Cressi Durable Start Jacket Style BCD for Scuba Diving: Designed in Italy since 1946

I buy everything I review. To receive FIVE stars, a product must meet >90% of the manufacturer’s claims. I don’t subtract because I don’ t like the color or appearance (too subjective and personal). I review form, function, ease of use, and construction quality. Please forgive typos: I’m an evidence-based scientist, NOT a typist. If you find my review helpful, please click “YES”. This helps me improve future evaluations (which I do for free to help people make more informed decisions).Their Claim: A jacket-style BCD (versus back-inflate) with all the features you need for recreational divingMy Verdict (details below): 100% trueThis is a beast of a BCD. It is EXTREMLY durable.Here’s my story. I was diving and became entangled in vegetation. My dive buddy (paired up at a resort by the dive master, so I didn’t know him) went to cut me free (he didn’t see I was in the process of taking the vest off to do it myself). He unknowingly cut too far and dragged his knife across the side of the BCD. When we surfaced, there was not a scratch. It took it in stride with no issues whatsoever. The denier outer shell is one tough material.This BCD has four nylon D-rings, plus the four pull-rings for the shoulder and waist straps. I can attach my light, safety tube, camera, and hose clamps for my safe second stage and gauge cluster with no problems.It has 33.7 lbs of lift, MORE than enough for cold-water dives. It kept me upright on the surface, and the trim is excellent underwater because, let’s face it, you use very little air to provide neutral buoyancy, so the sides don’t hold much air. While not a back-inflate, which provides the best underwater trim, who cares? Further, if you're a newbie, good luck keeping your body upright on the surface with a back inflate BCD. You’ll find very quickly that it WANTS to bury your face in the water by tilting you forward. I tried it on one dive and almost drowned. That sealed the deal: a jacket style is what I need. If I dove 100 times a year, I don’t think even then I’d get used to a true back-inflate BCD.It also lacks integrated weight (IW), which I consider a BONUS. When in trouble, I want ONE buckle to release my weights. My weight belt does that. With IW systems, you have two or more pouches with weights to release. When in an emergency, SIMPLE is better. So I’m not paying for features like IW that I don’t want OR need. I only use 6# of lead, so IW is entirely unnecessary. If you believe you need IW, then this is not the BCD for you. I don’t so why pay for them?The tank holds securely to the back plate (has a rubber interface), which has a sturdy carry handle to make it easy to lug around. The BCD is lightweight and easy to pack in a regular sized suitcase. With all my gear packed, it still came in under the airline’s 50# limit before an upcharge is applied.The two side pockets are plenty large. I can hold my torch and other stuff there, easily accessible. They close with Velcro, meaning no zipper to get stuck, care for, wax, etc.The back padding is very comfortable and taking four dives over two days didn’t cause any issues.It has three purge valves, all easily accessible. The low-pressure inflator is easy to use by mouth as well.Best of all? At $184, this is >$200 cheaper than similar models that offer no discernible advantages for my diving style. I am in love with this BCD. There’s a reason dive shops use this as a preferred training BCD. It’s tough, functional, and more than meets the needs of most recreational divers. If you're a tech diver, then you may need to spend $500 on a Zeagle, Mares, or other brand.But for me, diving only on vacations, I am delighted I found this BCD.

So I was going on a last-minute set of dives in the Caribbean this summer and my 15+ year old vest-style BCD needed replacing. I want to eventually change to a backplate/wing style BCD, but didn't want to "change" that much gear without a chance to "learn on it" -- so I bought a Cressi Start rather than buying some other $400-600 jacket-style BCD.Long story short, I've added a few things to make it more user-friendly ( a couple "wide" stainless D-rings - the stock plastic ones are almost impossible to find in the water with one hand, and a "top" cam strap to hang trim-weights), but it's a solid "beginners" BCD, and I'm still diving it for now.There are a couple of features that would have made it nicer: bigger D-rings, bigger pockets, adjustable chest-strap height, adjustable length on shoulder-strap tops. I still dive with a weight belt, so lack of an integrated weight system was not a major factor here, but if you are new to diving this does *not* have an integrated weight system.

I’m very pleased with the quality and overall workmanship of this BC. In 45 years of diving, it’s my 1st Cressi product. Very complete user booklet will be very useful to beginning divers to familiarize themselves with the many adjustments and customization options available to them. It’s rather lightweight, no sharp edges, Also useful is the heavy-duty strap that holds the tank; it's pre-wrapped properly, and the corrugated inflater on the wearer’s left shoulder is delivered with the low-pressure inflator hose attached, ready to be carefully mated with the low-pressure port on one’s first stage regulator (with a little smear of appropriate silicone grease on the ‘O’ ring & threads).I’m not one to use or favor BCD-contained weight systems so I’m glad this model is not so designed.To reduce or minimize confusion on a crowded dive boat, the BCD is marked prominently on the upper right shoulder with the appropriate “S M L XL” letters so you can more readily identify your tank and BC for change-over to next tank. Small but helpful in a crowd.All in all a very serviceable comfortable BC and seriously good value.

After 2 dives with this BCD (and it may be because im new to diving) the only problem i really have with this is the side air bladders. When im at depth they tend to slide up the sides of the strap trapping air into it and not releasing it making it mess with my buoyancy. I'm having to pull them down to my waist and squeezing them to remove the air when trying to descend. I haven't had any other problems with it yet. im going to buy a Velcro strap to help keep them by my side.

I've been using this BCD for the past three months during an internship that requires long, frequent dives. It's nothing fancy, but it does the trick! I've had no issues with it. The only minor complaint I have is that it definitely runs large, but not so large that I can't work with it. I was very relieved to find a reliable product at this price!

Good quality bc.Pros:lightweight, durable, and in my opinion less bulky than others I have used.Price point.Comfortable.Simple.Cons:Only part I wish was stronger was the grab handle. I'll have to see how that lasts.When I first got the bc the inflator hose had an issue. I contacted seller and got a new hose shipped.I used the bc for lobster mini season in Florida. Very comfy and worked great :)

It is a simple vest, with plenty of attachment points. Easily adjustable, even for large framed individuals. Have yet to test it, but since it is April, and still SNOWING, it will be a ways off yet.

I’m a retired dive instructor And purchased to get back into diving! This thing is nice and the purge valve setup is high quality in upper and lower. The whole thing is setup nice. I’m typically a large but went for an XL and buckles adjusted way down with no problems.

Disappointed by this Cressi model, the material looks low quality and I wouldn’t risk diving with this BCD eventhough I trust Cressi but it seems margins are squeezed by competition and Italy is not a cheap manufacturing country.. the XL Size is also too small / short for a 6ft6’’ ... had to return it and will be buying a better model in store

No me gustó que dice que trae 3 válvulas y en realidad, solo trae 2. Pienso que el problema está en la traducción de la descripción del producto.

Très léger et souple, la grandeur est parfait pour moi et facile a transporter. Un autre bijoux a ma collection. Merci

Used on a week of diving and preformed well the design is sleek and durable.

Très bon produit. Fonctionne bien