Hi all,
Please understand, I really dont care what sort of gear anyone uses. My business is teaching and taking people diving, and whatever works is fine with me.
Most of my clients, (not the ones reading this board) are blissfully under trained and just interested in having fun and seeing cool stuff underwater. And that is just fine by me.
My interest, and reason for posting, is that I see all too many divers who are sold expensive and entirely inappropriate gear. This causes and ripple effect, what I am told the Brits call an Incident Pit. Certain types of gear are associated with certain types of problems, and I know it isnt just me, staff members have come up with this all on their own.
I hate to see people who are on a budget, spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars for gear that is inappropriate for the diving they do, or their skill level.
As to Matts specific question; I said, Jacket style SHOULD be superior, because of the task it SHOULD do. I didnt say it was. There is all too much (Im sorry, I cant think of a more appropriate word right now) crap out in the market. Many of the problems people on this board complain about having to do with BCs have to do with bad fit and bad design. Not the concept of the jacket style, the execution of it.
If you like your backplate, great. If you dive a lot, even better. If you come and dive with me, best of all possible worlds.
To Wardric; It is very good to hear of someone who actually uses a BC and drysuit properly. There are all too many threads on this board by people who dont.
To Walter; Maybe my memory is playing tricks on my, but I could have sworn that the original wrap around BC was call the Stab-Jacket, although when I teach intros I call it a vest also.
In my personal use, the most important job of a BC is surface flotation. Not just for me, but for the person I am helping. Being able to calmly hold up a nervous person and talk them through their anxiety so they can continue and have a good time diving, has allowed me to build a business in diving. Back inflation just doesnt make it for me, unless I am doing overheads.
Trim is something that is achieved by proper weighting. I have nearly an entire chapter of an advanced manual written on that, I hope to have the book out later this year. (BTW, part of the reason that BP help, is that they move the center of gravity up the torso. Most men naturally trim head up, and a weight belt on the hips torques them to an even more upright position. The BP puts some torque up high and helps level them off. If BCs were properly designed, there wouldnt be such a noticeable difference)