How good is the Scout?

[nferra2]

I am tempted to Get two scouts, one for each my wife and I. The reason I would get them is for one I can get us both BC's for the price of one, and then when I do upgrade I will have a good travel BC. Would this be a decent BCD for 20-25 dives a year. Does anyone have one? What do you think of it?

Thanks,

Nick

[cummings66]

What kind of diving do you intend to do? It will probably work fine but I believe it's more of a travel BC than anything else.

Zeagle makes good products, of that I'm certain. This is not a BC I would buy but it might work for you. Define your diving you intend to do.

[nferra2]

Short-term - Mostly Florida Panhandle beach dives, probably pretty shallow depths with maybe a trip to the keys and to cozumel thrown in over the next two years. Possible a dive or two on the rigs off the coast of Louisiana, I found out that a local spear fishing club does dives on the rigs, and it sounds like a blast.

I could always save up for better gear, but by the time I rent a whole package for me and the wife for a few days, I could buy a scout for each of us, and if we go twice, I could probably pick up a solid reg and octo for each of us.

[boat]

I just got a Scout and think it's perfect. Not a lot of frills on it. It has rear weight pockets that hold up to 20 lbs. They are dumpable but maybe not that easy to find. I'm diving up in Michigan and wear a weight belt with it anyway. There are also two utility pockets which hold an smb, knife, and slate just fine. I believe the reason that it's advertised as a travel bc is because it's sold with a 24# wing which packs up very small. I purchased mine with a 35 # wing - it did cost about $100 more to get it that way. It still packs up very small though. It seems as well made as any other bc's I've looked at.

[boat]

http://www.scubadiving.com/gear/bcom..._BC_10_new_bcs

I just saw a blurb on the Scout in Scuba Diving on-line magazine. Scroll down the linked page - it's under second look. When I do travel with mine I intend to use the weight pouches for trim weights and still wear a belt. So I don't anticipate having a rollover problem they describe. Right now I've got twelve pounds on my weight belt and 7 on my back. If I lean to one side a bit I rotate my weight belt accordingly to correct.

[the gooch]

I would think that for $100 on top of the Scout price that I would just go for the Brigade.

[nferra2]

The Brigade is 399, and the scout is 219. With discount and Gift Certificates I can get two scouts cheaper than one Brigade. This is intended to be a primary piece of dive gear for a couple of years, and then turn into a travel/backup. If I am happy with it I may never upgrade. Would a 24# bladder be good for warm water diving?

[ScubaToys Larry]

Yes, 24 lbs should be fine - I never inflate my brigade all the way, and if you are just carrying 6 or 8 lbs of lead - you really don't need any more than that. In fact in most jacket BC, especially in the smaller sizes, they many times have 18 - 20 lbs of lift. Only the XL's will get up to the 35 range.

[nferra2]

Thanks Larry, I will have to call you after I reach 250 posts, but I don't want to do it any earlier becuase you will probably answer all my questions and I will run out of things to post about. Well, I could always post about how great ScubaToys is........ but that seems so unoriginal.

[boat]

Originally Posted by the gooch

I would think that for $100 on top of the Scout price that I would just go for the Brigade.

I do understand your point here. I forget that most people seem to be looking for weight integrated and I was specifically looking for a bc that was not.

Also, if buying a Brigade etc., you probably need to buy the yellow weight thingies which up the cost a bit too. I got my Scout with 35# bladder for $328 total. If you look at the prices of the replacement bladders and factor that in - I'm happy with what I paid to get it the way I wanted.