Zeagle Zena Weight Distribution question

[DiveMaven]

Scott told me they are working to figure out how to do a lumbar pad to retrofit to the Zena, but it looks like it'll be a smaller pad like for the Scout instead of the bigger Ranger one. If you're trying to take up space, the bigger Ranger pad will definitely take up more space than the one Scott showed me the new Zena pad would be like.

I bought the regular lumbar pad for a Ranger from ScubaToys. The top velcros in under the shoulder section, then the problem is how to secure the bottom. What I did was use zipties to secure the bottom middle part. My Zena's little back pad (where the big tag is) isn't sewed all the way along the bottom, just at the sides, so it was easy to tie the pad down there. The sides of the lumbar pad are free, but I didn't find that to be a problem.

One nice thing is that the lumbar pad is neutrally buoyant, so it won't add anything but comfort to your Zena. I hope this helps.

 

[ScottZeagle]

We will have the new lumbar pad, as well as the new Zena pocket at DEMA...only about a month away!!!!

 

[LaiLaiDiver]

Maven - thanks for the tips - so you left the long skinny lumbar pad in that comes with the Zena, and just added the Ranger pad? And yeah, it looks from the photos that the side portions would be the hard part to secure, since there's no cumberbund (sp?), but do they just sort of stay in place along your waist without needing to be secured?

Good to know that buoyancy won't be affected... I like to dive very light, like 6 pounds!

Scott - I won't be at DEMA, as I'm not a dive professional, but since my primary goal is to take up space, do you think I'd be better off with doing what Dive Maven's suggesting, the larger pad, or do you think the new one for the Zena would be better for me? How soon do you expect that to be available for purchase by the public? To give you an idea of how much space I need to fill, on land it's fine but when diving it's not a tight fit - my torso slides from side to side inside the BCD! I've got the straps adjusted as short as they go..... thanks!

 

[DiveMaven]

The long skinny pad on my Zena is sewn in, so it wouldn't have been an option to remove it anyway. I never had any problem in the 40 or so shore dives we did on Bonaire with the sides (wings) of the lumbar pad getting in the way, folding, or being any sort of problem. Actually, I completely forgot about it being there within a couple of dives.

The lumbar pad that Scott described for the Zena will not have the "wings", thus it will take up less space than the Ranger pad with the wings on the sides. Do you have a Zeagle dealer in your area? If so, see if they have a lumbar pad you can try in your Zena. You can easily do a temporary install with just the velcro'ed section to try it out. That'll tell you how much extra padding you need. If it seems like that's too much padding, wait until the Zena pad comes out and give that a go.

If you don't have a Zeagle dealer you can do this with, I'm sure a call to Larry or Joe at ScubaToys will yield some results.

Scott, definitely looking forward to seeing what you came up with for the Zena lumbar pad and pocket! I don't plan to switch out my Ranger pad for the Zena one (since it works well for me), but I definitely want to check out the pocket for sure.