGX plate cost $75, a DiveRite $135, a Mares XR Al is nearly $200 (SS is $290)?
One more thing: I can't ask about this or try things on at the LDS because the one that rented my the Halcyon several years ago closed when the owners retired and the new one for some reason doesn't do BP/Ws. The closest they get is a couple of back inflates (and I'm not opposed to those, so long as they don't have a cummerbund).
I'll stop asking questions now because there are already too many and half of you stopped reading.