56 so as to reside normal to the securement strap 16 these inner compression straps 4 do not encircle the outer panel 42 but rather have two separate strap halves with their fixed ends stitched to the sides of the panel the inner side of the outer panel is conformed to house a buoyancy compensation device bcd the bcd is basically an air inflatable vest and is bulky as it is formed to fit around a human body when the bcd is placed under the flaps and securement strap 16 the inner compression straps 4 may be bucked and the d rings 58 may be snugged to flatten and partially compress the bcd to a planar shape the inner panel 8 is stitchedly connected to outer panel 42 by a strip of fabric that forms a narrow side panel 60 fig1 2 and 3 the width of the narrow side panel 60 corresponds to the combined thickness of the inner panel 8 and the outer panel 42 when they are in a stacked configuration so as to reside atop each other as depicted in fig3 the back panel 62 has a back side with two padded shoulder straps 66 sewn thereon fig1 the freedom of movement of shoulder straps 66 to accommodate different sized individuals is adjusted by adjustment straps 68 that are sewn along the length of the shoulder straps and connect the shoulder straps 66 to the bottom of the back panel 62 the adjustment straps 68 as well as the shoulder straps are stitchedly affixed to the top edge of the back panel 62 tightening the adjustment straps 68 will draw the shoulder straps 66 closer to.