I have been diving for about 8 months now and I have tried jacket style and back fill, i will not go back to jacket, I used a zeagle ranger once and an oceanic islander also, but I stopped experimenting when I got to the Excursion, last BCD I will ever buy until something preceeds it ( unlikley in my opinion) its is the best bcd I have ever used, you don't even notice it in the water, at 110 feet down your like a fish, bouyancy is established by thought, it has plenty of mounting hooks to allow any type of task, instructing, fishing, photography, wreck diving. a very nice bc.