KAYAK DIVERS > GEAR > BCD's

Yep. The orange thing on the left is an old fashioned ABLJ (adjustable bouyancy life jacket), and most divers stopped using them a couple of decades ago in favour of Stab jackets and wings. However, we use them by choice (and so do the Royal Navy so they can't be completely rubbish). They're light, they work, and they're ideal for kayak, light weight and side-mount diving. They're also good for those trips abroad when you're trying to keep your excess bagage weight down. If you get your weight right you hardly need to inflate it and as a result you really don't know you're wearing it. It can be used with a back mounted cylinder or with twin side mounts, or a combination of both on a deep or extended dive. Snap closure studs around the outer edge allow it to be reduced in volume and these pop open in the event of a complete inflation. If used with a single back mounted cylinder it's advisable to use the ABLJ's integral bail out / inflation cylinder. This allowes inflation of the jacket in the event of a reg' failure and with practice and skill, it will also provide a bail out source of air for an emergency ascent. If using twin cylinders / side mounts the integral cylinder can be discarded and the manifold blanked off reducing weight and bulk, as like other BCD's the Arctic can be inflated orally if required. GOOD POINTS: Light, compact, cheap, works with back mounts, side mounts or both, and it's still available. BAD POINTS: None. REMEMBER: Turn up on a quay full of divers with one of these and they'll point at you and whisper to each other. Available to special order from SDS Watersports A Buddy Arctic in use with twin 3L side mounted cylinders. Enlarge Kitting up prior to a dive using a single back mounted 10L cylinder on a wing. Enlarge