Aqua Lung Pro HD BCD – A review by Dive India


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By Vandit Kalia, Dive India Scuba & Resorts, Havelock Island

The Aqualung Pro HD BCD is a personal favorite of mine.  I owned the previous version of this (Seaquest Pro HD, before they were re-branded) for several years and found it an extremely comfortable jacket-style BCD.    

The air pockets have some structure to them, so the air bubbles doesnt move all over the place (as in some other BCDs) and robust tank support and structure in the back means that the tank stays firmly put, without rolling from side to side.

This BCD has integrated weights and one feature i consider near-essental – trim pockets. These are weight pockets located around your shoulders:  by storing 1-2 kg there, you can move the center of your buoyancy higher up, which allows you to get a better, neutral trim (in other words, you can hold any body position you want – horizontal or inclined – without any issues).    

pro_hd_frontThis system of distributed weights (2 integrated weight pockets and 2 trim pockets) gives you more ditch options:   if you are diving in cold water where you need to plan for the contingency of dropping weights, this gives you more options as compared to a weight belt (which is all or nothing).
 
The Aqualung Pro HD BCD uses a high-denier fabric, which is more robust, more abrasion-proof and less likely to fade or look raggedy over time. Lastly, the BCD comes with more than enough lift to handle cold water diving as well (13kg of lift for a size M).    

And it has more than enough D-rings and attachment points to hold all your accessories. As I mentioned earlier, I used to own this many, many years ago and sold it because i was diving with a tech harness only.  In terms of price/performance, this is probably one of the best BCDs in the market today, period.
 
For more information on Aqua Lung Pro HD BCD, please contact us.