Controls/Inflation

Buddy offer both a standard direct feed and the Auto Air combined direct feed and octopus. Our test jackets all had the standard direct feed. This incorporates Buddy's automatic mouthpiece for breathing air directly from the BCD bladder.

All of our test team were able to operate the inflator button easily and could both inflate and dump simultaneously using the direct feed. This can be useful when learning buoyancy control, when divers tend to over-compensate, or during an emergency ascent.

We also asked our team how easily they could locate the inflation mechanism. Hunting for a free-swinging inflator somewhere behind your head is at best a pain and at worst costs precious seconds in an emergency.

In addition to routine direct-feed inflation, AP Valves also includes a small air cylinder for emergency inflation and emergency breathing. The cylinder is designed to be refilled by the user from any scuba tank. The emergency cylinder must be refilled from a tank of at least its own working pressure to ensure it is full. It contains 92 litres at 232 bar, enough to fully inflate a medium Profile once at 50m. The fact that the Profile was developed from its inception to take an emergency air cylinder, and was not simply adapted as many other jackets have been, is self-evident. The cylinder is placed behind the jacket, out of the way, while the large, ribbed control valve is located at the diver's front, right side. This makes it accessible to the user or a rescuer. If the diver chooses to remove the cylinder, a non-return valve prevents any air leaking from the BCD.

Dumps

The latest Profile has a dump valve built into the oral inflator hose top. This new feature means that if the diver rests his left hand on the BCD inflator, he or she can have one-handed buoyancy control Ð press to inflate, pull to dump. There is also a fast dump on the right shoulder and a 'bum dump' on the back. This combination of dump valves makes it easy to get rid of air with whichever hand is free in nearly any diving position. For a diver rescuing a Profile-user, the dumps are pretty obvious.

Releases

The Profile does not use the common Fastex buckles fitted to most other BCDs. Fastex are disconnected by squeezing the sides of the buckle together. Instead, Profiles have a buckle that must be pressed in the centre to separate. There are aficionados for both types, with some divers preferring the Profile for controlled buoyant lifts, because if the victim is grasped by the shoulder straps, the Profile is less likely to release accidentally. For rescue and self-rescue purposes, we timed how fast a partner's BCD can be jettisoned and how fast the wearer can remove their own BCD at the surface. Average times were seven and eight seconds respectively. Overall, for controls, the Profile scored 85 per cent.

Durability

AP Valves provided three Profiles for testing during our week in the Red Sea. One later went to Sipadan. Our other testers were professional instructor Matt Crowther and, in Gibraltar, Dennis Santos, who holds multiple civilian and military qualifications. In use since '92, Santos's Profile has seen action during hundreds of dives in wrecks, caves and salvage operations. His jacket, like many other Buddys, is faded but still going strong. The Profile's reputation for durability, backed by our own experience, is well deserved.

Overall the Buddy Profile performed very well throughout our test programme and on average scored an impressive 85 per cent. Retail prices start from £342.01. Contact AP Valves on 01326 561040

TEST TEAM SCORE

Assembly: 90%
Comfort: 80%
Buoyancy: 80%
Controls: 85%
OVERALL SCORE 85%

THE MINI CYLINDER CONTROVERSY

All Buddy Profile BCDs come complete with a user-refillable, mini air cylinder. The cylinder provides an air reserve that can be used for emergency inflation in the event that a diver's main air supply fails. Unlike a one-shot carbon dioxide cylinder, the gas is not introduced into the BCD in one blast, but is controlled via a tap, allowing the diver to admit air slowly or quickly. It is difficult to test CO2 cylinders and their firing mechanisms. Weighing the cartridge would confirm it hasn't leaked, but checking the detonator is near-impossible. This can mean nothing happens when you pull the pin. The air cylinder, however, can be tested with a quick turn of the tap. It can also fill the Profile at depths exceeding 40m. A CO2 cartridge usually only half-fills the average BCD at 10m, providing minimal lift at depth.

In the event that a diver is out of air, he can admit air into the BCD from the mini cylinder and breathe it directly via the auto mouthpiece. To do this, any water must be drained from the oral inflator hose, the diver must not be in the head-down position and care must be taken not to put so much air in the bag that a rapid ascent results. Carefully admitting air during an exhalation cycle helps. Though breathing from a BCD was common practice until the late Seventies, the popularity of alternate air sources, and the fact that few agencies now offer tuition in how to accomplish it, puts Buddy pretty much out on its own.

We did not test these features. It cannot be denied that lives have been saved by the provision of the air cylinder. Equally, proper training is required to use it. In the past I have used it in training inside wrecks at 30m and ascended from 20m. It can be done, but in truth I wouldn't care to do it for real.

The use of the mini air cylinder remains controversial and it is up to the individual to decide whether or not to use it.