I've owned this product for about two years and completed about fifty dives on it. This will be a pretty exhaustive review covering all aspects I find noteworthy.
Overall construction: The Knighthawk BCD is a premium, fully-integrated device aimed at recreational divers, with some technical-style features. It will easily satisfy the demands of most divers, but more advanced technical and sport divers will probably opt for a more customizable harness-and-wing system. The overall construction is very solid and durable, with heavy nylon and steel D-rings. On that note, it is a bit on the heavy and bulky side as recreational gear goes, because it's aimed at a slightly tech-minded recreational diver who wants a lot of features. If you dive mostly tropical water and travel a lot, you may find this model to be a bit "overkill." There are many simple, light "travel BC's" which might suit your purposes better.
My one grip about the overall build is the plastic buckles which connect the bottom of the shoulder straps to the cumberbund and weight pouches. They haven't failed me yet and I don't know of this being a common issue, but the design places a lot of weight on plastic buckles whenever you're standing on the surface and I don't trust it. I plan on retrofitting them with steel hardware once I find the appropriate pieces. This will remove the quick-release function, but I never use it anyway. If I get bent or hurt, whomever treats me will probably cut the straps anyway to get me out of the BCD, so I don't find the quick-release feature to be essential. Again, they haven't failed me yet--but if they do, there goes a day of diving.
Fitting: The Knighthawk comes in standard sizes and is very well-adjustable to fit the individual diver. It's not quite as adjustable as the harness that tech divers favor, but it suits me fine. I am 6'1 and 180 lbs, so both the medium and the large fit me. I opted for the large because it has a larger bladder with consequently higher lift capacity, which is a nice safety margin. The shoulder straps are adjustable for a wide-range of heights, and you can even change the attachment points on the backplate which offers an additional degree of adjustment. The cumberbund is the best I've seen, with two overlapping velcro flaps and an adjustable strap and buckle on top. If you cinch it down properly it allows much of the weight of your rig to rest on your hips (like a good backpack), which is much more comfortable on the surface than having everything rest on your shoulders. The cumberbund also has a degree of elasticity built in no matter how you adjust it, which means that as you go deeper and your suit compresses, it will subtly tighten and you won't have to re-adjust it. Very nice.
Inflation: The Knigthawk incorporates a back bladder, in contrast to other BCD's which use a more wraparound jacket-style. Opinions differ on this, but I find that the back bladder provides much better balance in the facedown swimming position. The disadvantage of the back bladder is that it has a strong tendency to float the diver facedown at the surface, which means that you will have to fin somewhat at the surface in order to stay vertical. No SCUBA BCD is designed as a life jacket. The bladder has elastic gussets which help it to maintain shape and squeeze the air out when the diver chooses to release it.
The power inflation valve is well-designed and ergonomic, and I've never had any issues with it. An option is the "Air-2" integrated secondary, which means that your power inflater also doubles as a backup second-stage regulator. Note that this concept is not unique to Scubapro BCD's, many other manufacturers offer them and they can also be retrofitted to existing BCD's. I really like this system because it eliminates the need to mount a traditional "octupus" reg (and the extra hose) and this helps to streamline your gear. However, this also means that if you need to share air with a buddy, you will have to pass him your primary and use the backup yourself. Because of this, I recommend that you mount your primary reg on an extra-long hose and make sure that the hose remains free, so that you have the full length available if need be. It's also a wise idea to familiarize your dive buddies with the system in advance, and let them know that in an emergency you are going to pass them your primary.
There are three dump valves on the bladder, four if you count the manual inflation valve itself--but I don't recommend using it for this purpose because it will flood a fair bit of water into the bladder, which reduces the available amount of lift for the rest of the dive. The first valve is located on the left shoulder and can be activated by pushing a small button, or (more easily) by pulling the inflation hose. The second is located on the right shoulder and is activated by a cord at the chest. These valves work very well at the surface, in order to make your descent. Once submerged, however, I find that I have to lean back quite a bit in order to get them to work. I suspect that locating the valves further toward the back of the bladder would help this, but it's only a minor complaint.
The final dump valve is located at the bottom of the bladder and is again activated by a pull cord, this one located near the diver's right hip. This is the valve you use most of the time because it works in a face-down swimming position. It doesn't require any change in attitude. Weights: Like almost all newer recreational BCD's, the Knigthawk uses integrated weight pouches, which eliminates the need for a separate weight belt. The pouches are designed for soft weights, which is a disadvantage if you already own a weight belt and hard weights because you will likely have to buy new lead. Some divers prefer a separate weight belt because it allows more flexibility and precise trimming--but this is just an individual opinion and I don't have an issue with integrated weights. I will lob one of my few criticisms here: the pouches secure by a plastic buckle on adjustable webbing. I suspect that this could prove very unfortunate for a panicking, out-of-air diver who needs to dump his weights. Most other BCD's use a simpler pull-tab release which requires only one quick motion to remove the pouches. The Knighthawk uses buckles, which require a two-step motion and significantly more dexterity and presence of mind, which a panicked diver might lack. To make matters worse, the buckles are black like the rest of the BCD and thus can be difficult to locate. At the very least, they should be painted in a high-visibility color so that a buddy would have less trouble locating them. So, in my opinion, the Scubapro weight system is not the best.
In addition to the waist pouches, there are also two smaller "trim pouches" located chest-level. I put two pounds in each and haven't adjusted them since. I'm not sure if these are essential, but the BCD does have excellent balance characteristics and it's possible that the trim pouches contribute to this by locating some of the weight higher up on the torso. These weights can not be quickly dumped in an emergency, so you want to make sure that the bulk of your lead is in the waist pouches.
Tank retention: The Scubapro system is a little different, and is either an advantage or a disadvantage depending on your perspective. Basically, you pre-tension the strap based on the diameter of the tank you'll be diving with. Once you have it adjusted fairly snug, you simply engage a metal cam and pull it closed. It is absolutely rock-solid, I've had tanks slip downwards with other BCD's but never with this one. If you consistently dive with tanks of the same diameter, this is a big advantage because you only have to set it up once. On the other hand, if you use different-size tanks, you will have to reset it each time you change tanks and that could be a bit of a hassle.
There is also a small adjustable strap which rests near the top of the tank. This controls where the tank rests on your back. Again, you set it once, slip it on top of the tank and the BCD will rest at the same height, every time. This way you don't have to hold the BCD up at the desired level while you fiddle with the retention strap. It's very handy and if for some reason you don't like it, you can simply loosen it and it won't function. It's a small feature, but one I've grown to apprecaite.
Additional Features The Knighthawk has some nice little features which replicate the ones which tech divers routinely add to their systems. There is a steel D-ring at chest level on each shoulder strap, great for attaching lights or whatever else you carry. There are two more D-rings at waist level, on the underside of each weight pouch. I've found these are the best location for clipping my computer or gauge (on a retracting leash). There is also a plastic D-ring located at the bottom of each adjustment tab on the shoulder straps. These are, of course, mainly for cinching down the shoulder straps but could also be used as attachment points.
At the bottom-right of the vest (in the compartment which holds the weight pouch) is a zipper. Opening it unfolds a mesh storage pouch which is a great place for a small backup light, collapsible snorkel, rescue tube, small camera, slate, or whatever else you might carry. If you aren't using it, it zips up out of the way. Very handy. On the opposite side is a very small zip-up storage area which could accomidate a small light, and not much else. I'm not sure why they didn't put an additional fold-out pouch on that side, as well. It's a great feature and if you choose not to use it, it doesn't impose any additional bulk or drag.
On the upper-right shoulder strap is a velcro retaining strap. On the surface, I run my primary regulator hose through this and it does a nice job of keeping it on the front of my body, right where I expect to find it, and not swinging everywhere. Once I'm ready to descend, I pull the velcro open so that my hose is free. There is a corresponding retention strap on the other shoulder as well, located a bit lower, and this secures the inflation hose. I keep this secured all the time because it does a nice job keeping that hose from swinging at the surface, and it doesn't impair use at all.
Designed for male divers, the Knighthawk BCD boasts of having a low profile, backpack-style harness system, integrated weight system, and back-mounted...More at Leisure Pro
Designed for male divers, the Knighthawk BCD boasts of having a low profile, backpack-style harness system, integrated weight system, and back-mounted...More at Leisure Pro
Designed for male divers, the Knighthawk BCD boasts of having a low profile, backpack-style harness system, integrated weight system, and back-mounted...More at Leisure Pro
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