| at this point, gear buying can be a lot of stress or a lot of fun. no doubt, you will get many generic answers recommending apeks regs and buddy BCDs. you won't go far wrong with these, especially the regs, but i'd recommend you try on lots of BCDs before parting with cash. it has to be a good fit and there can be a large variation between for example, one brand's size 'm' versus another.
personally, i went for a scubapro glide 2000 jacket as a first BCD and it refuses to die despite some fairly heavy use and me bodging twins on to it at one point. it's been great for me, but may not suit you.
if you have a short list of regs/BCDs, let us know and i'm sure someone will have something to say about each.
andrew |