Need Help Choosing Lady's BC

[scubamickey]

I forgot...I also found both the jacket and BI Oceanic to be very comfortable with lots of padding.
Try renting some different ones and that way she can actually dive with various types to give her an idea of what she might like.

 

[TekDiveGirl]

Thank you for your suggestions!

Still Wondering what we should get for her. She is so new to diving that she does not know what she wants. She does not probably care much until she actually dives.
I was kind of afraid of letting her dive with BP/W and does not like it.
If she does not find the right setup for BP/W, it can be very uncomfortable. It took quit sometime for me to adjust the webbing so that it is comfy on both land and in water. We will go around different LDSs, but I just have not found Zeagle dealer near by us yet....

She may be new - but I am sure is not stupid. Let her read, learn -- and make some decisions here. Or if you don't want to do so -- buy it and say "here dive it" -- she is new and really won't know any better anyway.

Regarding comfort -- for me -- there is nothing more comfortable than a bp/w -- you mention comfort on land -- are you buying gear to walk or dive? Sure my harness will cut into my shoulders when I put it on to carry my doubles back to the truck in my bikini -- but other than then -- it is always comfortable.

Regarding AL/SS -- I prefer SS for single tank diving -- I use my AL bp for my doubles as they are heavy enough all on their own. I prefer wearing as little weight on my hips as possible -- this means I try to get all my weight into my bp/h setup -- as long as I can swim my gear up from the bottom - I am really not concerned about having any ditchable weight. The only time I wear a weightbelt is when my gear is set up for shark diving -- and we are doing the practifce dives so I don't have my weght integrated into the chainmail suit.

Have you considered http://www.deepseasupply.com/ -- you can give Tobin a cal/email/pm and he could answer your questions and help you get set-up. He is here on ScubaBoard http://www.scubaboard.com/member.php?userid=28351

Hope that helps --

Kimber

 

[scubamickey]

TekDiveGirl: You are my new heroine
You sound like you'd be fun to dive and learn with.

 

[pitio]

She may be new - but I am sure is not stupid. Let her read, learn -- and make some decisions here. Or if you don't want to do so -- buy it and say "here dive it" -- she is new and really won't know any better anyway.

Thanks!

I just wanted to help my wife narrow her choices. If I sounded "here dive it", I apologize. I just wanted to get more info from other female divers.
Anyway, we talked that she is the one who should study and decide. Well, she said she did not care. She wanted to get the same one I had.

I was just curious if BP/W is suited for many female divers in general. I also wanted to get some opinion on Zeagle and Transpac, so that I can tell her what all other female divers had in general.

When I started diving, I did not get much directions to what I should get except from LDS that suggested me to get a Jacket style BC. I felt diving was too uncomfortable because of the BC. Also its D ring and air dump knobs came off. I asked one experienced diver and he suggested that I should get a back flotation BC, so I baught Seaquest Balance with Airsource (that did not come with standard inflator). It was really nice except weights falling out of the BC with no intention. And then, I found Zeagle that satisfied most of my needs, fit, comfort, reliability, standard inflator, stablity, and the rip code system! I could have just stayed with Zeagle, but I wanted to be more streamlined, so I ordered BP/W with Delux Harness. I did not like Delux Harness much because the benefit of BP/W whicn is the ultimate simplicity is lost. Then I switched to Hog harness. I really like it.

I may not have spent too much comparing to some of you here at this forum , but I felt I did take extra steps and money to get where I am. My buddy who have had the BP/W setup told me that BP/W was not for everyone.

Anyway, I learned a lot from this forum. She may have to take the same route that I had and test them by herself I thought I could help her to find more interest in diving with better equipment.

Well, we will surf the web tonight....

 

[spectrum]

Lots of good advice but in the end she's the one diving it. Let her try what you have for reference, let her use the shop gear for dives and in So. Cal you must have plenty of rental options.

She will find that she is either comfortable in almost anything (like me) or will be like Goldilocks and try them until on is Juuuuust right (like my wife). My wife has no interest in grinding though this board so I feed her as much info as I can so she can be informed and make decisons. As you are learning there almost always at least 2 sides to a gear question. Tell here this is her call and when the time comes she has to step up to the plate and make her choices. Being an informed spouse and buddy you can make sure the options get in front of her. Otherwise you are setting yourself up for a fall.

By the way will she have a dedicated alternate second stage or an Air-2 type system? See what I mean!

That E7-80 is an awesome cylinder, we have 4 of them and without them I don't think my wife would be as enthusiastic about diving. One reason many women say to heck with diving is the weight of the gear, you took 12 pounds off her feet. That was a safe choice to make on her behalf, but not the BC.

That's my story, YMMV

Pete

 

[DiveMaven]

If you want feedback about the Zeagle Zena, here's my 2 cents:

I love my Zena. I've never tried a BP/wing set up, but I knew that I wanted a minimalist BC that was light, easy to use, weight integrated, and had a wing. I didn't want a "back inflate" jacket style BC since I wasn't interested in the jacket bulk (been there, done that). I like that my wing on my Zena is a true wing, and I love the modular design so that my BC can grow and shrink with me as I grow in diving and shrink in size.

I like how the Zena feels on my body with the front corset-type panel hugging to my body and giving me a feeling of stability when a tank is mounted. Plus many have remarked that it's sexy, and who can argue with that.

 

[spectrum]

1. Does she really want to dive?
2. If she does she has to do some of the legwork in this item, with you at her side. Period. (or sit on the beach)
3. It's not about how much you spend on her gear, it's about how well it suits HER.

Pete

Thanks!

We talked that she is the one who should study and decide. Well, she said she did not care. She wanted to get the same one I had.

I was just curious if BP/W is suited for many female divers in general. I also wanted to get some opinion on Zeagle and Transpac, so that I can tell her what all other female divers had in general.

When I started diving I did not get much directions to what I should get except from LDS that suggested me to get a Jacket style BC. I felt diving was too uncomfortable because of the BC. Also its D ring and air dump knobs came off. I asked one experienced diver and he suggested that I should get a back flotation BC, so I baught Seaquest Balance with Airsource (that did not come with standard inflator). It was really nice except weights falling out of the BC with no intention. And then, I found Zeagle that satisfied most of my needs, fit, comfort, reliability, standard inflator, stablity, and the rip code system! I could have just stayed with Zeagle, but I wanted to be more streamlined, so I ordered BP/W with Delux Harness. I did not like Delux Harness much because the benefit of BP/W whicn is the ultimate simplicity is lost. Then I switched to Hog harness. I really like it.

I may not have spent too much comparing to some of you here at this forum , but I felt I did take extra steps and money to get where I am. My buddy who have had the BP/W setup told me that BP/W was not for everyone.

Anyway, I learned a lot from this forum. She may have to take the same route that I had and test them by herself I thought I could help her to find more interest in diving with better equipment.

Well, we will surf the web tonight....

 

[pitio]

I may have asked the wrong questions.
I should have asked "What do you have?" instead of "What should she have?"
So I can tell her why other divers like perticular setups.

We will shop around together. If she likes some BC, we will order from ScubaToys!

 

[Penopolypants]

I have a zeagle brigade, my sister has a zeagle zena, and we both love our setups. I would have gone with the zena myself but I prefered the harness on the brigade.

We also both dive with dry suits, in very cold salt water, which means we dive with loads of weights. Both have plenty of lift with standard bladders.

We also both tried on the Ladyhawk and liked it until we put a tank on it. Then it became much less comfortable. Plus zeagle has a much better warranty.

Everybody is steering you down the right path: she needs to try it on and see what fits with her level of comfort and body type. I'm voluptuous while my sister is petite, and we have perfect setups for us. If she can, get in the water with different BCs, if she can't, she should definitely try it on with a full tank to check for comfort.

If you're buying a zeagle, go with scubatoys!

 

[Hollywoodivers]

Yep Trans Pacextra small will work we use it all the time for the ladies. it works....I'll be glad to answer any questions good luck Hal