The big BC guide
Any colour you like so long as it's black...
46 BCs on test
September 1996
Beuchat is a major French manufacturer of leisure-diving equipment but has yet to establish a high public profile in Britain. The Beuchat Evolution Master Lift is a conventional single-bag BC which we found gave our test diver a reasonable height above the surface when fully inflated (17cm), even though the maximum lift when fully submerged was adequate but not among the highest. It was exceedingly comfortable underwater too, imparting a near-horizontal attitude, and gave the benefit of four different ways to dump air (including via the corrugated hose). There was a nice remote toggle for the left shoulder-dump, threaded conveniently down to mid-chest level. We liked the roomy pockets, which are securely held shut with heavy zips.
We felt that this product exuded quality and it was one of our favourite conventional-style BCs.
AP Valves makes the Buddy range of BCs which, for many years, could have been considered standard issue among British club divers.
Buddy jackets are all substantially made, almost in the traditions of military hardware, with a design which uses an inner bladder and the 400ml auxiliary air cylinder. Because the weight of the 400ml cylinder directly replaces weights on the diver's belt, we made our buoyancy test without this cylinder in place.
In the Buddy Profile, the 400ml cylinder is controlled by a remote valve at the front. The most lift in these conventional-style BCs is found in the Buddy Commando and as such it is well-suited to UK diving conditions and has proved popular for that reason. The Buddy Slimline tends to find favour with those of sleeker build. Buddys are functional. Unlike the current mode for BCs they are available in safety-conscious bright day-glo colours (orange, yellow and pink). These conventional-style BCs put a diver securely on to his back when fully inflated at the surface.
Buddy BCs are known to be resilient to hard wear, as proven by the numerous older examples still in service, albeit with their bright colours muted to pastel hues by time and the weather. Then again, if you prefer black you have the choice.
The Commando, Profile and Slimline are each available in black in technical diver's (TD) form. These include eight stainless-steel D-rings for peripheral equipment but otherwise they are the same as standard Buddys. However, for serious technical diving the wing-style Buddy Trimix gives all the D-rings you could want as well as masses of buoyancy and puts the diver's mouth suitably high above the surface of the water during surface flotation, although during our tests we decided it had a definite tendency to tip you forwards.
The Trimix has an integral weight system which was not the most effective when it came to emergency release because one needs to battle with individual fastex-style buckles around the flanks of the jacket. We thought it better used in conjunction with a weight-belt.
Technical divers who want even more lift can always add the buoyancy bag as used in the Trimix to any other Buddy TD jacket as a secondary system. The result is the Buddy Redwing, a real technical diving jacket!
Unlike many BCs reviewed here, Buddys use a separate shoulder pull-cord to dump air (plus a bottom dump for use in case of inversion). Buddy BCs also use their own design of buckle with their shoulder straps. Said to be less inclined to come undone than fastex-style buckles during the chaos of an emergency situation, some divers experience difficulty undoing them after a dive. If you find that to be the case, try undoing each shoulder buckle with the opposite hand.
AP Valves offers the option of the Buddy AutoAir with all its BCs. This is a dual-purpose auto-inflator which allows the diver to breathe any air he might have in his jacket (and from the 400ml emergency cylinder) should he find himself out of air.
We have not included the "over-engineered" Buddy Sea King full waistcoat-style BC in this review. Some uncharitable people have called it "a bit like a potato-sack". However, it is still in production, finds favour with traditional "wreckers" and I am told AP Valves is discovering that it holds great interest at present for divers in Germany.
Dive Rite is an American manufacturer which has been at the forefront of the technical diving revolution. The Dive Rite Trans Pac is a system comprising a harness plus various interchangeable wing-style buoyancy cells which aims to give the diver exactly what he needs in a given set of circumstances. Personalising options include an integrated weight system and additional pouches for accessories.
It may look a little daunting when you first assemble a Trans Pac, because it seems to rely on so much Velcro, and each one seems to be the idea of a different designer! The effect is rather Heath-Robinson. However, everything comes right once the whole item is united on a cylinder or two and the cam-bands are tensioned.
The Dive Rite Trans Pac Rec Wing has a double-bladder construction which we found gave lots of lift but was slightly disappointing in the amount of mouth-to-surface height it gave our test diver. However, it gave a very horizontal underwater swimming position and the buoyancy bag is discouraged from flapping too much by an elasticated cord threaded around it.
The first prize for surface support must go to the Dive Rite Trans Pac Super Wing with its massive amount of buoyancy (52kg recorded) and a mouth-to-surface height of 24cm. It represents one of the few out-and-out technical-diving BCs in our review. We wonder how many ordinary divers buy them just for dive-site credibility!
It has two independent bladders or "cells" contained within one buoyancy wing. The second cell is used in emergencies and for surface support, and has its own direct feed and corrugated hose with over-pressure relief valve. With the primary cell, the pressure-relief valve is built in to the bottom dump. It is important not to switch the corrugated hoses around because they are not identical and this would deprive the secondary cell of its own over-pressure relief valve. As with the Rec Wing, everything is kept tidy by means of elasticated cords, which look rather satisfying.
With both cells fully inflated, we thought it was like having a small dinghy attached to one's back! On land, our test diver felt like John Bunyan's loaded-down pilgrim. It is certainly enough for any technical diver sporting up to five tanks! It was no surprise to find it had a tendency to tip a diver forward at the surface when used with our test (single) cylinder, but it was disappointing to find it was inclined to make him swim in a near-vertical position underwater.
The Dive Rite Trans Pac Travel Wing, on the other hand, was so perfect underwater that it felt like swimming without a tank at all. The Mini Wing scrunches up when not fully inflated, looking about as effective a buoyancy aid as a whoopee cushion. It reveals its Jekyll and Hyde character when fully inflated and expanded. In the water it gave a useful 17kg of lift, placed our test diver in a vertical attitude at the surface and put his mouth 15cm above it. There was certainly enough buoyancy to float our heavy 12-litre steel tank independently. The Trans Pac Mini Wing seems ideal for the travelling diver.
The Dive Rite Trans Pac Sport Wing 1 offers a single-bladder construction in a simple solitary wing without the bungee-cords. It is very portable and we found it gave plenty of lift combined with good surface support despite a tip-forward effect. We did feel that under water its fabric tended to flap a little, but it gave a good horizontal swimming position.
Whichever wing you choose, air is dumped by pulling on the corrugated hose which operates a valve at the top of the bag. There is also a bottom dump. In all its forms, the Dive Rite Trans Pac was found to be relatively straightforward to get into and out of in the water.
Hydrotech, the company based at Stoney Cove, has recently begun to import a range of BCs under the name Seaform. These are mainly aimed at the leisure diver and have low maximum-lift figures but effective surface flotation. It gave the most buoyancy of all the Hydrotech conventional-style jackets and was the easiest to get on. The Seaform 100s was quite complicated to don.
The Hydrotech Seaform 350s and Seaform 400s provide the auxiliary 400ml cylinder for those who want it. Maximum lift was measured without these in place, but even so the 350s seems to make do with only 13kg. We put this down to the weight of its "technical diver" D-rings! We also thought the cummerbund of the 350s a little on the short side. Nevertheless, these are the two products in its range which Hydrotech expects most British divers to go for.
The Hydrotech Seaform 500s is a proper wing design, with a separate inner bladder. It gives a massive amount of lift (31kg) once its wing's stretchy fabric has expanded to full volume, resulting in a perfect sense of security at the surface. This made it easy for our test diver to lie on his back, despite the tiniest tendency to tip him forward.
Resting vertically, we measured a whopping 22cm between the water and his mouth. Underwater, he did report feeling the buoyancy bag touching the back of his head and experienced an almost vertical, and thus not very efficient, swimming position. This was one of the few big-volume wing designs which was easy to put on in the water.
International Divers Inc is another American company which has recently taken an interest in the British market. It sent us four of its BCs to look at.
The IDI Nekton 2000 Ballistic is a conventional-style BC but with a design which makes the buoyancy bag quite separate from the harness. It is made in a very hard-wearing material which, despite its name, is not bullet-proof! In deference to the taste of would-be technical divers, it has six D-rings and comes in black only. The tank is attached by two cam-bands but these were found to be very wide-spaced, which made them more suitable for use with an aluminium cylinder without a boot than our steel tank.
The similarly named IDI Nekton 2000, with its Euro-Harness, uses a design with less heavy-duty material and fewer D-rings but comes in attractive colours. The Euro-Harness allows buoyancy cells to be selected independently from harness size. It has no cross-chest strap, unlike the more technical Ballistic version.
Both jackets were easy to get on in the water but the long shoulder- strap facings of the Euro-Harness made it harder to locate the buckles when the time came to take it off. Surface flotation was armchair-like and underwater the buoyancy provided felt rather like that of a wing-style BC.
IDI also supplies a true wing with its Euro-Harness, called the IDI Advantage. Although it provided more maximum lift than the Nekton 2000, we found that during our test there was less effective surface support. This is because a lot of the inflated bag rises clear of the water. However, flotation surprised us by being near-vertical, with only a slight tendency to push the diver forward. Under water, the buoyancy provided was slightly head-up too.
The Advantage has a simple integrated weight system that relies on upside-down Velcro pocket-flaps. It does have some D-rings but is really a "technical-style" wing. A nice BC though!
For those who feel more comfortable with a very conventional BC there is the IDI Paragon. However, its unusual strap routeings make it feel rather awkward and it was less easy to get on in the water. It performed otherwise in every way we expected. Unlike its more expensive siblings, the Paragon uses only one cam-band to secure the tank.
Mares has some very good products in its range of diving equipment and, being Italian, it comes as no surprise to find that its single-bag BCs are appropriately stylish, with that now rare touch of colour.
The Mares Vector Pro gives a good level of maximum buoyancy for a traditional-type leisure-diving BC, with a good diver attitude and mouth-to-water height at the surface. Its pockets are deep and usable but not particularly wide. Under water it was comfortable, imparting an almost horizontal swimming position.
The Mares Vector Northern Exposure gives more maximum buoyancy but, remarkably, we found it gave less mouth-to-water distance with our test diver resting vertically at the surface. We felt it risky leaving anything important in its triangular pockets.
Both of these BCs used conventional straps and buckles and were easy to get on and off in the water.
The Mares High Lift is a waistcoat-style BC. It gave nearly 20kg of maximum lift under water but ironically offered even less mouth-to-surface height than the other Mares BCs. This is because so much of that buoyancy is positioned above the shoulders and we could not inflate it to its theoretical maximum because of the crushing effect on our test diver.
Under water, the air within the jacket is allowed to circulate to suit any angle a diver is likely to assume. Unfortunately the all-encompassing waistcoat design makes it rather difficult to get the High Lift on (unless you know how) and off in the water. Out of the water, the additional shoulder straps contrive to keep any loading off the buoyancy bag itself. Nice touches were the brilliantly reflective epaulettes and the place to write your name and address.
The Oceanic Chute 1 has the same configuration of buoyancy as the Oceanic Chute 2, leaving the diver's mouth high of the water (21cm in our test). The Chute 1 benefits from an integrated weight system, with handy rip-away pouches at each side. It also comes armed with six small D-rings, although these are the same size as the pulls at the adjustment end of the shoulder-straps - which can lead to confusion at times.
The Chute 2 has eight man-sized D-rings for adding extra cylinders and so on. The pockets in both jackets seemed deep and secure.
Typically for wings, these jackets gave a good attitude while underwater swimming but tended to tip our test diver forward at the surface. Oceanic uses an elasticated material so that the wing in each case grows in bulk as you fill to capacity. We liked the way the direct-feed hose clipped tidily to the corrugated hose but, as with most wings reviewed here, we still decided to place these otherwise worthy BCs in the "technical-wannabee" category.
Oceanic also offers a conventional-style leisure-diver's BC, the Oceanic Visa. At the surface, our test diver was put firmly on to his back. It was easy to don, gave adequate amounts of lift and otherwise performed as one might hope. But we were disappointed to discover that it came equipped with only one secure, albeit capacious, pocket; there was a design-dummy on the other side.
For years the Swedish Poseidon company led the world in high-performance regulator design. Now it has entered the BC market with two items made in the USA. As you would expect, its products are tough and functional.
The Poseidon Biscaya Powerlift is a conventionally styled BC with a hard backpack augmented by a soft cushion. Its pockets were a little difficult to get into under water, but zipped-up they were exceedingly secure. It imparted an almost horizontal underwater swimming position combined with armchair-like surface support and our test diver enjoyed a very effective 19cm of separation between his mouth and the water.
Not unexpectedly, the wing-style Poseidon Biscaya Techlift imparted a less secure feeling at the surface but had masses more lift available underwater. However, we found it a struggle to get on while in the water, though easy to get off. The Techlift has all the requisite stainless steel D-rings (we counted ten) and a rather novel metal buckle for the strap which is located over the cummerbund.
The Techlift secures the diver's tank with two cam-bands. Poseidon regulators have been a favourite with many technical divers and here the company makes a serious bid to gain the same respect for its wing BC.
Scubapro more or less invented the waistcoat-style BC, and now makes a huge range of BCs of all types. Its latest model is the Scubapro SeaHawk, a wing design. In terms of maximum buoyancy and flotation it performed in almost the same way as the Poseidon Techlift. Both provided masses of lift and a huge mouth-to-surface distance.
Together with both Oceanic Chutes and the Buddy Trimix, they were among the best in their class, surpassed only by fully-fledged technical set-ups with secondary wings or bladders such as the Dive Rite Super Wing and Buddy Redwing.
The Scubapro SeaHawk has a hard backpack and lumbar cushion, four rather small pockets (when two larger ones might have been more useful), eight matte steel D-rings, and a comfortable padded harness which is zipped and fastex-buckled on to what appears to be a single-bladder-design buoyancy cell. Air is dumped using a conventional shoulder-pull valve with the toggle routed conveniently to the front of the jacket. There is also a dump-valve positioned at the bottom of the bag.
Our test diver found it too complex to rig on to himself in the water, mainly due to the novel twin leg-straps, which proved far more comfortable in use than a conventional jock-strap.
Because Scubapro invented it, it seemed appropriate that we should also include one of its full waistcoat-style BCs in this review. The Scubapro Classic is exactly that.
We could not use its theoretical maximum buoyancy because of torso squeeze but it was almost "technical" in the amount of lift provided. With its exceptionally "safe" attitude on surface flotation - mouth-to-water measured at 19cm - this aptly named classic design is still a serious contender in the marketplace.
Under water, the air in the Classic is allowed to move through a full 360, making any body posture easy to sustain. At the surface it put our test diver so securely on to his back that when it came to submerging he could hardly get his feet under!
The penalty one pays for this otherwise good design is the difficulty experienced in getting out of an inflated jacket, as you might before climbing into a small boat. Putting it on in the water is easy only if you know how!
One feature about which we were unenthusiastic is Scubapro's own design of cam-band. This relies on a pre-adjusted loop of webbing that has to fit the cylinder in use exactly, being levered under tension by a metal buckle. This is quick and effective once you have established it for a particular tank, but can be fiddly for anyone fitting their own jacket to a strange cylinder - while visiting a foreign dive centre, for example.
Both these Scubapro BCs use a hard backpack with a really good carrying handle which slides unobtrusively away when not needed. There is also the option of an accessory called an Air 2, which acts as an alternative to an octopus-rig and is combined with the BC direct-feed mechanism.
Seac Sub's public profile is very low - rather like the position at the surface of a diver who has the misfortune to be using the Seac Sub Seacross 950. Of all the BCs subjected to our scrutiny, we felt this one provided insufficient surface support. Quite frankly, we experienced great difficulty measuring our diver's mouth-to-surface height because he almost needed to use a snorkel!
However, the Seac Sub Seacross 1000 was better and we thought it OK to use for calm-weather wetsuit diving. It was as good as my own favourite "travelling BC".
With the Mirage ZX Tech Diver (from the same source) it was a very different story. With 22cm between his mouth and the surface with its wing fully inflated, our test diver reported feeling much more comfortable, although as with many wings he was tipped forward.
Putting it on in the water was not easy, though better than some of the others. Once on, it was very comfortable to wear and our test diver reported that it held him nicely. It has thigh straps to prevent a technical diver's tanks crashing about his head if he turns head down. This is another proper technical diving product, and there is an option of two additional wings which can be rigged to its rather complex harness. If we have any criticism, it is that it looks less toughly made than it might be.
The Seapeks BC started out full of good ideas several years ago but was let down by poor manufacturing quality. Since then it has evolved into a serious contender and is generally a very well-made item, although one or two of the less-important components still seem to be made of cheap plastic. It has been specifically developed for the British market, as indicated by the inclusion of a 400ml emergency-inflation air-cylinder.
A large amount (23kg) of lift combined with a remarkable 20cm of mouth-to-surface distance recorded on our test tells us that the Seapeks is perfect for use in rough sea conditions. Surface flotation puts you securely on your back and both pockets are very accessible. We did, though, find it less easy to get on and off than we would have liked.
SeaQuest has had a good share of the BC market for a long time. Among a plethora of black BCs, it still offers a splash of colour.
SeaQuest jackets do not have huge maximum buoyancy figures when compared with some of the other BCs in our table, but more of its BCs are currently in use by leisure divers worldwide than almost any other manufacturer's. It offers BCs mainly to those who are happy to eschew any pretensions to be technical divers.
The little single-bag wing design called the SeaQuest Dimension D3 is extremely neat. Less like a wing and more like a neat little rucksack, it has a maximum lift of a mere 13kg and left our test diver's mouth only 8cm above water while floating very vertically at the surface. However, it is a delight to put on and off, even though it can be hard to locate the buckles in the latter case. When used under water it seems to make the tank just disappear.
I confess to having bought a Dimension D3 and have used it for some years, both with wet and drysuits. It is marred only by its lack of pockets and a suitable carrying handle.
All the other SeaQuest BCs distinguish themselves in being equally easy to put on and take off. The SeaQuest Diva has a little more lift than the D3. It is designed specifically for curvaceous lady divers, with a harness that has an elasticated bodice. But it fitted our male test diver just as well and put him on his back when fully inflated at the surface.
The SeaQuest Predator is proving very popular in dive shops. It provides the most lift of any of the conventional SeaQuest BCs listed here and gave a very sensible 16cm of water-to-mouth distance during our test surface flotation. Its pockets are small but easy to access, unlike those of the SeaQuest Spectrum 4 ADV which, although easy to reach, felt a little on the small side. Despite a relatively low maximum buoyancy of 13kg, the Spectrum 4 is still a worthy BC which has proved popular with wetsuit divers over a long period.
The SeaQuest Quickdraw gives the benefit of an integrated weight system and a little more lift but achieved less surface height during flotation than the Predator.
The SeaQuest Black Diamond wing-style BC is a seductive-looking piece of equipment. It looks very "technical", with lots of D-rings, but has a fairly compact buoyancy bag and so does not have enough lift to float twin cylinders in the water. Using a single cylinder, even a 15- litre, it works well, is very easy to get on and off and extremely comfortable to use under water. It allowed the test diver to take up a naturally horizontal position and left him feeling secure while waiting vertically at the surface, with only a slight - resistible - tendency to tip him forwards.
The Black Diamond uses a highly effective integrated-weight system, with Velcro-covered pouches which can be ripped away in an emergency. It is ideal for those who want a wing but do only normal sport diving. Like many others now coming to dive shops, it's a near-technical BC.
SeaQuest BCs use a shoulder- dump valve connected to the corrugated hose and there is a choice of two types. One neatly conceals the direct-feed hose; but it needs this hose to be clipped alongside it each time the aqualung set is rigged. Each BC secures the tank with a single cam-band.
The Technisub Vario XV is Italian-made but comes from the same marketing stable as the SeaQuest jackets, with the same choice of corrugated hoses. It is a classic-style, single-bag BC reminiscent of the well-known Spiro SBC and as such performs its function well. Loads of lift, a good attitude at the surface with plenty of clearance between the diver's mouth and the surface, a comfortable, slightly head-up attitude under water and pockets which are big with easy access add up to a winner for the average diver.
The same could be said for the Sherwood Seahorse. It gave more maximum buoyancy but the BC had to be deflated a little to be comfortable, hence a lower mouth-to-water distance was recorded during our test. Also, the waistband could not be kept done up while it was inflated to the maximum. The Seahorse allowed the diver to take up an almost horizontal position under water for efficient finning. The pockets were very secure but a little small and we thought them rather inaccessible. Overall, however, it represents what a good conventional BC should be, including four ways to dump the air.
Torpedo is a new name in British dive shops. The Torpedo Pace 2000 is a conventional-style BC with a fairly ordinary performance, but it has been dressed up for those who see themselves as technical divers. It is black, with stainless steel D-rings.
We found it to be an average performer, which tended to put a diver safely on his back when it was fully inflated at the surface, and it gave quite a head-up swimming position under water. It was slightly complicated to get on in the water and the pockets were virtually inaccessible but secure, with big zips.
The Torpedo Pro-Tech wing design has an integrated weight system which uses a simple, no-fuss Velcro pocket design but with two ripcord releases, and offers a choice of buoyancy bladders. We tried the larger of the two, which we found to have 25kg of lift. It comes with twin tank-bands. You can add a secondary wing if you prefer, and this makes it a true technical diver's BC.
The Pro-Tech has ten stainless steel D-rings for peripheral equipment and/or additional cylinders, and two deep pockets with long, secure Velcro flaps. It was relatively easy to get on and off in the water and, inflated at the surface, it left the diver comfortably vertical. Under water he found it most comfortable to swim a little head-up. This is a wing-style jacket which can, if necessary, be updated to a full technical spec.
Zeagle Systems has had a high profile in the technical diving world, and its BCs have also found much favour with ordinary British club divers. It was one of the first companies to offer an integrated weight system.
Zeagle's BCs are tough and do the job well. Basically the same modular design with variations, they give masses of buoyancy just where you need it during diving. They allow the diver to remain horizontal and their tendency to tip a diver sporting a single cylinder on to his front at the surface is nothing which cannot be controlled.
The Zeagle Tech Diver 7706R wing is the top model in the range. It comes with eight D-rings for clipping on peripherals. It must be said that these led to a little confusion when trying to remove the BC in the water, being similar to the harness shoulder-buckles. The Zeagle integrated weight system has an emergency release which can dump all its weights by pulling a single ripcord.
The simpler, six-D-ring Zeagle Tech Pac wing does not have the very effective integrated weight system of its more expensive brother.
The Zeagle Ranger is a more economic version, with only two D-rings, but there is nothing really missing. It has a novel roll-up pocket as well as the integrated weight system of the top model.
The Zeagle Speed Pac represents a stripped down version of all the Zeagle wings. It is simple and very easy to don and remove in the water. Less inherent weight of paraphernalia means more lift in this case. It is Zeagle's entry-level BC, for someone who wants a minimal rig for travelling or an uncluttered front conducive to use of a drysuit or, indeed, because they are endowed with a shapely bosom! Later, you can add other Zeagle components should you so wish.
All the Zeagle BCs retain the tank securely using two long cam-bands and have hose pull dumps as well as dump-valves at the bottom of the bag. There are lots of optional extras available for them, like attachable pouches and dive-planning slates. All except the Speed Pac are suitable for use with twin tanks. Add a secondary wing, and you will transform a good diver's BC into something for a true technical diver!
