BC

WELL AND TRULY TESTED

A new crossover wing from Mares gives STEVE WARREN the chance to reflect on contrasts between rec and tech diver requirements – and also how they can coincide.

Plus: a regulator combo suitable at all levels

BEFORE WE TALK ABOUT THIS BC, let’s talk regulators. In 2005 a major brand introduced a twin-hose reg, a modern take on the original regulators that, for very good reasons, had been eclipsed by single-hose models by the late 1960s. A divEr reader bought one, then wrote in to complain about how badly it breathed. Of course it did – it was a twin-hose! Using such regulators requires the diver to put up with that, and know the tricks that make it “less worse” to use.

A twin-hose remains the first choice of some underwater photographers and film-makers, me included, because it exhausts bubbles behind your head, out of your field of view. But using one only because it looks cool is to invite disappointment.

Buying a technical BC without understanding how it differs from a recreational model does the same. The two might look broadly similar, but the differences are important.

The Mares XR-Rec Silver Single Backmount back-inflation BC is an extended-range recreational wing designed to appeal to divers planning to progress to technical diving, or those already there who are looking for a travel-friendly wing for single-cylinder diving.

Technical divers adopt philosophies that are still ignored or cherry-picked by recreational divers like me, and some tech BC features can seem to be overkill. But their inclusion reflects that an equipment-failure in a cave, for example, might be far more dangerous than in open water, and that simplifying equipment can reduce fail-points at the expense of convenience. Inconveniences can be overcome through training and practice.

So, given that this is a crossover BC, I’ll try to explain those differences.

The Design

The first big difference is the use of an aluminium backplate rather than a conventional plastic backpack. The claimed advantage is better trim, achieved by counteracting the tendency of the buoyancy of your lungs to raise your head.