Travel BCD

[hammet]

i like my outlaw.

 

[DreadnoughtNH]

Yes, there is a lot of push for bp/ws on SB, and the reasons many use them are obviously valid, at least for them, and they are trying to share the thing they love. The problem is that bp/ws may not be best for everyone, especially for the couple dives a year rec diver that has no interest in tech diving, and likes the convenience of pockets, shoulder purges, integrated weights, etc., and not have to deal with learning a new rig after OW training. The truth of the matter is that despite the following on SB, I rarely have seen a bp/w on dive boats I have been on in the past eight years, and most divers do not have a clue about SB or the opinions of its experienced contributors. Buy and use what you like, but try as many different bcds as you can before buying so you only have to spend your money once. A good diver, like a good golfer can use any piece of equipment, and make it look easy.

This is probably the best advice. My obstacle is trying BCs to see what I like. Living in the frozen north, everyone is gaga for drysuit diving, so most shops in my area cater to that market.

Maybe an extended weekend in the Keys is in my future....

 

[DreadnoughtNH]

i like my outlaw.

Could you say more? Why you like it?

 

[DreadnoughtNH]

Actually, I like opinions. Like certain parts of anatomy, we all have one.

As long as the preference/opinion is backed up with the why. Then I can see where there may be preferences that lie paralell to mine.

The BP/W argument is strong, and definitely takes care of the weight, complexity, and travel problems. I also like something that I can buy "off the rack."

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Well, since I brought up the SP Go in the first place, I might as well say, I love my Freedom plate and VDH wings. 18# for thin neoprene, 33# for my drysuit.
And since @Eric_Sedletsky says he's just about to come out with a Freedom aluminum plate that will weigh less than 2#, my Go may go in the closet for travel. I dunno. It's a nice jacket.
Why are we all fanboys for BP/W?

Trim.

I've got too many D-rings on my BP/W for DIR, but I don't care. I've got ditchable weight pockets on my BP/W for when I have heavy neoprene. I've got thigh pockets that actually work, compared to my jackets. It's everything a jacket has and more.

Yeah, I'll keep teaching PADI in my jacket.
I'll love coming to the surface and just leaning back in the arms of my jacket from time to time. But hovering taking pics?
My BP/W.

I have a prototype already made in Aluminum for travel. It’s only 15 oz.
It’s a super simple plate designed specifically for warm water travel.

 

[Scuba Scott]

Also, I note that some manufacturers claim that the BCD is for "the advanced" diver. I'm still a newbie, I guess?

That is pure marketing hype. Everyone either thinks they are an "advanced diver" or wants to buy the BCD that will work for them when they become one.

An advanced diver would simply look for the features they require for the diving they do. Sometimes that means more complex and sometimes it means less. By complexity I mean doo-dads like buckles, pockets, D-rings. They all pretty much work the same unless you have one of those funky BCDs with the lever that may make it more difficult for a rescuer to deal with you in an emergency situation.

 

[tbone1004]

Actually, I like opinions. Like certain parts of anatomy, we all have one.

As long as the preference/opinion is backed up with the why. Then I can see where there may be preferences that lie paralell to mine.

The BP/W argument is strong, and definitely takes care of the weight, complexity, and travel problems. I also like something that I can buy "off the rack."

takes less than 30 minutes to properly assemble and fit a backplate and a second person to just hold the plate in position makes it a bit easier. The advantage is it is a lot easier on the boat itself. You just slide in, thread the crotch strap thru the waist buckle and buckle it. No floppy shoulder straps to fight, no extra buckles to sort out, no straps to pull on, etc etc.
The pockets that you can put on a bp/w are arguably a lot better than the ones in the bcd's and while it isn't off the rack, you at least get to make it how you want.

While there is all of this talk about "tech" and "looking tech" I find it to be largely nonsense. Certainly there are quite a few who try to fit that mold, but we teach our students from day 1 in bp/w's, many if not most university programs do as well because they are cheaper to maintain than jackets and much more flexible size wize which limits our need for umpteen sizes. Many dive shops that have a tech training program have realized this and moved their rental equipment to bp/w's, particularly those in the great white north where the benefits of a SS plate that can have a lot of weight put on much more comfortably than a jacket is hugely beneficial. Dan's Dive Shop in Ontario is a good example of that. Most people that I see that dive with a bp/w did it because they saw the benefits of them, usually after trying one on.

 

[DreadnoughtNH]

They all pretty much work the same unless you have one of those funky BCDs with the lever that may make it more difficult for a rescuer to deal with you in an emergency situation.

Yep. I'm currently that a$$hole. When the ENTIRE scuba community does one thing, and I'm wearing a BC that is quite different, I'm the a$$hole.

Thanks for the tip. I would not by any stretch consider myself an expert, but you are correct. I am beginning to understand what I like and don't like. Size/bulk is bad. Weight is bad. D rings good. Storage pockets irrelevant. Ditchable weight pockets good.

 

[DreadnoughtNH]

takes less than 30 minutes to properly assemble and fit a backplate and a second person to just hold the plate in position makes it a bit easier. The advantage is it is a lot easier on the boat itself. You just slide in, thread the crotch strap thru the waist buckle and buckle it. No floppy shoulder straps to fight, no extra buckles to sort out, no straps to pull on, etc etc.
The pockets that you can put on a bp/w are arguably a lot better than the ones in the bcd's and while it isn't off the rack, you at least get to make it how you want.

While there is all of this talk about "tech" and "looking tech" I find it to be largely nonsense. Certainly there are quite a few who try to fit that mold, but we teach our students from day 1 in bp/w's, many if not most university programs do as well because they are cheaper to maintain than jackets and much more flexible size wize which limits our need for umpteen sizes. Many dive shops that have a tech training program have realized this and moved their rental equipment to bp/w's, particularly those in the great white north where the benefits of a SS plate that can have a lot of weight put on much more comfortably than a jacket is hugely beneficial. Dan's Dive Shop in Ontario is a good example of that. Most people that I see that dive with a bp/w did it because they saw the benefits of them, usually after trying one on.

Seems like a BP/W with a really light plate is the way to go, or a really minimalist BC that still has nice features like metal Drings and ditch pockets, something like the Outlaw/Rogue/Litehawk.

As I'm in the "great white north" (seacoast NH), is DSS good with remote novices like myself?

 

[Scuba Scott]

The real reason I believe every diver has to have one is because it's "tech"....even though they are not tech divers. If you aren't a tech diver, the next best thing is to look like one, own the gear and use it. I ask people why they went BP/W and there is no shortage of excuses...there is a shortage, to me at least, of excuses that really wash. Tell me one more time why a BP/W is better than a jacket to fly to Bonaire and dive...

How very perceptive of you.

I wear BP/W because when I put on a drysuit for the first time, the BCD I paid a lot of money for didn't fit. My instructor said I would just have to buy a bigger one. Well then it would be too big for when I dive warm water. He suggested I either have one for warm water and one for cold or just rent one. I didn't want to rent one, that's why I bought one. I asked how many he owned and he said, "None, I just borrow whatever I need from the shop I'm teaching for."
Then he said I guess you could get one of those backplates like the tech divers use and just adjust it to whatever you are wearing.
THERE'S AN ADJUSTABLE BCD?!?! WHY DIDN'T SOMEONE TELL ME ABOUT THIS EARLIER?!?!

Yeah, there's this guy on rec.scuba that sells them out of his garage not far from here....

And that is when I realized I could have had something more comfortable and much more useful at a fraction of the price I paid for the jacket BCD.

Why do I fly with it? It is light and what I use at home. It works everywhere. Since I am properly weighted I am properly trimmed underwater and can also lean back on it and relax on the surface. Anyone who tells you BP/W can't' do that needs to get with an instructor and work on their weight distribution.