Scubapro - New Bella BC for women

Saw that Scubapro was coming out with a new women's BC.

Was wondering if any of the ladies out here had had a chance to test the BC out pre-release, and if so what they thought of it.

If any of you guys had a chance to test it out I would be happy to hear your opinion as well. This is after all an equal opportunity forum.

The Surly Mermaid:

Saw that Scubapro was coming out with a new women's BC.

Was wondering if any of the ladies out here had had a chance to test the BC out pre-release, and if so what they thought of it.

If any of you guys had a chance to test it out I would be happy to hear your opinion as well. This is after all an equal opportunity forum.

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Bump!

I too am interested for my daughter. It is in the shops. A lot of things I like about it. One of the local shops has offered me a loaner for my kid. I will report back (second hand).
I would love to hear impressions from anyone who has used one.

LDS let me use one this weekend for my (almost) 16 year old daughter. My plan had been to do a couple of 15 footers at Phil Foster park to see how it worked for her. Unfortunately, the BET Spring Bling prohibited that.
I did take her into a neigbor's over sized pool.

First impressions.
It fit her. She is almost 5'-8" and close to 140. LDS recommended the small. Fit her very well without swimming around and has enough adjustment to let her grow a few more inches.
It is sculpted around the hips and the chest strap is positioned above the breasts without choking her. Good placement.

The BC is very light compared to the "men's" BCs she has been using. 2 large ditchible weight pouches and 2 non dumpable trim weight pouches positione higher than the waist.

It is very streamlined for a "vest" bc. I had her walk to the neighbor's house with the tank in place. No tank droop. I like the Scubapro tank strap latches. Gonna get them for my BPW.
I like the ditchable weight pouches. No protruding handles. Just simple QD squeeze clips. Be hard to accidentially deploy them. Cleaner look too.

It reminds me of a lady's version of the Classic except it has adjustable shoulder straps and the bubble cannot move there. There is more than adequate back floatation if she does not over weight. She likes the padding and rolled neck thing. Can't speak to inherent buoyancy.

I was surprised that the cumberbun was not depth compensating. Personaly i never saw that as a must anyway and it makes for a more streamlined package.

In the water she trimmed out nicely with no tank wobble or roll and cleaned the leaves from the lady's pool.

I am going to buy the BC then check her out hpefully at Phil Foster next weekend then it will be off to Boynton before we do Jupiter and Juno.

Will provide more feedback hopefully next weekend.

Thanks so much. Sounds great so far. Looking forward to any additional feedback! I know with the LadyHawk I had a "day after" issue with soreness because of where the weight pockets rested on my hips. That may have just been my build. I'm hoping the Bella "rides" a little different.

The Surly Mermaid:

with the LadyHawk I had a "day after" issue with soreness because of where the weight pockets rested on my hips. That may have just been my build. I'm hoping the Bella "rides" a little different.

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Funny you mention that. The first comment my daughter made yesterday was how the weights did not dig into her hips. Until then, I never knew it was an issue. Neither did she apparently because that was what she had been used to.

I saw your post this morning before leaving the house. When I stopped by the shop today to pay for the BC, I took note of the Ladyhawk's waist strap and weight pockets. The Bella is a different animal all together in that regards.

Good luck to you.

Next week's dive with my daughter is getting blown off I was just advised as she has a friend from Indiana coming in for Spring Break.

But I will post ASAP.

Any pictures perhaps? What was the pricing from your dive shop?

thanks! anyone who owns it.....??

donnerdiver:

Any pictures perhaps? What was the pricing from your dive shop?

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$550.00 USD. My 16 year old daughter has one. Hopefully we will be diving together this week end. I will try and post some pics.

My wife has a Bella and I have a NightHawk she really likes it alot and compared to my NightHawk, I must say if ScubaPro had a simular Men's BC, it would be nice (or if they could update the NightHawk)

Pros over my NightHawk that would have been really cool:

1. For women the contoured design is really great and it fits snuggly. it has enough space in bladder on the back to give you all the benedfits of a back inflation BC, but also extends into the sides so its makes it easy to maneuver.

2. Integrated Weight belt clips are easier to un-clip and fasten than my NightHawk, had to adjust weights at depth when we started diving and the Bella was like clip-zip-clip.. done.. my nighthawk was alot tougher, especially with thick gloves and freezing fingers at 45 degree water Also the back trim weight pockets sit on the outside of the bladder, so its really easy to get to at depth.

3. it has more metal rings in better places to attach stuff to, was nice to attach the computer onto the side of the bc instead of on the left chest like with the NightHawk where it interferes with my Air2. (we have Galileo's now, so that doesnt bother me anymore)

4. Bella has really cool and deep zippered side pockets, very easily able to fit a couple of trim weights in there and other stuff like charts, maps, etc.

All in all, its a GREAT BC, great contoured female fit, awesome features, fantastic brand!! I would certainly reccommend this to any female diver

If you want pics, i can post some?