Buddy Commando: horror stories?
Phil Clarke
When I told the 'old salts' at the dive club they all immediately started
sucking on their teeth and regurgitating stories of '10 years ago when I
tested a Buddy it was useless etc...'
So, people out there who actually use them: are they the business, or have
they just flooded the British market?
Cheers ... Phil
Jane Hesketh
Maldives, and it was great. OK, so I admit it's only had 20 dives
worth of pounding in nice warm water, but I'm very happy so far.
Are you sure the 'old salts' aren't really ABLJ users who dislike
stab jackets?
Jane Hesketh
Dept of Artificial Intelligence
University of Edinburgh
Scotland
Steve Greenham
forces they will be good enough for me.
=========================================================================
Steve Greenham sgre...@cix.compulink.co.uk
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Alan Tait (0013 ptfe)
I used to work in the stores at Fort Bovisand and they used Commando's and
Commando Slimlines for all the sport courses. They took a lot of punishment
and always worked well. We didn't fit the emergency bottles though; they either
got stolen or novices would fiddle with them underwater with predictable
results.
In the UK the spares back-up from AP Valves is great, you can get parts for Buddies
just about anywhere; as for overseas I can't comment.
I use a Commando Profile but I don't think that the front-mounted emergency valve is
all that wonderful. Access to the pockets whilst underwater is better on the Profile
than on the Slimline which in turn is better than the "plain" Commando (note that
the "plain" Commando has greater lift than the other two)
Some people say that they're over-engineered: two-bag construction, 1100 dennier
nylon outer (something large anyway), three dump routes and an ersatz second stage
(the AP2 AP3 or AP2000 valves, not the Auto-Air) but I think that they're the best.
There's been some criticism of the Auto-Air and if you're buying second-hand make
sure that the Auto-Air has a dome-topped inflation button as opposed to the earlier
flat-topped one.
Even the old lads ("No, I never new Nelson but his old man couldn't half drink")
said they buy a Commando......... when their Fenzy's wore out.
Cheers,
Alan.
As usual, all my own opinions.
Andrew Cohen
Voltrex reg?
I have a chance to buy one with a beta octo
3 guage consol, and a sunto Soultion computer (wrist)
for 940US (tax inc) This seems to be a great deal -
any opinions???
Thanks in advance -
andrew
Andrew Cohen
Anthony DeBoer
Some of my friends here in Ontario, Canada use the Buddy Commando
jackets, and are quite happy with them. They seem well-made, and the
extra air supply does look like a good safety factor (my own gear setup
is more North American, but I get a similar effect with a 13-cubic-foot
pony bottle supplying the jacket, while my main supply feeds my drysuit).
Two older instructors I know, both of whom refuse to dive without that
extra air bottle, are finally now able to retire their Fenzys. :-)
Insert usual disclaimer here about not having any connection to the
factory, etc., although I can put you in touch with the Canadian
distributor if anyone over here is interested.
The product line does look quite modern, although of course if they were
around back in your friends' time, (a) their gear back then would be
older technology from that period, and (b) they've had a good base of
experience from which to design the current stuff. All diving gear
manufacturers either used to produce really crufty stuff, or haven't been
around as long. The stuff in the early years just wasn't as good as
we've got today.
A couple of their (the company that make the Buddy Commando is called AP
Valves, if I recall correctly) more interesting designs include one
compensator whose straps are strong enough to hoist the diver out of the
water; apparently this was designed for the air-sea rescue folks in the
UK so they could be lifted back into helicopters and such forth. Another
design, for drysuit users who use the suit as their primary bouyancy
compensator, has snap fasteners that keep the BC out of the way unless
and until you fill it with air and the snaps pop open to allow it to
expand. Being British designs, they seem to all have the air bottle.
--
Anthony DeBoer < a...@herboid.uucp | uunet!geac!herboid!adb | a...@geac.com >
John Kot
My buddy has a Buddy (Commando). She thinks it is great - well designed
and robust. She managed to puncture it all the way through on a nasty
sharp item, and A.P.Valves posted a repair kit to us which fixed it no
probs, and it is going strong some years later. I also know a couple of
instructors who abuse their gear horribly who have old Buddy BCDs which
seem indestructable. I would be envious, except I have an even older and
tattier orange Scubapro - the best BCD ever made! When will Scubapro get
their act together and re-release another orange BC? This black stuff may
look good on scantily-clad models in adverts, but bright orange is a lot
more practical in the murky waters of Sydney.
John
Public Mac 5
Kot) wrote:
> seem indestructable. I would be envious, except I have an even older and
> tattier orange Scubapro - the best BCD ever made! When will Scubapro get
> their act together and re-release another orange BC? This black stuff may
> look good on scantily-clad models in adverts, but bright orange is a lot
> more practical in the murky waters of Sydney.
Pardon my English;
Last year I tore my single-sheet envelope of the Scubapro bc. The fifth
consulted shopowner told me to get a new envelope (the nylon part of the
bc) instead of a complete new bc, and take all other parts from my old bc;
and that this would be much cheaper. I stated I wanted a 'double breasted'
bc (envelope with separate inner 'bladder').
He then pointed me to the Scubapro bc that _does_ have a separate inner
bladder, an _orange_ outside and three compartments (though
interconnected); one on the back and two _real big_ compartments on the
front. The volume of the bc is 30 liters for the XL. After over 100 dives,
within the last year in rough circumstances I have only one thing to say:
GREAT BC.
Cost of the separate envelope about $150 US, I guess. (it was 380 dutch
guilders, but I had some spare parts on that bill as well)
If it would help, I could dig up the type number of the envelope.
ard
(a33...@diamond.sar.nl)
