I was wondering if someone could give some advice on "travel" bc's.

I am a relatively new diver, and i am looking into buying some gear. Most of my diving will most likely be in tropical/warm water, but i may begin to do some local (Wisconsin) lake diving (not lake Michigan). My question is how much lift capacity should i need to be able to safely dive both? I dive with about 18lbs (salt) and i am 6"2' 185lbs.

I was interested in the zeagle escape (35 lbs lift.) is this enough for local diving with the appropriate wetsuit?

any help would be great.

I dive a Zeagle Stilletto. I always seem to be the only one. That makes no sense to me. I have 35lbs of lift. It packs easy, but has some of the features of the Ranger for gear attachment. Zeagle is adaptable with parts that fit all models to make it custom. The pockets instead of pouches allow you to grab loose weighs and drop them in. I recommend the trim pockets next to the tank as a must have. My buoyancy is dead on now. I am just shorter and lighter than you and dive a 3mm full wetsuit.

How often do you dive or go away to dive? If its not that much it might be worth just renting until you increase how often. There have been a lot of issues here about whether scuba diving is classified as a sport and whether we as divers are allowed the sport weight allowance when traveling! A lot of air flight companies have taken it off so you can only carry the normal weight for a person traveling and have to pay excess after that.

I agree that renting is the way to go for the short term. Know how much you will dive and how much you want to dive. If it is less than the cost of renting inside a period you think is reasonable then buy. Nothing beats having your own gear especially part of your life support system. You know who is responsible and who maintained it. That is no reflection on operators. They have always been about keeping safe for our good, but also their reputations.

I dive halcyon backplate/harness setup. This is by far the best way to dive.

check out DIR webites like:

www.gue.com
www.halcyon.net
www.dir-diver.com