BARE Voodoo

BARE Voodoo

Features

At first glance the Voodoo is a typical back-buoyancy BC. But under the cargo pockets and weight pouches hides a second air cell that wraps around the waist. You don't notice it until you need it, and you don't need it until you reach the surface and decide you want to transfer air from rear cell to waist cell to create a comfortable surface floating position. The rear air cell provides 48 pounds of lift, and the waist cell adds 17 pounds more. The Voodoo comes fully loaded with a padded hard pack, three zippered pockets, nine stainless steel D-rings, and two extra accessory pockets.

Performance

We saw this dual air cell design a few years ago on the Deep Outdoors D2. At the time we felt it was a whole lot of trouble just to have a more comfortable surface floating position, but to each his own. The air transfer system actually works fine, and having the waist cell inflated definitely improves your surface floating position. How much it improves it varies among test divers, and can be affected by the type of tank you use (steel vs. aluminum) and how you've got your ballast weights trimmed out. Additional air cell aside, the Voodoo is a pretty nice back-buoyancy BC. Under water it delivers a stable ride. The backpad is comfortable, and the whole rig can be cinched down to a real snug fit. The BC provides better access to both cargo pockets and weight pouches than the Blackwing does, and its old-style power inflator, while a bit awkward in the hand, offers responsive button action for efficient ascent control.

Bottom Line

The Voodoo is a very well-put-together, user-friendly, back-buoyancy BC without the waist air cell. Add the waist air cell and you've got a very unique back-buoyancy BC. And very pricey. For some, it may be worth it. For others, to get that nice surface floating position it may be easier-and cheaper-to just buy a jacket-style BC.