Comments about Oceanic Islander 2 BCD, Black/Blue:

The back inflation feature of this BCD is great, enabling easy balance and horizontal body position with ease. I have used this BCD for 3 years now, including many shallow cavern dives where skillful buoyancy control is really tricky and critical. I get compliments all the time on it. It's very comfortable, light and well built. It's a rear inflation so the pockets are smaller than some but they are adequate for most open water divers. Regarding the lack of D rings criticism in other reviews, so what? It's a travel BCD and adding rings would make it heavier (that's why they didn't put them on there). Use carabiners, they work better anyway (and it comes with two). The weight pockets work just great, no problem, and often times I don't even use them... just a wear a weight belt if you want the ability to pass it up to the boat before water exit.

Comments about Oceanic Islander 2 BCD, Black/Blue:

Bought it for my newly certified wife and took off to Hawaii. This BCD is reasonably light and stable. I especially like the weight pockets that can be loaded from the top and dumped from the bottom. The cumberbun also provides a snug fit without being too restrictive.
It's a really nice unit.

Comments about Oceanic Islander 2 BCD, Black/Blue:

This is a good travel BCD overall. I would give it 4 stars, but I am highly disappointed by its fatal flow and the reaction/support from the Oceanic customer service.

Unlike its predecessor (Islander-1) with the industry standard "pull out and release" integrated weight release system, the newer Islander-2 features integrated weights "Quick Drop" system. The "Quick Drop" is very misleading - it is not quick and easy at all. The "Quick Drop" requires unlatching locks on hard to reach weight pockets. Then if the diver is upright, the weights would fall down (and hopefully don't entangle with any equipment). If not upright then the diver has to drag the weights out of pockets. Under the stress of emergency it may take too long to release weights with fatal consequences.

The only work around is to either wear a weight belt or put weights in the zippered front pockets. The latter option renders the pockets unusable for anything else, and adversely affects stability.

In a nutshell the Islander-2 is the Islander-1 with no quick release of integrated weight pockets. Yet the new model MSRP is higher! In fact the Oceanic representative was unable to tell what the difference between the old and new models, except the different color scheme and quick weight release system.

The manual for this BCD is a cheap looking document, generic to all Oceanic BCDs. It doesn't even mention the "Quick Drop" system at all. I think that half a thousand dollar equipment deserves better manual!

This single problem with the BCD did not disappoint me as much as the reaction of the Oceanic customer service. In response to my inquiry they referred to their 30 day exchange policy and offered no other help.

Weight release is a safety and potentially life saving feature. That's why it is the most important and that's why only one star for this BCD rating.

Comments about Oceanic Islander 2 BCD, Black/Blue:

Smaller and more lightweight then my Probe which I love. Like the Back bladder design. Limited weight pocket space if you require more then 20 lbs. Great for travel. Could use more d-rings but has loops to which you can attach carbiners. Has the standard Oceanic tank strap set up which can be hard to cinch tight when new. But still a great product. It is well constructed and should wear well like my 8 year old probe.

Comments about Oceanic Islander 2 BCD, Black/Blue:

The Islander is a lightweight BCD and works well when traveling. Considerably lighter then my Oceanic Probe which I love. It works great in warm water. Could be OK in cold water but is difficult if you need more then 20lbs of weight when wearing a 7 mil suit w/ hood due to limited intergrated pockets. Always liked the back inflated BCD for stablity and positioning in the water.