tiny person and Xdeep Stealth 2.0

[marc.collin]

hi

i'm checking to buy a steallth, there are a lot of good comment about this vest

my size is 5'5"
it seem to have two release

one with 35lb of lift and the tech with 50lb of lift

i'm thinking about the one with 35lb

i will use in canada, quebec diving with steel tank (85 lp)

Is it possible to use it with 2 steel tank (85lp) + 2 al80 stage?

For steel tank, a butt plate need to be buy?

somebody have experiance with this bcd and have a similar size then me

any good bcd to suggest to me?

thank

 

[Razorista]

Should work for anyone big enough to have to pay for a theme park.
You are just limited in the size of the weight system you can put on your back. Wing and harness are one-size-fits-most.

A buttplate is not useful unless using very heavy steel tanks (not lp85).

>> any good bcd to suggest to me?
Yes! Razor 2.1
Much better for the smaller sizes when the harness is adjusted correctly.
The wing is very large in comparison though, but still better for small sizes.
Small people have particular problems with the dump-valve placement on the Stealth and often cannot reach it when the wing is fully inflated - simply because their arms cannot get there over the bulge of the wing.

 

[tbone1004]

razor harness is better, xdeep wing is much better. I would much prefer they have an OPV on the right side as well as the center, but nothing is perfect. Stealth should work fine, but since you're in Quebec you should have plenty of local divers around that can show you the wing and see if it fits. The harness is irrelevant at this point, the wing is crucial and you can a feel for the wing without the harness

 

[marc.collin]

if we don't use a butt plate, we need to attach the bottle where i put red line?

 

[tbone1004]

no, that is for the pouches, they go on d-rings that are the rubbery looking things just outside of those drop rings. Depends on what kind of tanks you have as to whether that will work or not. Heavy tanks, PST104's, Worthington 100's, etc won't fare as well as most of the Fabers and some PST HP tanks, and all of the aluminums on the hips.

 

[gearhound]

Hi Marc,

Straight up - I would ignore the others in this thread. They do not know what they are talking about.

If you're planning on diving with 2 lp85s and 2 stages, I would go with the Tec wing. It will fit you.
If you've assembled and adjusted the harness correctly, they're should be no issue with reaching the butt dump. The only time I have seen problems is when they do not adjust the butt bungee correctly, and the wing floats off of the body. The Tec wing is permanently attached and should eliminate this problem.
There is no need to get the butt plate. You will find it easier and more streamlined to stage without it. (Again, assuming you've set everything up correctly).
Since you are diving cold water, you will find that weight system of the Stealth to be infinitely better than the T-weight system of the Razor. I just finished attaching weights on the Razor a short while ago. I use the Stealth for classes and it's so easy to adjust weighting for the students.
The harness of the Stealth is better. It is easy to adjust, which is convenient if you're going on trips to tropical destinations. And it's more comfortable with the three types of webbing.
The loop system of the Stealth is better for staging. It leaves your shoulder d-rings uncluttered for attaching the stages.
You can use the square d-rings to attach your tanks. It's your bcd. Attach anything you want to it. The rubber d-rings are more for diving with aluminum tanks. I love them for that, but for steels (especially wearing dry gloves) I prefer to use the square d-rings. Attaching to the metal d-rings gives me a more tactile sensation that the bolt snap is securely attached.
I have a set of Worthington 100s and Faber 100s that I sidemount with, but I much prefer my Faber lp85s. But the system is versatile enough to dive any of these tanks with stages.

Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions and want to avoid the nonsense. I will give you honest answers to your questions from a person that actually uses the equipment that you are asking about.

 

[tbone1004]

so with faber 85's, they attach just find to the o-rings correct? No need for a butt plate, and the intent of the drop rings is not for tanks, it's for the pouches. You can do whatever you want, but according the MFG they are not intended for tanks? You agreed with that bit, so that means I don't know what I'm talking about? You also have no idea whether or not I have any experience with the Xdeep, or the razor.

My preference for the razor harness is due to the metal plate design over fabric, and was merely expressing my opinion. As a whole, the xdeep is a much better system hence why I said I would buy one, and the spine weight pouch is properly brilliant, but I would still rather take a Razor and put loop bungees on it with the Xdeep spine pouch and wing if I was designing my own rig.

If you're diving dry you should be fine with the classic Xdeep, if you're diving wet, tec is definitely required. 85's are 16lbs, al80's are 12lbs of gas, so if you're balanced properly you'll be cutting it close in the drysuit, but I think the classis has enough that you'll be ok

 

[gearhound]

Hahaha! So you don't own one but you're giving an expert opinion? Oh, you read the manual? Good for you! I'll do you one better - I talk to the actual designer of the Stealth. Took training with him. Actually talked to the designer of the Razor too. Listened to their dive philosophies and why each is designed the way it is. Both are fantastic.

You'll notice in the original post, that he asking for people that have actually had experience in this rig. While I am bigger than he is, I've had students that were the same size or smaller than him.

 

[Patoux01]

Yes, there's been many people shorter than you using the stealth without trouble...

Yes, you can use the square rings to attach the tanks. If they happen to ride up after a while, just unclip them and clip them to the EPDM O-rings. Definitely no need for a buttplate, leave that to the m*rons that will go and add 6 pounds on the tail of their tank, losing all benefit,s of having tanks being close to neutral. Some say you shouldn't need to do that, if you use strong bungee at the tank neck it might indeed not be needed (using 8mm rather than the 6mm provided).

I haven't checked for price, but getting the tec wing might be best if you're not planning on removing the wing all the time. If the price difference isn't too big, I'd take a stealth tec rather than stealth classic.

That being said, it's not the rig that does the dives, and you'll definitely need to work on it if you want a clean setup with 4 tanks...

 

[Bennno]

Straight up - I would ignore the others in this thread. They do not know what they are talking about.

Wow wow wow stop the clock! Are you saying Razor and Tbone are not the leading experts on all things diving?:shocked2: That's outrageous!