What do you guys think of these BCs?

[Tamas]

They seem pretty promising when it comes to the features and gadgets, with the integrated backplate and all, nice bladder etc......but too bad they are only available in Europe

Audaxpro


So any comments or ideas about it? My brother would like to get one of these for some moderate entry tech and o/w diving while he is in Europe, but I would like to see some comments about it.

 

[yknot]

First of all, prepare for the onslaught of negative feedback concerning the retractor bands on the wing. What are you comparing this BC to pricewise? There isn't anything unique (at least at a glance) about this unit. It looks similar to an OMS I.Q. harness and wing, which are available, at least for price comparison purposes, from LeisurePro. Points to consider:
If this unit had a problem, could you get it serviced?
BC's, espec. BP&W, are not one size fits all applications. The wing looks big- too big to be practical for a single tank. "Tech" divers that dive doubles for a reason, say caves or wrecks, would see too many failure points in this rig. I'm not sure what "moderate entry tech" diving is. Do you dive that with "pretends to be tech gear"?

 

[Tamas]

Well as of right now I do not have any price comparisons, but my brother is getting those.
*The retractor bands, are found on my other wings, ie: the OMS bladders, so I do not see why those would cause concern.
*I realize that there is nothing that strikingly different about it at first glance, but then again most bp/w setups are very similar
*Service would be the only issue with it in NA, BUT for the next 2 years he would be diving with in Europe so issue could be resolved there
*I believe that wing is the 40l inflated to the max, perhaps a tad large for a single tank dive but then again a 40l is not needed for my brother, he would be more at the 27l range
*What sort of failure points would there be? Can you please elaborate on those?!
*My definition of "Moderate entry tech" is the weekend warrior with limited/entry cave diving, who would rent doubles for the dives - in other words, not the guy that lives and breathes tech diving 24/7 - thus entry tech that wants to have gear that will serve him right
*and no, it's not a fashion statement

...btw, thanks for the comments....this is exactly what I am looking for to help my bro make the decision

 

[mempilot]

Unless you're diving in an entanglement environment, I wouldn't worry about the retractors. Diving a reef or such doesn't pose much of a threat to the bands. I agree about the serviceability question and the amount of lift. It looks like quite a bit of lift for singles and even some doubles, but I couldn't read the lift capacity, so I may be wrong.

In the end, you have to buy gear that fits you and your diving. Quality and function should be the top priorities. Serviceability is important, but can always be an issue with any gear if you travel to exotic locations. Cost, well, you get what you pay for most of the time.

 

[ShakaZulu]

I think it's to big, looks more like a hovercraft, nice colors. The direct English translation is entertaining, indeed.

 

[OE2X]

*What sort of failure points would there be? Can you please elaborate on those?!

Failure points would be found by looking specifically at the harness. Are there multiple attachment points or is there one continuous band of webbing? Each attachment point is a concievable failure point.
Each of the fastex buckles are failure points. I'm not sure about the inflator hose covering. Can you thread your LP hose through it? It looks as if there are leg straps instead of a single crotch strap. These leg straps have at least one one fastex buckle on them.
From what others more qualified tell me - the bungees in an overhead enviroment are a negative. If that is the sort of diving you are doing or going to do, then you might want to look into a cleaner system.

 

[yknot]

Well as of right now I do not have any price comparisons, but my brother is getting those.
*The retractor bands, are found on my other wings, ie: the OMS bladders, so I do not see why those would cause concern.
*I realize that there is nothing that strikingly different about it at first glance, but then again most bp/w setups are very similar
*Service would be the only issue with it in NA, BUT for the next 2 years he would be diving with in Europe so issue could be resolved there
*I believe that wing is the 40l inflated to the max, perhaps a tad large for a single tank dive but then again a 40l is not needed for my brother, he would be more at the 27l range
*What sort of failure points would there be? Can you please elaborate on those?!
*My definition of "Moderate entry tech" is the weekend warrior with limited/entry cave diving, who would rent doubles for the dives - in other words, not the guy that lives and breathes tech diving 24/7 - thus entry tech that wants to have gear that will serve him right
*and no, it's not a fashion statement

...btw, thanks for the comments....this is exactly what I am looking for to help my bro make the decision

Are you listing these wings in litres? If so, how does that relate to lbs of lift?

As far as failure points, any harness that consists of more than a single continuous piece of webbing and a single stainless steel buckle could be construed as to having unnecessary failure points.

As far as the retractor bands, what do they really do? From an engineering standpoint, I suppose they are meant to compress enough of the wing to dump all of the air out and to help create a low, compact profile, which we could assume would be more hydrodynamic. In reality, air traps in all sorts of odd areas in a bladder. Retractors may just create more pockets to trap air and could create restrictions for air to flow thru the wing. It's like the bungees are a solution to a problem created by having too big of a wing in the first place.

All in all, I'm not trying to condemn this BC or condone it. There is a tendency to add things like 'D' rings to a back inflate BC and then call it a "Tech" unit. Ultimately, a BP&W, which this BC appears to be, boils down into the quality of it's components. Some would argue this point, but back plates are pretty generic. If the plate will mount your wing and it is long enough for your torso, you could remove the plate from this comparison. The harness, at a glance, doesn't appear to offer anything earth shattering. About like an OMS I.Q. harness or some of the Dive-Rite stuff. Again, if that suits you and your diving, eliminate the harness from this comparison. This leaves only the wing, which is the portion you should be focusing on, in terms of price and quality. I'd bet this unit is going to run about $500-600 US. At that price, and if you aren't really going to be doing serious tech diving, there are alot of other options.

 

[MSilvia]

*The retractor bands, are found on my other wings, ie: the OMS bladders, so I do not see why those would cause concern.

The OMS bladders are what many of those who believe bungies are a problem point to as an example. They're a problem (if I remember right) not because of any particular entanglement hazard, but because the bungies can squeeze the air out of the wing in the event of a failure... making a bad situation much worse much more quickly.

*I realize that there is nothing that strikingly different about it at first glance, but then again most bp/w setups are very similar

So why go for that setup instead of a much simpler and more reliable backplate & webbing harness?

*What sort of failure points would there be? Can you please elaborate on those?!

Pretty much anything that is sewn, made of plastic, or otherwise subject to breaking, tearing, or letting go on you is a potential problem when diving in an overhead environment.

It can result in lost or malfunctioning equipment, entanglements, and a host of other problems. He'll have to deal with them immediately. Surfacing to fix them may not be an option. IMHO, it's better to solve those problems in advance by avoiding gear it can happen to.

*My definition of "Moderate entry tech" is the weekend warrior with limited/entry cave diving, who would rent doubles for the dives - in other words, not the guy that lives and breathes tech diving 24/7 - thus entry tech that wants to have gear that will serve him right

If he wants gear that will serve him right, IMHO he should get the right gear for the job. A weekend warrior tech diver is still a tech diver, and needs reliable gear designed for that kind of demanding use. If he plans to do overhead diving, settling for less than totally reliable gear because he doesn't plan to live and breathe tech diving might very well put him in the position of not living or breathing at all.

If you wouldn't climb a mountain with questionable rope, don't dive overhead with questionable gear.

 

[ChrisA]

Are you listing these wings in litres? If so, how does that relate to lbs of lift?

A liter equals a kilogram.

If you need to convert to pounds a quick way is to remember that a liter is about two pints and a pint is a pound (of fresh water)
So it's very roughly a bit over two pounds per liter.

 

[The Kraken]

A liter equals a kilogram ? ? ? ?

If I fill a 1 liter bottle full of lead shot, I'll bet you a pile of pig poop to a pile of doubloons that it'll weigh more than 1 kilogram.

Don't confuse volume with weight.