Scubapro Hydros 2 BCD

Trim. The wing sits behind you and holds you in a horizontal position instead of pushing you upright, so you stop fighting your position in the water and start noticing the diving. It is also modular — the same plate carries a single cylinder now and takes doubles later.

For most people, yes. There is very little on them to break. We have seen Halcyon wings with more than 5,000 dives over ten years still working like day one.

Steel is heaviest and puts weight where you want it, which suits cold-water wetsuit and drysuit diving. Aluminium sits in the middle. Carbon fibre is lightest by a distance — a Halcyon wing on a carbon plate is the lightest BCD you can travel with. We usually recommend carbon fibre.

In Sydney and other cold water, we would say yes. They let you carry some of your lead on the plate rather than all of it on a belt, which makes a real difference to how flat you sit.

Yes, and it matters — fit is personal and getting it right is most of the value. Webbing length, D-ring position, wing size for the cylinders you actually dive. We do the initial setup in store with you and it takes 30 to 45 minutes. If you are not local, we will walk you through it online.