I'm a pretty new diver but was getting annoyed with rentals, so I picked up a Triple L Gemini... for $127 it was tough to go wrong. Anyway, here's my 2 cents on it...
1) It seems to be a very good quality BC. I've been checking out others and it seems to measure up to the well-known brands... the look, the feel, the materials, the features, etc.
2) I bought a medium I have a 32" waist and it's definitely a little big around the middle on me, but the BC stays securely in place so it's not a big deal for me.
3) The Orion crotchstrap fits this BC; the D-rings are there for it, so spend the extra $3.50, it's a good addition
4) There are trim pockets with clips on the back of the BC, under the wings. This was a nice surprise, I didn't see it on the website.
5) The tank straps that come with it are good quality, but they're for doubles. The site says the modification to make them fit singles is quite easy, but in reality all of the velcro has to be removed from the straps and cut and repositioned for it to work properly. I did a pool dive with the long straps and a single tank but in order to tighten it, there was velcro on the strap going through the buckle. I don't think I'd want to do a real dive like that. So really there's no way to just shorten the straps without resewing velcro. Since I'm not big on sewing, and figure maybe I'll dive doubles some day, I bought a couple of single tank bands from
http://www.amer-sea.com for $14 each. Unfortunately their quality is significantly lower than those that came from Triple L, although they are adequate and were easy to substitute on the BC.
6) Completely dumping all the air from the bladders is a bit tricky sometimes (especially the back one). I've been trying to do it with the upper dumps (pulling on the inflator)... maybe I'll try taking the hose out of the velcro strap as someone else suggested, and holding that high. But mostly I'm chalking my problems up to my inexperience.
7) The left inflator is for the front/jacket bladder, and the right one is for the wings on the back. I kind of wished it was the other way around since I'm still renting regs, which means I get one inflator hose on the regs and it's configured to come down the left; but I'd really prefer to just use the back inflate (which is on the right). Trying to re-route the rental hose across to the right, either behind or in front, is a pain and doesn't work very well. I guess I'm buying my own regs...
8) At the surface if you try and stay straight up, it can be a little tricky because you have most of your air on your back, which tilts you forward. But if you lean back on the BC you become very stable and float effortlessly. I could never be that stable with my rental jacket-style BC's no matter what I tried... I'm not sure why, but I think maybe the crotch strap is helping by keeping the BC securely in place when I'm shifting my weight at the surface.
9) Unfortunately the BC came with no warranty because it's a sale item. A definite drawback, although at this price it's still worth it.
10) The return policy has now also been shortened to 7 days from invoice date, whereas last summer it was 30 days, then later changed to 15 days. Considering I didn't get the order until the 6th day, I think that's a tad short. Fortunately nothing required a return from my order.
Overall I'm happy with the BC. Other stuff I got from Triple L... a weight belt, instrument bag, buoy marker... I'm happy with all of those as well-- good quality for the price.
Alan
