kineese wrote:
Questions round #1 -> Do you dive in the Northwest Pacific? Do you dive a BP/W or BCD? If BP/W what type and why? If you live in Vancouver BC can we meet somewhere and will you let me try yours on? Do you find that you need pockets or are they things you can do without?
I do 90% of my diving in the PNW and I use BP\W both in OC and CC configurations - in the pool, I teach with a jacket style BCD.
As for type, I currently use a Scubaforce BP\W on my SF2, a DSS plate and Dive Rite wing on my Poseidon, a Halcyon BP and Tecline Wing with doubles, my own 12 S/S lbs BP and Rofos Wing for singles, a XDeep Ghost for warm water diving.
I use small (<5lbs) weight pockets - these are ditchable weights, in case of need.
kineese wrote:
Thinking of a BP/W. I'm looking at Deep Sea Supply and the Dive Rite Transplate but I'm super confused on how to weight it properly without pockets for ditch-able weight (and there is a wack of people who don't seem to wear weight belts either or maybe I'm just missing it) and you can buy pockets to add but then that just turns into a jacket style BCD so might as well as buy one! I'm sure I'm over-weighted (female, 5'6" and ~145-150lbs) and my dives have all been with over 30lbs (32,35,36 lbs on various dives as I'm trying to figure this out but all with jacket/vest style BCD's).
I'm not going to discuss which system is better, as i sell them all (with one exception) and all are good. However, you'd probably want to have a little bit of ditchable weight - how you go about that is quite simple, you get weighted properly (measured at the end of a dive with an almost empty tank) and a small part of your weight should be ditch-able. I believe that 6 pounds would be enough. You only need to ditch enough weight to make you a couple of pounds positive.
It's hard to tell whether you're over weighted or not without knowing what you are using for exposure protection and tanks - some materials are much more buoyant than others, plus you are a novice diver and your in water techniques are still developing. In any case, based on your own height\weight, i would not be surprised if at some point you'd be able to dive with just 18-20 lbs of lead (or even less).
In any case, adding pockets does NOT transform a BP\W system in a jacket style BCD, the difference is not just about pockets, but about the position of the bubble of air first, and only secondarily about additional gadgetry.
kineese wrote:
If I went for a back-inflate BCD it would likely have to be Zeagle cause no other BCD really fits and I like that I can have small shoulder straps and bigger everything else. I've tried on so... many... things... and unfortunately haven't actually dived with them. I feel like my LDS's (more than just one) aren't the best at catering to BP/W and the systems they have are a bit out of my budget... Or they "carry" a system but don't have any in stock but can order it for you which doesn't help me know what it feels like to have on.
It's kind of surprising that no other BCD fits, there are so many designs that it's really hard to believe. I can't speak for your LDSs but at my shop there is at least half a dozen of BP\W systems that folks can try in water before they buy. As for being out of your budget, there is no magic wand, generally you pay for what you get - there is a ton of gear coming out of Taiwan (and most of made in america is assembled with parts from Taiwan), and difference in price reflects materials, details, distribution, and post-sale support. A Scubapro regulator has superior Quality Control process than its carbon copy from Taiwan under 10 different brand names, but most important support and parts are available for many years and all around the world - the Mark II has been made and sold for over 50 years and the original ones can still be serviced.
kineese wrote:Plans for future diving? I'll probably head the dive master/instructor route cause I love to teach and usually tend to gravitate towards that position. Are you one of the above? What do you find works for you?
Any answers to part or all questions are appreciated
Yes I teach, I dove today, I'll dive tomorrow, and my diving calendar is full already until early next year with trips, classes, my own training and some vacation. I will be in Vancouver in June, probably in July and most likely in Nanaimo in October.
