How to Select a Buoyancy Control Device
BCD Basics
A BCD serves two primary purposes; it attached your SCUBA tank to you body and it has a bladder that can be inflated or deflated to compensate for the chances in pressure at depth so a diver can remain neutrally buoyant as he/she changes depth. As a diver descends the pressure increases by one atmosphere/bar for every thirty-three feet of fresh water. This change in pressure causes the divers wetsuit to compress lose buoyancy. To remain neutral the diver must add air as he descends and to avoid a rapid assent he needs to dump air when ascending.
There are two basic styles of BCD used in recreational diving a jacket style and a back inflate. The jacket style is the style most diver use in training. It has a bladder that wraps around the diver like a jacket and inflates at the rear and on the sides. The back inflate has a bladder only behind the diver. Both work well when diving along the reef. The rear inflation BCD can be more difficult at the surface for new divers or those less comfortable in the water because they tend to tip the user forward. The jacket style is more like a life jacket and tends to be more comfortable on the surface.
In addition to holding the tank to your body and buoyancy compensation the BCD has other features that can make your diving experience more enjoyable. First is weight integration. At Sea Lions Dive center nearly all the BCDs we sell are weight integrated which means they have pocket that hold your weights instead of wearing a traditional weight belt. These pockets will have a quick release mechanism that will allow you to dump the weights in an emergency.
The BC will also have D rings to attach various tools such as flashlights, cutting devised, safety sausages and slated. These D rings can also be used to secure gauges and alternate air sources for streamlining.
Most BCDs will also have pockets to hold tools and safety equipment.
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Featured BCDs
At Sea Lions Dive Center we feature Mares and ScubaPro BCD's. The Mares Origin and the ScubaPro Glide Plus are examples of jacket style BCDs. Both have the traditional low pressure inflator valves to fill and dump air from the BCD and integrated weight pockets. The Mares weight pockets have red handles which you pull to release the weights making dumping in emergencies a little more intuitive. On the ScubaPro BCDs the pockets have quick disconnects that need to be pinched to be released. ScubaPro has the Bella model which is similar to the GlidePlus but designed for a woman. The chest straps are higher and it has blue trim.
The Knighthawk and its lady's version the Ladyhawk are our biggest selling back inflate. Both these vests are comfortable and dependable and have several D rings for equipment. The only pocket can be rolled up and stored when not in use.
