Overall, test divers liked the Tortuga. The hybrid air-cell design offers the best of both jacket and back buoyancy worlds, creating a comfortable fit and a stable ride.

It takes a little longer to get that perfect fit with the SeaLion, but once there you’ll be strapped into a solid temperate water rig.

The Seahawk is a do-it-all back-buoyancy BC. The Super Cinch tank-strap and weight system take some getting used to, but once you do they become got-to-have systems on a got-to-have BC.

The Versa 3000 is a big BC in many respects: It tends to be cut big; it comes with big cargo pockets; it also offers some big-time buoyant lift and a large-capacity weight-ditch system. On the other hand, the BC is surprisingly lightweight; in ...

The air cell on the Hydro D is horseshoe-shaped, which enables the tank to be positioned closer to the body.

The Alpha is a full-featured, all-purpose BC that garnered some admiring nods from test divers for its very compact yet very responsive power inflator in particular, and its overall valve system in general.

The Pro LT is built a little lighter than the Pro QD and offers fewer bells and whistles, but when it comes to performance, this BC is no slouch.

IST’s GP-four thousand compass-plus is a full-featured wrist-mount computer with three control buttons make navigating through the system simple.

Tilos’ Gemini-A reg has a compact balanced diaphragm first stage and a lightweight, pneumatically balanced second stage.