Hi, I'm an AOW trained diver but have only dived overseas (in nice warm water ), but I have limited experience and I'm a complete newbie to diving in the UK and looking for help in building my collection of kit please. I've found a Commando BCD on offer and the seller tells me that it is in full working order but (reasonably) recommends a service. Pictures I have are as follows: Does this look reasonable condition and if so about what price should I be paying? Thanks in anticipation.
It's the latest generation of the Commando and looks to be ok although it's hard to tell if it's faded or just a washed out pic. Wear areas are the webbing, it goes a bit smooth on the shoulder pull-downs and on the bottom edge where it starts to fray. It's got the APV200 inflator which is good as many have the auto-air which is bad. Check that it has got integrated weight pouches as those could be blanks. The pouches can be bought from AP, but that will cost £32, so best to make sure as that will effect the price. The knife if with it is worth £10-£15. https://www.apdiving.com/shop/spare...ent-weight-pouches-for-ap-bcds-post-2007.html https://www.apdiving.com/shop/bcd-open-circuit/bcds/ap-commando.html This retails for £375, but AP have lots of deals on at the moment which brings that right down to sub £300. S/hand and in need of a service, well that will cost about £30 at least, so i'd be looking to pay no more than about £120 tops if it's got the pouches, maybe £100 without.
Tel, thanks for the quick response and links. Seller tells me that there is a little fading but there are no rips, tears, etc., and that everything is in working order, i.e. no leaks. I'll check about the weight pouches.
BTW the best bit about the Commando is that it's very easy to strip down/repair and all spares are available by post from AP in 24 hours
Sorry, further question please, related to your post on the 'HP/MP/LP' thread. The Commando BCD I'm looking at has no inflator hose and AP appear to want £40 for a new one, which seems a bit steep (and will affect my price consideration). Do you know of any alternate sources for a compatible hose please?
Starts at £2.99 and a day to go http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BCD-Inflator-Hose-/142500391817?hash=item212daf6b89:g:iO0AAOSwCotZmD6H 100 or 104 in this pic - NO OTHERS http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Genuine-B...131611?hash=item4669c3839b:g:USEAAOSwTuJYvpH~ If you don't get one in say 2 weeks i'll most likely have one, just doing a service/stcokcheck on a lot of regs, so can't let any go until then.
Got it for £75 - photos are misleading as there's no noticable fading (despite what I was told), in fact it's in excellent condition and even came with it's original storage bag and line-cutter....plus the Beaver eclipse knife (with lanyard) and a whistle. Minor downside is no integrated weight pouches, just the cargo clips. Will think about whether to buy them or not. Found a brand new genuine AP Valves hose for £20, so decided to go for that. Will now get it serviced for piece of mind (LDS charges £20) Thanks again for the advice
I got mine used last year. This afternoon I was emptying it to dry (it seemed to have a bit of water trapped...) using the kidney dump, and now it seems stuck open - I can’t orally inflate it, air comes straight out of the dump... any ideas or is it time to send it to AP for a service?
Try flushing it externally with warm water. You can rinse it internally by filling through the inflator, again warm water but I'd try externally first. It's probably got some sand/grit/salt stuck in it. Poss the diaphragm is damaged or folded, you can unscrew them to inspect/replace, but try rinsing first. When you dump gas at the start of a dive try to use the shoulder pull dump (RHS), these are One way valves, if you dump via the inflator hose it'll allow water down into the bladder. Ideally if your rinsing the inside you'd aid something like chemgene to disinfect it. If you need any parts they are available on AP website.
Thanks for the advice re descending - the bcd was full of water... I’ll try flushing and then (if needed) I’ll try taking it apart and cleaning it
And I appear to need a fancy spanner to service it ... but I am no longer miserable since it looks emminently fixable.
A fellow soul mate - when I fixed my motorbike as a young man, I always finished with at least one surplus nut. These days, I don't try mending anything myself especially diving kit that I rely on underwater.
