I dove with a standard BC (non-back floatation) for 13 years, never upgrading, (mostly due to cost) but I had heard that the back floatation will tend to push your face into the water when on the surface...not true this bc works fine both on the surface and excellent under the surface! love the weight integration, nice not to deal with a weight belt, especially since as my suit compressed, my belt seemed to always spin around during the dive, and I would surface looking like a newby, and no one likes that.