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Scuba Forum / UK Scuba / March 2006New BCD Info Required
I am looking to bet my first BCD. I dive on a weekly basis at the local pool and once a month at an inland quarry or around the UK coast. So far my shortlist comprises of: Tigullio T52 SeacSub Pro 2000 Seac Sub Pro Tech Cressi Sub J111R Cressi Sub S111R I would appreciate any feedback that any users of these BCD's have. Particularly the performance of the Tigullio, the use of a non corrugated hose inflator on the J111R and if the Pro200 is worth the extra money over the Pro Tech. > I am looking to bet my first BCD. I dive on a weekly basis at the > local pool and once a month at an inland quarry or around the UK coast. [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > corrugated hose inflator on the J111R and if the Pro200 is worth the > extra money over the Pro Tech. There's a Seac Sub Pro 3000 as well which I use and rate highly. > I am looking to bet my first BCD. I dive on a weekly basis at the > local pool and once a month at an inland quarry or around the UK coast. > So far my shortlist comprises of: Buy the cheapest and spend the change doing some more diving. A BCD is not a very important bit of kit. Divers managed for years without one. What ever you buy you will change later for reasons that will make the differences between these look trivial. Sorry an all.... nigelH Nigel, Please read http://www.sirdivealot.nl/Incidenten/Broken_Point/Incident.htm and take the sh.t others will poor over you before advising newbies in this way again. Try the same thread in rec.scuba.equipment. At least he got some advice over there. I bet Sharky and Rick's were a bit more usefull. btw, divers managed to dive without tables and procedures also back then. Might want to advise the poor guy to buy a pare of swimshorts and do some apneu's instead of buying any scuba-gear? btw, Ric, considder second hand and ask your instructor and trusted shop for their opinion if you see something interesting. That should save you quite a lot of money! Frank >> I am looking to bet my first BCD. I dive on a weekly basis at the >> local pool and once a month at an inland quarry or around the UK coast. [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > *** Encrypt your Internet usage with a free VPN account from > http://www.SecureIX.com *** > Nigel, > > Please read > http://www.sirdivealot.nl/Incidenten/Broken_Point/Incident.htm and > take the sh.t others will poor over you before advising newbies in > this way again. OK I read it. We have an accident with no known cause and strange circumsances and this is relevant to the choice between a set of new BCDs in what way? Somebody applied the 'lost buddy procedure', otherwise known as 'leave them to die', and the poor guy dumped all his kit and predictably died. I can fault the training of both parties in that they have been taught the 'protect the agency not the diver' stuff but the BCD was never recovered and we have no way of knowing if it was the problem. Add to this he was diving 7C water wet so who should have believed that he was an experienced diver? I stand by my advice that you can buy any BCD and get good diving out of it. Expensive BCDs may have features you like but not features you must have. I am sorry to hear of the death of any diver and always appreciate some details so we can learn to avoid the causes of the incident but blaming the equipment for this one is not on. nigelH >> Nigel, >> [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > >nigelH Agreed. Total failure of a BCD should be an inconvenience, no more, and one you should have though of and planned for. I have at least two other buoyancy compensating devices with me on each and every dive. David I don't have huge experinece of BCD's but if it all goes tits up ... and you are left stranded on the surface separated from your ship & buddy - having a good reliable BCD would seem a sensible thing. Could be the difference between 'lie back, float & wait' and expend all your energy keeping above water ... I could be wrong. >I don't have huge experinece of BCD's but if it all goes tits up ... >and you are left stranded on the surface separated from your ship & >buddy - having a good reliable BCD would seem a sensible thing. >Could be the difference between 'lie back, float & wait' and expend >all your energy keeping above water ... I could be wrong. Bin the weight belt and you are in the same position. Stick air in your dry suit and you are in the same position. If all else fails stick some air in your DSMB and use it as a float It's a bag with air in which by adding a few fancy extras can be made very expensive >>>Nigel, >>> [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > I have at least two other buoyancy compensating devices with me on > each and every dive. But you don't know wether this guy was simply been robbed. Matthias > I have at least two other buoyancy compensating devices with me on > each and every dive. And I expect you metion this to your buddy in passing. But what you carry and what gear you have does not change Nigels comments. > Buy the cheapest and spend the change doing some more diving. > A BCD is not a very important bit of kit. but I am sure 7 degree water 3-4 meters vis would change my style of diving from the nice warm waters and 30 meters vis. It would not change my diving kit and a cheap BCD would work in those conditions, meybe a broken one would be a bad plan. sorry not much help to G famliy. David > Nigel, > > Please read http://www.sirdivealot.nl/Incidenten/Broken_Point/Incident.htm > and take the sh.t others will poor over you before advising newbies in this > way again. I too have read it and there is not one single scrap of evidence that the BCD failed. Any suggestion that it did so is nothing more than speculative scare-mongering, so unless you have some real evidence to the contrary, I'll join Nigel in recommending the cheapest BCD that fits. Cash spent on good training will always be of far more benefit than expenditure on expensive gadgets. Cliff. >>Nigel, >> [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > I too have read it and there is not one single scrap of evidence that the > BCD failed. Indeed. This guy might have had thought it at fault and brought to the repair shop for wrong reasons. like that he wasn't really trained to handle it. Matthias By no means an expert ... but I looked at all the reviews on line, found a good site in US - http://www.scubadiving.com/ and after looking at all the reviews decided on a Scubapro Glide 1000 .... it seemed to win out against many more expensive units. Done about 30 dives with it so far - and glad I made the choice I did, found nothing wanting in it. My son used a Cressi Aquapro on his OW course, and liked it so much that I bought him one for Xmas ... . So there's 2 others for you Forgot to add that I bought both via eBay ..and less than 50% of new prices, both were still under warranty and less than a year old. I concur with others who have said buy the cheapest that fits. I bought a second hand one for £50 - used it for a year or so, then bought twins and a wing - by which time I knew what I wanted. Sold the old one on ebay for £60 quid - honestly described as wellused, working order. That's a year's use and £10 profit (minus ebay fees). You may decide not to go the wing route then fair enough - but you'll then know what features you really want and which ones are basically bollocks, at least for your purposes, so won't mind paying proper money, or being stingy as appropriate. I don't know anything about the specifc models you mention, but have noticed that a number of the cheaper brands (including proper names) seem very similar indeed to the extent that could well be sub-contracted to the same factory. My original Poseidon was virtually identical to the Suunto I trained in. That said, from what I've seen, albeit not used one, the Buddy BCD is very well made and dependable-looking, and well-thought-of in UK Club-diving circles. If buying 2nd hand, don't pay too much (especially on ebay), and give it a good check out before using it. Unless anyone knows better, providing it doesn't leak and the valves all work, that's about it. Cheers Hywel I concur with others who have said buy the cheapest that fits. I bought a second hand one for £50 - used it for a year or so, then bought twins and a wing - by which time I knew what I wanted. Sold the old one on ebay for £60 quid - honestly described as wellused, working order. That's a year's use and £10 profit (minus ebay fees). You may decide not to go the wing route then fair enough - but you'll then know what features you really want and which ones are basically bollocks, at least for your purposes, so won't mind paying proper money, or being stingy as appropriate. I don't know anything about the specifc models you mention, but have noticed that a number of the cheaper brands (including proper names) seem very similar indeed to the extent that could well be sub-contracted to the same factory. My original Poseidon was virtually identical to the Suunto I trained in. That said, from what I've seen, albeit not used one, the Buddy BCD is very well made and dependable-looking, and well-thought-of in UK Club-diving circles. If buying 2nd hand, don't pay too much (especially on ebay), and give it a good check out before using it. Unless anyone knows better, providing it doesn't leak and the valves all work, that's about it. Cheers Hywel |
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