BC - ScubaPro Knighthawk or Aeris Atmos LX

Time for a new BC. Trying to decide between these two since both fit pretty well.

Any recommendations or gripes one way or the other?

Hi

I have only recently upgraded my BC, and I looked extensively at both these models.

I preferred the KnightHawk, and of these two would recommend that model.

The Aeris and the KnightHawk are both very good BC's, both very comfortable fits. However the KnightHawk is $100 cheaper, and had no side lobes to the air cell. One of the things that drives me crazy is side squeeze from the BC, and thus I wanted something with a rear inflation bladder, and as little side inflation as possible. The Atmos has most of its lift at the back, but when fully inflated I still felt a significant amount of squeeze. The KnightHawk however has a purely rear placed bladder, the closet thing to a wing on the recreational market. There was absolutely no squeeze at all.

As a photographer, you want to be as neutrally bouyant as possible, and a rear lift bladder has the best potential to get you neutrally bouyant underwater. I can't remember the exact science, but it goes something like this:- best bouyancy comes when the lift and weight coincide, i.e. put the air cell around the cylinder and push your weights as far back as possible - the result is a wing set up. Thus I actually ditched the whole BC style jacket for a wing and harness (also my entire rig is now bright blue - way more aesthetically pleasing than boring black)

Hope this is of some help

Cheers

Hal

I can't remember the exact science...

Found the science bit...Click Here

But most of all - don't be sucked into the black hole of all black dive gear. Have fun and and some colour to your life!

Cheers

Hal

I haven't used either, but my girlfriend has the Ladyhawk (female version of Knighthawk) and it is a great BC.

Alex

Thanks for the input guys. I ended up going with the Aeris. It fit as well as the knighthawk, but seemed like the pocket design and more importantly the attachment points were a plus. Plus I found it for just under $400. My wife just picked up the Contour, the ladies version of the Atmos, that she ordered at a dive show in March and the shop extended the show pricing for mine as well. The idea of a little more stability at the surface pushed me towards the Aeris as well. I managed for the first 10 years with an ill fitting no name brand, so here's hoping this one lasts me at least that long.