Scuba Diving Equipment
Which BCD is right for You?
Jul
The buoyancy compensator device is the cornerstone of a scuba diving rig. It holds the scuba tank securely and assists in routing the air hoses. Its integrated weight system secures ballast weights, and the valve system keeps a scuba diver neutrally buoyant and in control when descending, ascending, and while exploring the depths.
The scuba BCD is available in three basic styles:
- Jacket
- Front-adjustable
- Back-inflate
Determining the best BCD for you depends on where you’re going to use it, along with your diving style and skill level.
the stab jacket
The SCUBAPRO Classic BCD. This jacket-style scuba BCD was scuba diving’s original buoyancy compensator design and is still very popular among divers. Easy to use, it offers lots of lift capacity and requires minimal adjustment. When SCUBAPRO unveiled the first stabilizing jacket, over forty years ago, it revolutionized the scuba diving BCD market. Providing unequaled stability, its unique design uses unrestricted internal passageways to allow air to flow throughout the jacket and accumulate at the highest point. This makes for a stable ride under water and a comfortable and relaxed face-up floating position on the surface. SCUBAPRO’s modern Classic jacket-style dive BCD combines the best design and construction features of past and present. Built tough, armed with a first class valve system and offering outstanding buoyant lift, the Classic is the original jacket-style BCD and still one of the best.
The front-adjustable bcd
A front-adjustable dive BCD provides a sense of comfort and security. With the ability to adjust shoulder, chest and waist straps to achieve the perfect fit, with air cells positioned under your arms and around your waist a front-adjustable BCD literally embraces you. The Scubapro Glide and Scubapro Hydros X are good examples of front-adjustable design BCDs. They both offer a great fit are comfortable to wear and are ideal for all types of diving. The Front-Adjustable BCD is stable whilst diving and while floating at the surface offering a head up buoyant position. This style of BCD has something for every level of diver whether you are just starting out on your diving adventures or you are a seasoned pro who wants the best.
The back-inflate bcd
A back-inflate BCD, like the name implies, positions its air cell behind you. By doing so, front-body bulkiness disappears leaving an uncluttered chest area and hydro-drag is radically reduced creating a feeling of total diving freedom. Compared to other BCD designs, this can feel like you’re diving with no equipment at all. Back-inflate BCDs, like the Seahawk 2 or the unique HYDROS PRO, are considered the best back-inflate BCDs. Advanced divers, travel divers and photography models are enthusiastic devotees of the back-inflate BCD. However, having your buoyancy behind you has a tendency to push you forward on the surface and requires that you pay a bit more attention to your trim weights. This can easily be accomplished with practice, but it’s why the back-inflate BCD tends to be favored by more experienced divers.
