Why the push for i3?

[randl]

Just a bit off-topic, but I read in several places that the Axiom i3 doesn't have a carrying handle. Mine does. It's part of the "tank positioning strap" that wraps around the valve (at the top of the tank). Just saying....

 

[XS-NRG]

My ProQDi3 has an actual handle built into the backplate as well as that strap. The handle portion is just plastic and has a cut out to allow your hand to fit in (all part of backplate). That could be what they're referring to.

 

[Mark Derail]

I own a Dimension i3, it's the BCD I bought, trained my OW with, and did my first 20+ dives with. I don't want to take it down South / warm water ever again :

1) On rocks, corals, when in a cenotes, it's easy to "hit" it, upwards, adding air to your BC when you don't expect it.
2) It's heavy, doesn't bend
3) On the cattle boat, with all the vests attached to tanks, lined up in two rows, the i3 gets easily activated. Happened multiple times. Scares the crap out of the new divers.
3) Too big !!!

However, for cold water, I love it !!! I can better balance the weight on the two sides and back. I also use it during the summer months in Canada in lakes / rivers. Not having a dangling hose is nice.

I use a foldable, lightweight Zeagle Stiletto for flying down South. About 5 lbs less weight.

 

[gcarter]

I own a Dimension i3, it's the BCD I bought, trained my OW with, and did my first 20+ dives with. I don't want to take it down South / warm water ever again :

1) On rocks, corals, when in a cenotes, it's easy to "hit" it, upwards, adding air to your BC when you don't expect it.
2) It's heavy, doesn't bend
3) On the cattle boat, with all the vests attached to tanks, lined up in two rows, the i3 gets easily activated. Happened multiple times. Scares the crap out of the new divers.
3) Too big !!!

However, for cold water, I love it !!! I can better balance the weight on the two sides and back. I also use it during the summer months in Canada in lakes / rivers. Not having a dangling hose is nice.

I use a foldable, lightweight Zeagle Stiletto for flying down South. About 5 lbs less weight.

Fair enough on the rest, but if you are hitting it off the corals the problem isn't the BCD.

 

[Mark Derail]

Why thank you, gcarter, your insightful comments will greatly, no hugely, add to this discussion. Why, how could someone not possibly ascertain that while I was using the Dimension i3 while training OW and did my first warm water dives with it, that I would be something else than a beginner at that point?

If you have a beef with me, take it out in PM, I'm only a 1hr drive from you, we could meet at Wendys...Best beef patty hamburgers IMO, I'm sure you have yours too...


True, I was a beginner, and we were dove was current & high swells. Places like in Hawaii, you dive around lava tubes, in a similar fashion as you would dive a cenotes.

Kinda hard not to bump into the surroundings when cave diving...So there you have it, gcarter has positively unmasked true-to-life usage of the Dimension i3 :

1) Beginner
2) Current (oh my, one has to infer this one)
3) In & out of tight spaces

Thanks to gcarter, people reading this will be better informed for their next BCD purchase. They won't, like me, end up with TWO BCD's, when 90% of my diving is warm water, and the Zeagle Stiletto is A-OK for cold water, having "just enough" room to put up 30 lbs of weight in it. With 5 pounders.

On the Dimension, I can put 60 pounds with fivers. Which will be perfect when I go dry - meaning OW to AOW - plus other courses - which I might never take in my life.

Now that I control my buoyancy just fine, I got it down pat after some 20+ dives, I still don't want to use my Dimension i3, for the cattle boat problem and the size/weight problem, since I bring all my gear down South, rent just tanks & weights.

The Stiletto is more convenient in luggage. I never stated the Zeagle Stiletto as a superior BCD or what not.

Fair enough on the rest, but if you are hitting it off the corals the problem isn't the BCD.

Edit: One last thing! The inflator hose needs to be longer, to reach the i3 on the bottom left. So if you upgrade to i3, you'll need to buy another hose also. Not a big deal, just remember that you need one.

 

[oreocookie]

If you have a beef with me, take it out in PM, I'm only a 1hr drive from you, we could meet at Wendys...Best beef patty hamburgers IMO, I'm sure you have yours too... [...] Thanks to gcarter, people reading this will be better informed for their next BCD purchase. They won't, like me, end up with TWO BCD's, when 90% of my diving is warm water, and the Zeagle Stiletto is A-OK for cold water, having "just enough" room to put up 30 lbs of weight in it. With 5 pounders.

On the Dimension, I can put 60 pounds with fivers. Which will be perfect when I go dry - meaning OW to AOW - plus other courses - which I might never take in my life.

If you're bumping into things, it's not the bc's fault, it's a skills problem. The fact that the i3 is more likely to get bumped "on" than a traditional inflator is worth noting for a new diver who hasn't developed good buoyancy control yet, however they may take this as a cue to stay a bit further away from coral, etc, until they are more comfortable, which is something new divers should probably do anyway. If you are going into an environment where bumping into things is unavoidable, it's not an environment you should be going into.

FWIW, I dive with a Stiletto. I don't understand your comment of " 'just enough' room for 30lbs". How much weight do you use when diving locally? My last local dive I used 20lbs in a 2 piece 7mm, and I could possibly drop 2lb next time, and I should be able to dive dry within that weight capacity (if not, there's always the option of a weight belt). I really can't understand why you'd want or need to get anywhere near 60lbs of lead unless you've got a lot of bioprene. How much lift does the Dimension even have?

 

[gcarter]

If you have a beef with me, take it out in PM, I'm only a 1hr drive from you, we could meet at Wendys...Best beef patty hamburgers IMO, I'm sure you have yours too...

I have no idea where this is coming from. Sounds vaguely threatening, and I do not at all appreciate that.

True, I was a beginner, and we were dove was current & high swells. Places like in Hawaii, you dive around lava tubes, in a similar fashion as you would dive a cenotes.

Kinda hard not to bump into the surroundings when cave diving...So there you have it, gcarter has positively unmasked true-to-life usage of the Dimension i3 :

1) Beginner
2) Current (oh my, one has to infer this one)
3) In & out of tight spaces

Thanks to gcarter, people reading this will be better informed for their next BCD purchase. They won't, like me, end up with TWO BCD's, when 90% of my diving is warm water, and the Zeagle Stiletto is A-OK for cold water, having "just enough" room to put up 30 lbs of weight in it. With 5 pounders.

On the Dimension, I can put 60 pounds with fivers. Which will be perfect when I go dry - meaning OW to AOW - plus other courses - which I might never take in my life.

Now that I control my buoyancy just fine, I got it down pat after some 20+ dives, I still don't want to use my Dimension i3, for the cattle boat problem and the size/weight problem, since I bring all my gear down South, rent just tanks & weights.

The Stiletto is more convenient in luggage. I never stated the Zeagle Stiletto as a superior BCD or what not.


Edit: One last thing! The inflator hose needs to be longer, to reach the i3 on the bottom left. So if you upgrade to i3, you'll need to buy another hose also. Not a big deal, just remember that you need one.

Ignoring the attitude, I did not question whether the I3 was right for you or not, and I acknowledged all of your issues save one. That one issue was a skills problem, not an equipment problem, and so should not be attributed to the equipment. Fix the skills problem and the equipment is fine. If you choose to change the equipment anyway, fill your boots. I doubt anyone cares, certainly not me But don’t use your skills issues as the basis for saying the product is no good for southern diving. It is misleading, unfair, and illogical. I can’t even apologize for the fact this somehow seems to offend you.

If you don’t wish to view my comments, please block me. Do not threaten me.

 

[gcarter]

If you're bumping into things, it's not the bc's fault, it's a skills problem. The fact that the i3 is more likely to get bumped "on" than a traditional inflator is worth noting for a new diver who hasn't developed good buoyancy control yet, however they may take this as a cue to stay a bit further away from coral, etc, until they are more comfortable, which is something new divers should probably do anyway. If you are going into an environment where bumping into things is unavoidable, it's not an environment you should be going into.

FWIW, I dive with a Stiletto. I don't understand your comment of " 'just enough' room for 30lbs". How much weight do you use when diving locally? My last local dive I used 20lbs in a 2 piece 7mm, and I could possibly drop 2lb next time, and I should be able to dive dry within that weight capacity (if not, there's always the option of a weight belt). I really can't understand why you'd want or need to get anywhere near 60lbs of lead unless you've got a lot of bioprene. How much lift does the Dimension even have?

The small Dimension has 35, the other sizes have 50.

Using a 7mm 2 piece, I am using 28lbs in cold fresh, and 34 in cold salt. That’s at 195 lbs.

I won’t put any more than 20 in my Balance (40lbs lift), 7 in each detachable pocket and 3 each in the trim pockets. I carry the rest on a belt.

For those interested, the sizing / lift chart is here:


BC Size and Lift Chart


EDIT: The rated maximum for the Dimension is 30 lbs, so anyone putting in 60 lbs, regardless of whether it fits, is overloading the BCD.

 

[Mark Derail]

If you use 5 pounders, two per side pocket, two on the tank. Fully suited in cold water with a hood & 14mm I was using about 20 lbs too. However some people require more, I've a diver that is almost 7 feet tall, huge guy, and he needs way more than 20 to sink, perhaps more than 30.

You wouldn't want necessarily a Stiletto in such a case, perhaps, something with bigger weight pockets. There's always weight belts and ankle belts, etc.

If I base an opinion on which BCD has more lift, Zeagle Stiletto or Aqualung Dimension i3, I would say the Dimension i3, because it's bigger. To be sure, I would check the manufacturer's website.

The point is, there is more room for weights in the Dimension i3. A friend, who's an instructor, dives dry with a Stiletto. It was on his recommendation that I got one, when I mentioned that in the boat diving off of Cozumel, the i3 was against the wooden base that holds the tanks & BCD's together. They had to turn the air off of mine, and I had done my inspection, because it would trigger on the waves crashing down.

Plus the fact that it was heavy and big in transport, making it difficult to keep under the 50 lb luggage weight limit. (for two divers)

I find it quite funny the remarks I've been getting! Especially that nobody else has stepped forward, owning both BCD's and having done some 20-ish dives with both BCD's, like I've done.

I've stated real-world experience with both, I would never recommend the Aqualung Dimension i3 to a beginner, or to a diver that will do most of his diving on vacation down South. Based on my personal experience with both.

I'm even willing to say, I don't believe "you" (not being specific to anyone), not having bumped at least once, on the bottom or against rocks (coming to shore) or against the rocky surface of a cenotes or a lava tube.

Try being 10+ divers in a lava tube off a Lanai, HI (Cathedrals) and not bump into anyone / anything, while overhead there's five foot swells.

Things happen, beginners overcompensate. That fact that I'm honest about it, and some would rather comment negatively (without explaining why), well, screw you.

Won't stop me from a having a beer and a laugh with you though.

If you're bumping into things, it's not the bc's fault, it's a skills problem. The fact that the i3 is more likely to get bumped "on" than a traditional inflator is worth noting for a new diver who hasn't developed good buoyancy control yet, however they may take this as a cue to stay a bit further away from coral, etc, until they are more comfortable, which is something new divers should probably do anyway. If you are going into an environment where bumping into things is unavoidable, it's not an environment you should be going into.

FWIW, I dive with a Stiletto. I don't understand your comment of " 'just enough' room for 30lbs". How much weight do you use when diving locally? My last local dive I used 20lbs in a 2 piece 7mm, and I could possibly drop 2lb next time, and I should be able to dive dry within that weight capacity (if not, there's always the option of a weight belt). I really can't understand why you'd want or need to get anywhere near 60lbs of lead unless you've got a lot of bioprene. How much lift does the Dimension even have?

 

[Mark Derail]

Likewise. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, I state clearly facts and opinions, distinctly.

Not the first post you commented me on, and I went WTF??? So I already had a chip on my shoulder, I apologize for that.

That said, the problems I had as a beginner diver with the i3 BCD is real, and I've seen much worse divers than myself, with more dives than I. Unbelievable landings from the boat straight down.

Can you imagine how scary it can be for a beginner to hear that non-stop air rushing into the BCD, because the current brushed you against rocks?

Having both and dived many times with both, my opinion is the i3 is for the accomplished diver, looking into a new BCD. Not for a beginner.

I have no idea where this is coming from. Sounds vaguely threatening, and I do not at all appreciate that.



Ignoring the attitude, I did not question whether the I3 was right for you or not, and I acknowledged all of your issues save one. That one issue was a skills problem, not an equipment problem, and so should not be attributed to the equipment. Fix the skills problem and the equipment is fine. If you choose to change the equipment anyway, fill your boots. I doubt anyone cares, certainly not me But don’t use your skills issues as the basis for saying the product is no good for southern diving. It is misleading, unfair, and illogical. I can’t even apologize for the fact this somehow seems to offend you.

If you don’t wish to view my comments, please block me. Do not threaten me.