Travel bcd for women

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Drea13

Registered
Messages
37
Reaction score
2
Location
Virginia
# of dives
25 - 49
Hello, newish diver here (30ish dives). I currently have the aqualung lotus (not the i3) BCD and I’m not a huge fan. I do think I was overweighted the majority of my last diving trip especially due to the new 5mm wetsuit, but I had difficulties with the air rushing to one side and tilting me sideways. Also the size is just not conducive to travel.
Any recommendations for a travel BCD for a small female? Majority of our diving will likely be in warm water. Thinking I would like to stay with a back inflate.
 
get a short freedom plate from @Eric Sedletzky, put a basic harness and wing on there from @Bryan@Vintage Double Hose and call it a day. The one piece harness will follow curves better and be more comfortable, size the wing appropriately to prevent shifting, and happy days

How does the size of the wing cause shifting?
 
I'm 5' 1.5" and love my Zeagle Zena. Love, love, love it. It has a vest-style zippered front that snugs into your curves and keeps the Zena exactly where it should be at all times, no shifting around.
 
+1 for the Zena. I've had mine for about 7 years. It's great. Very light and packs easily.
 
First, if you are over weighted then anything you use will have some performance issues. A lot of instructors/guides will overweight people who seek input either due to carelessness or lack of interest or because their biggest concern is you not being able to get down or to hold a safety stop, and they would rather you carry around a ton of lead than cause problems or have safety issues. Your goal should be to have the BC empty or close to it for as much of the dive as possible, assuming we are talking warm water recreational stuff. When you have the opportunity, try to take some time to figure out what is right for you and then rely on that instead of letting a boat dude tell you what to use.

I think you might like the Scubapro Litehawk or Aqualung Zuma. I have not used either of those, but know a number of people who use them and like them and have been on plenty of boats with folks using them and they generally people seem pleased. The are both pretty good fro travel and are two of the most commonly recommended travel BCs in the USA.. I have a Scubapro Hydros and when used with what they call their trav-tek belt and a couple of small weight pockets (instead of the big weight pockets that also come with it), it is light and packs up small. I can recommend it, but it is expensive. They come in a women's model.

There are a number of other similar products like the Oceanic Biolite, Cressi and Zeagle offerings. Try several if you can.
 
Agreed on the overweighting issue. I deferred to the DM as it was my first saltwater diving expereince. The second DM was much more personable and even showed me the back pockets to help trim that no one ever mentioned, while the weighting was definitely better, i still had tilting issues. I will slowly work on getting down to ideal weight, however still being new it’s not something that will happen overnight for me as I’d much rather tilt than an unplanned ascent! I’m definitely going tomget some practice in at the lake this summer to brush up again.
 
I thought there was a ladies Aqualung Zuma but it may just be the accent color. Depending on how you travel, it can go in your carry-on - has it's own drawstring bag.

Zeagle's Covert XL is one of the smaller to pack lighter options but it's unisex, IDK if it's true but they advertise it's the lightest at 3.9 lbs.

most steel plates are alone heavier than either of them. It's your back hauling it around/on flights.
 

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