The original Buddy Commando was built for the Royal Navy SAR (search and rescue) divers more than 20 years ago.     |
The original Buddy Commando was built for the Royal Navy SAR (search and rescue) divers more than 20 years ago. Shortly afterwards it was introduced into the sport diving market and rapidly established itself as almost the de facto standard jacket among BSAC club divers. However, by the end of the 90s the Commando was looking a tad out of date. A few cosmetic alterations here and there modernised it somewhat, but essentially the old Buddy remained. This was not necessarily a bad thing as the Commando had a reputation for being a tough long-lasting piece of kit. However, the new breed of divers viewed modern BCs from the likes of Mares, Cressi, Scubapro and Aqualung as being the new look and the Commando started to lose its way.
AP Valves must have realised this and at the tail end of last year launched its new range. We got our hands on one of the first ones off the production line to determine just how much it has been updated. First impressions are that it is definitely a Buddy BC. The style, appearance and feel of the Commando shout AP Valves at you. This will please existing users and loyal Buddy fans. The question is: has the Commando been modernised enough to tempt divers back into buying a BC made in Blighty as opposed to overseas?
Before I answer this question let’s look at some of its features. The incredibly tough but relative bulky two-bag construction still remains, but it now has a streamlined look, with an all-black and silver trim colour scheme. As with the old Commando, there is a small emergency air cylinder, which to its credit is still tucked neatly away to the rear of the jacket on the left hand side. On the opposite side to this emergency cylinder is a similar pouch that can be used to store a purpose-manufactured delayed surface marker buoy (DSMB), but again nothing new. On each side there are two pockets, one is small and contains a line cutter on the left-hand side, while the cargo pockets are gigantic. And to top all this storage space there is plenty of room to get two 5kg weight pouches, one on either side of the BC – still no change.
At the front of the jacket the features appear to be more modern. Firstly, if you don’t want to use weight integration, the pouches can be replaced with cargo clips. These give the option of having a quick-release mechanism attached, say, to a DSMB, back-up torch, knife, spare mask, reel or whatever you can fit into the space that would have been taken by the weight. Moving up to the chest straps, the old fiddly clips have been replaced with side squeezable ones which are much easier to use with gloved hands, although for the diehards there is an option to have the older-style clips if you prefer. The cummerbund has been replaced by a waist strap and along with the chest straps their corresponding adjustments have all been made much neater and simpler to get to grips with. Inside the BC itself it is wonderfully padded, it feels more like putting on one of those super-warm climbing jackets rather than a diving BC. Greater comfort can be gained by adjusting the position of the lumbar plate so that the weight is more evenly distributed across your back as opposed to being concentrated in the arch as was more common with conventional backplate-style BCs.
Other neat touches can be found, for instance, at the end of the two dump pull cords. The one positioned on the right chest strap on the front, which operates the right top shoulder dump, is negatively buoyant so hangs down and out of the way, while the one on the left at the back of the jacket floats and is therefore easy to find when you are fins up. The new inflator has been on a diet, reducing its weight and size considerably and it can still be used to breathe from the jacket in a ‘last chance saloon’ situation. The only criticism I have here is that it uses a non-standard low-pressure fitting, meaning a dedicated direct-feed hose is required.
Another feature that could prove useful is the fact that all the fittings are interchangeable. This means you could have the inflator hose on the right-hand side. There are a credible number of pre-bent stainless D-rings to accommodate a couple of reels, pressure gauge, torch and the odd side-slung, and at the top of the right shoulder strap there is a purpose-designed strobe holder. In the water the Commando didn’t disappoint. In fact, it was very similar to diving with the older model, although aesthetically it felt better. The new clips are certainly easier to use and having a relatively long walk down to the harbour on one particular dive, the cylinder weight was superbly distributed across my back.
To summarize, the Commando is still essentially the same hard-wearing BC, albeit better looking and with a few up-to-date tweaks here and there. This will undoubtedly please the Armed Forces and cold-water divers across the globe alike and I would predict that this new Buddy Commando will retain its strong hold over the UK club market.
VERDICT
Tough improved features and a new look
Value 8/10
Performance 8/10
CONTACT
Company AP Valves
Phone 01326 561040
Web www.apvalves.com
