We tested the Cressi Scorpion BC. Versatile, stable and comfortable, it was our Testers Choice for back-inflation BCS.

We tested BCs at Blue Grotto Dive Resort in Central Florida. We conducted objective tests in the pool to measure buoyant lift and inherent buoyancy and to gauge each BC’s ability to cope with a runaway power inflator. We also conducted a series of test dives where testers scored BCs in eleven categories including comfort, stability and ascent control.

You could say the Scorpion has a bit of a split personality. Its flexible backplate, lightweight harness and trim, tightly bungeed air cell give it a minimal feel and profile. But it also has more than 40 pounds of lift, cargo pockets and integrated weights that handle up to 20 pounds.

In the water those two sides of the Scorpion's nature got along just fine. It earned top scores for comfort and streamlining, with testers impressed by its solid stability and lack of drag. "Don't even feel it," one test diver commented. The vertically mounted weight pockets are located near the body's centerline. That added stability both submerged and at the surface, where the Scorpion took top score among back-inflations. Scored very good for ditching, the weights were rated just fair for loading, though the upside-down procedure was helped by handy web loops on the holders. The rear placement of the weights allows the Scorpion's cargo pockets to be a bit more forward where they're easy to reach and even see into; they're not the biggest here, but their boxy shape makes the space useful, and they don't get tight no matter how much air is in the cell. That earned a very good score for stowage, almost entirely on the pockets since D-rings are sparse. With a comfortable, stable streamlined design that was a favorite of test divers, the Scorpion is our Testers Choice for back-inflation BCs.

2020 ScubaLab BCD Review