Our tests, conducted under a variety of conditions with a variety of BCs, resulted in divers floating face-up on the surface 45 percent of the time. This is why most BCs have warning labels stating that they are not life jackets and will not necessarily float you face-up. We also discovered that ill-fitting BCs are capable of floating you in almost any position, but most often will put you on your side. During the course of extensive dry tests and wet tests, involving hundreds of dives, we focused on categories and examined specific criteria pertaining to an individual BC's design, construction, features and in-water performance, most of which are reflected in the accompanying features and evaluation charts. Hard backpacks tend to be more stable and allow a greater range of vertical tank adjustments, but they are cumbersome and bulky in a dive bag.
Soft backpacks are comfortable and compact, but less stable.
In shoulder straps, cummerbunds and along the spine, padding increases comfort but tends to make the BC more bulky and increases its inherent buoyancy. Many BCs have an additional remote exhaust as listed. Enhance photographs and make you more recognizable to your buddy or dive boat crew. A variety of sizes is extremely important when considering a jacket-style BC, especially in models that don't offer adjustable shoulder straps. Since back-buoyancy BCs can accommodate a greater variety of divers, a large selection of sizes is not as critical.