Which BCD should you get?
Your BCD is how you float, hover and carry your tank. The right one makes buoyancy feel easy.
Three styles
- Jacket: air wraps around your sides and back. Stable and comfortable at the surface, and the most familiar for new divers.
- Back-inflate: air sits behind you. Easier to stay horizontal underwater, which helps buoyancy and trim. It can tip you forward at the surface until you get used to it.
- Backplate and wing: a plate, harness and wing you set up to fit you. Simple, sturdy and popular with technical and experienced divers.
Travel and lightweight versions of each fold smaller and weigh less in your luggage.
What to look at
- Integrated weights: weight pockets with a quick release instead of a belt. More comfortable for many divers. Check that you can release them easily.
- Lift: more isn’t better. Warm-water diving with one tank doesn’t need a huge bladder, and a smaller one is easier to control.
- Pockets and D-rings: enough to carry a light, a surface marker buoy and a cutter where you can reach them.
- Trim pockets: small weight pockets higher on the tank that help you stay level.
Fit
It should fit with the wetsuit you actually dive in: snug around your chest and waist when inflated, without squeezing your breathing, and staying put when you turn your head and reach for your hoses.
Service
A BCD needs regular service on the manufacturer’s schedule. Not sure when yours is due? Use our gear service checker.
Fit changes everything with a BCD. We fit and set it up with you when you buy.