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Buoyancy Control Systems
Expert Buoyancy Control Advantages
Dive into our detailed guide showcasing how UK Dive Store’s buoyancy control systems enhance your underwater experience with reliable performance and tailored solutions for every diver.
Superior Stability with Jacket-Style BCDs
Advanced Flexibility Through Backplate & Wing Systems
Custom Sidemount Configurations for Optimal Fit
Comprehensive Spare Parts to Keep Gear Ready
Essential Buoyancy Control Systems
An overview of BCD types and their key benefits.
Recreational Jacket BCDs
Comfortable and versatile for everyday diving adventures
Technical Wing Systems
Streamlined design for optimal buoyancy and trim control.
Sidemount
Flexible setups ideal for cave and wreck diving exploration.
Essential Spare Parts
Reliable components to keep your BCD performing at its best.
Comprehensive Buoyancy Control Guides
Dive into expertly crafted resources to master buoyancy control devices, enhancing your diving skills and safety underwater.
Recreational BCDs
Understand the fundamentals of jacket-style BCDs designed for recreational divers.
Recreational BCDs
Robust Buoyancy for Heavy UK Conditions
In the tropics, a BCD is often just a light travel jacket. In the UK, your BCD is a workhorse. Diving in cold water requires thick undersuits and heavy drysuits, which in turn demands a significant amount of lead to get you down. Consequently, you need a Jacket BCD with substantial lift capacity to bring you—and your kit—safely back to the surface.
At UK Dive Store, we select BCDs that are built to withstand the rigours of British diving. We prioritise heavy-duty denier fabrics that resist abrasion against barnacle-encrusted quarry walls or rough boat gunwales. Flimsy, lightweight travel wings simply do not last in this environment.
Comfort and Drysuit Compatibility
Managing buoyancy while wearing a bulky drysuit can be a challenge. Our range features BCDs with adjustable cummerbunds and harnesses designed to accommodate the changing bulk of your insulation layers without restricting movement.
Crucially, we emphasise integrated weights. By shifting the lead from a bruising waist belt into secure pockets on the BCD, you protect your hips and back from strain—vital when you are carrying 12kg or more. With large, accessible pockets for spares and easy-to-locate dump valves for gloved hands, these units offer the comfort and stability you need to focus on the dive, not your gear.
Technical Wing Systems
Explore advanced backplate and wing configurations tailored for technical diving challenges.
Wing Systems (Backplate & Wing)
The Ultimate in Trim and Stability
For the diver seeking precision, the Backplate and Wing system is the gold standard. Originally the domain of technical divers, the “DIR” (Doing It Right) philosophy has proven that this setup offers superior horizontal trim for everyone. By positioning the buoyancy directly behind you, a wing system prevents the “head-up” attitude common with jacket BCDs, allowing you to glide effortlessly through the water.
The heart of this system is the steel backplate. In the UK, using a 3kg or 6kg steel plate distributes weight across your back, significantly reducing the amount of lead needed on your waist belt.
Modular and Twinset Compatible
Our systems are entirely modular. You can switch between a narrow wing for single cylinder diving and a high-capacity donut wing for use with a twinset. The continuous webbing harness eliminates failure points, while the addition of a crotch strap locks the rig to your body, ensuring the unit doesn’t ride up when you inflate it on the surface.
We stock both horseshoe and 360-degree donut wings, designed to allow air to migrate freely for easy dumping. If you are serious about your stability and efficiency in the water, a customisable wing system is the only way forward.
Sidemount Configurations
Learn about versatile sidemount setups ideal for cave and wreck diving adventures.
SECTION 2: Sidemount Systems
Streamlining and Logistics for the UK Diver
Sidemount is no longer just for cave divers; it has become a primary tool for the UK technical and recreational diver alike. The benefits in our waters are twofold: streamlining in the water and logistics out of it. If you are tackling a steep walk down to the water at an inland site, carrying two independent cylinders one by one is far easier on the back than lugging a heavy twinset.
Once submerged, our sidemount systems offer a low profile silhouette, perfect for wreck penetration in the Channel where jagged metal and tight gaps are common. By moving the cylinders to your sides, you gain unparalleled stability and access to your valves.
Precision Control
We stock systems that feature modular harnesses and sliding D-rings, allowing you to adjust the trim of your cylinders as they become more buoyant throughout the dive. This ensures you remain perfectly horizontal, preventing silt-outs in low-visibility environments.
Whether you are looking for redundancy for deeper dives or simply want to ease the physical strain of shore diving logistics, our sidemount rigs are configured for performance. These harnesses are fully adjustable to fit over everything from a wetsuit to a heavy-duty membrane drysuit.
Understanding Buoyancy Control
Discover how buoyancy control devices work, guiding divers through essential steps to achieve perfect underwater balance and comfort.]
Step One: Choosing Your BCD
Begin by selecting the right buoyancy control system tailored to your diving style and skill level for a safe, enjoyable dive experience.
Step Two: Proper Setup
Learn how to correctly assemble and adjust your BCD or wing system to optimize buoyancy and streamline your underwater movement.
Step Three: Mastering Control
Practice inflating and deflating your buoyancy device to maintain neutral buoyancy, ensuring precise control throughout your dive.
Buoyancy Control Systems
Premium Jacket, Wing, and Hybrid BCDs for recreational and technical diving.
Technical Wing Systems
Precision Buoyancy Control. Modular Backplates, Harnesses & Wings.
The Backbone of Your Rig
Precision-engineered Backplates, Padding, and Sidemount Accessories.
Complete Dive Systems
Premium BCD & Regulator Packages. Balanced, tuned, and ready for adventure.
Scubapro
Save £310
Mares
Save £100
Scubapro
Save £228
Scubapro
Save £164
Mares
Save £110
Scubapro
Save £248
Scubapro
Save £228
Technical Harnesses & Backplates
Modular foundations for your technical diving rig. Configurable, robust, and reliable.
