|May 09 Scuba Lab Quick Links| |---| |General Purpose BCs| |---| | BARE Blackjack| BARE Blackwing| | BARE Voodoo| Mares Prestige MRS Plus| | SCUBAPRO Glide Pro| Tusa Conquest| | Zeagle Ranger LTD| | |Dual Purpose BCs| |---| | Aeris 5 Oceans| Cressi Aquaride| | Oceanic Cruz| SCUBAPRO Equator| | Cressi Travelight| Cressi Light Jac| |True Travel BCs| |---| | Zeagle Zeus| |

General Purpose BCs

General Purpose BCs offer lots of buoyant lift and integrated weight systems that can accommodate the ballast needed when using thick wetsuits or drysuits. They are usually appointed with generous pockets, D-rings, and grommets for attaching a variety of accessories. Features and comfort commonly rate higher in priority than dry weight, so as a group they tend to be the heaviest BCs on the market.

BARE Voodoo

Features

At first glance the Voodoo is a typical back-buoyancy BC. But under the cargo pockets and weight pouches hides a second air cell that wraps around the waist. You don't notice it until you need it, and you don't need it until you reach the surface and decide you want to transfer air from rear cell to waist cell to create a comfortable surface floating position. The rear air cell provides 48 pounds of lift, and the waist cell adds 17 pounds more. The Voodoo comes fully loaded with a padded hard pack, three zippered pockets, nine stainless steel D-rings, and two extra accessory pockets.

Performance

|Specifications| |---| | Average Subjective Test Score| 3.8| | Dry Weight| 10.5 lbs.| | Buoyant Lift| 48 + 17 lbs.| | Inherent Buoyancy| 1.3 lbs.| | Weight Capacity| 30/10 lbs.| | Price| $800| | www.baresports.com|

We saw this dual air cell design a few years ago on the Deep Outdoors D2. At the time we felt it was a whole lot of trouble just to have a more comfortable surface floating position, but to each his own. The air transfer system actually works fine, and having the waist cell inflated definitely improves your surface floating position. How much it improves it varies among test divers, and can be affected by the type of tank you use (steel vs. aluminum) and how you've got your ballast weights trimmed out. Additional air cell aside, the Voodoo is a pretty nice back-buoyancy BC. Under water it delivers a stable ride. The backpad is comfortable, and the whole rig can be cinched down to a real snug fit. The BC provides better access to both cargo pockets and weight pouches than the Blackwing does, and its old-style power inflator, while a bit awkward in the hand, offers responsive button action for efficient ascent control.

Bottom Line

The Voodoo is a very well-put-together, user-friendly, back-buoyancy BC without the waist air cell. Add the waist air cell and you've got a very unique back-buoyancy BC. And very pricey. For some, it may be worth it. For others, to get that nice surface floating position it may be easier-and cheaper-to just buy a jacket-style BC.

|Quick Links| |---| |General Purpose BCs| |---| | BARE Blackjack| BARE Blackwing| | BARE Voodoo| Mares Prestige MRS Plus| | SCUBAPRO Glide Pro| Tusa Conquest| | Zeagle Ranger LTD| | |Dual Purpose BCs| |---| | Aeris 5 Oceans| Cressi Aquaride| | Oceanic Cruz| SCUBAPRO Equator| | Cressi Travelight| Cressi Light Jac| |True Travel BCs| |---| | Zeagle Zeus| |