Triple-L BC's and Products in general

[ngray]

I know a little about this company. It is rumored that they are the company that makes the Zeagle product line. If you look closely at their Orion product it looks fairly identical to the Zeagle Concept with the exception of the single weight dump pull.

Zeagle, I don't know, they're about a hundred miles from where I am in Florida (Port Richey), everyone around here sells them. Oddly, so is Halcyon. I do know for sure about the Poseidon Techlift... in fact, here's a review of it:

http://www.poseidon.se/bild.dip?id=267

You can compare these two images for fun:
http://www.poseidon.se/bild.dip?id=120
http://store.triple-l.biz/graphics/00000001/OrionFrnt.jpg

 

[vjongene]

I know a little about this company. It is rumored that they are the company that makes the Zeagle product line. If you look closely at their Orion product it looks fairly identical to the Zeagle Concept with the exception of the single weight dump pull.

FYI, Triple-L are located in Vietnam, and manufacture there. Hope this doesn't make them less palatable to our US friends...

 

[gfisher4792]

FYI, Triple-L are located in Vietnam, and manufacture there. Hope this doesn't make them less palatable to our US friends...

I personally have no problem with that fact. Even with the hefty shipping fee for a custom wetsuit, it still adds to be half the cost of any other custom that I've shopped around for.

 

[Jack Cummins]

FYI, Triple-L are located in Vietnam, and manufacture there. Hope this doesn't make them less palatable to our US friends...

Not a problem. In fact I happen to know the Marketing Manager for Triple-L IS an American.

 

[vjongene]

... and I appreciate that he doesn't take advantage of ScubaBoard to push his products!

 

[ngray]

Update so far: I received the package, after no small amount of drama courtesy of FedEx, and am just astounded with what I've got. Fedex decided to ship box #1 to some schmoe 5 miles south of me, and box #2 (same driver, same say, same shipping label) to my house. Rather than fark with FedEx, I paid the schmoe a visit (per the fedex tracking site, the address was available), and got my box this morning.

I simply can't believe the build quality of this BC. I don't know whether to dive it or jump out of a plane with it. There is no metal backplate, but I understand that a plastic backplate is used, but I really can't tell, because the construction of this bc is not just sheets of cordura fabric but nylon webbing. Everywhere. The entire back of the bc, where the tank straps go, and wing ties in, is a big nylon webbing net. You could feed any accessory you wanted through it. The plastic buckles attaching the shoulder straps to the cumberbun (a major sticking point for the DIR camp) are very sturdy, and very large. It's just a tank.

Equally impressive is the adjustability of this thing. The only fixed portion of the BC is the back panel, which the tank straps and wing affix to. That's the whole back area, and the shoulder straps, which reach just over your pectorals. But that's the only static portion. Upon donning it the first time, I felt that the cumberbun really didn't overlap itself very far. Upon closer inspection, each side of the cumberbun detatches from the back panel, and can be re-affixed by 'sticking' it closer/farther on the back panel. Any apprehension about the velcro was soon dispelled when I saw the nylon buckle also attaching to the back panel, providing sure strength all around. You could rachet the thing down... it would hold. No sooner than I figured that out did I see that the rear pockets are completely removable/arrangable. Owing to the same velcro that attaches the cumberbun, the pockets attach beween the back and cumberbun velcro via double-sided velcro strap. You can take them off, move them further back or forward, heck, you could put them in the tank strap and use them as trim pockets.

Oh yeah, check the site. There are 2" stainless D-rings everywhere imaginable. Triple-L threw in an elastic recoil strap on one D-ring, just to get me started down the road to peripheral bliss.

Only negative to date was the BC bladder was rotated somwhat inside the wing. The first time I inflated the wing, you could see the two sides looked different. After some investigation (the bladder can be accessed via a zipper in the collar) I found that the bladder seams were running parallel to the wing seams (correctly) in one side, but the seams ran differently in part of the other. It was a simple matter of rotating the offending bladder inside the wing to straighten it out. One surprise I encountered when doing this was BUNGEES. Having avoided those during the buying process, I was surprised to find them. I quickly tried inflating/deflating a few times, with no difficult back-pressure from the bungees. Check. the bungees are INSIDE the wing's cordura shell, so no hydrodynamic drag. Hmm. I'll follow up on this, as those were the only drawbacks I was warned against.

What else can I say? Oh yeah, I forgot to order the optional doubles strap. I'll be getting this bc wet this weekend, probably a shore dive by my house, as I have too many other things going on to do much else. That'll make it easy to adjust/trim this in anyway.

More coming.

 

[Fishy8411]

Update so far: I received the package, after no small amount of drama courtesy of FedEx, and am just astounded with what I've got. Fedex decided to ship box #1 to some schmoe 5 miles south of me, and box #2 (same driver, same say, same shipping label) to my house. Rather than fark with FedEx, I paid the schmoe a visit (per the fedex tracking site, the address was available), and got my box this morning.

More coming.

I will be interested in your opinion on this BCD. What size did you order and how big are you?

Tom

 

[ngray]

I will be interested in your opinion on this BCD. What size did you order and how big are you?

Tom

Ordered Large (48lb lift). I'm 5" 10', 195lb, 38" waist, and 23" waist-to-shoulder. I also enjoy long walks on the beach and poetry .

All these measurements are in regular clothes, not a wetsuit. This was important, because diving in florida doesn't require a wetsuit for 3-odd months of the year, and you can get by with a 3 most of the rest for rec diving.

After trying it on (no wetsuit), it adjusted fine, but the back did feel a bit bulky, not that dry land comfort will be much indication though. According to their charts (double check the site, they have two charts for bcd sizing, one is WRONG), I could've gotten by on a medium, but I wanted to be certain that I had enough to work with in a 7 mil or drysuit if I was ever of the persuasion. I would say a medium might have cut it. Of note, the Large and up comes with 5 pockets, smaller sizes only have three. The two pockets difference are the detatchable ones I mentioned in my earlier post.

Additionally, their XL size brings the lift capacity up to 55lb (I believe). Great if you want to dive aluminum doubles, or a HP130. Otherwise, a minimalist might suggest somewhat less bulky wings. I have an eye toward tech in the not-too-distant future, and figured it a good fit for me. They offer another rear-inflation type bc with less lift I believe, if you don't have need for the lift.

 

[Mincho]

I was just going to make a similar thread. Thanks for all the info.

 

[ngray]

Still shaking the water out of my ears...

So, first dive was in Hospital Hole, in Weekie Wachee, FL. I've heard conflicting stories about how it got it's name, the first story was some tale about fish coming in from the sea to get healed, blah, blah, the other one was about how the local Police Rescue department carrying off so many divers from it.

It's a sink in a bend of the WW river, goes down about 140ft in the sink-typical narrow top, widening walls fashion. I dove it late last year, in crystal-clear vis. This trip was pea soup, clearing up at 30-40ft. Went down to 70ft, where the light-filtering sulfide layer obstructs the view (turning the depth below into an effective 'overhead' environment).

Anyway, onto the kit. With a 3 mil suit & 18lb of lead & an A80, I couldn't drop to save my life. Used both the button & the pull-dump on the inflator hose, to no result. Even tug on & shook the wings, they felt empty.Tried again. Nothing. As a last resort, before resigning my self to the world's most expensive snorkelling trip, I kicked my self head-first to 10 ft, upside down, and pulled on both rear dumps, to a greatly satisfying exaust of hidden buoyancy. No troubles from there out.

Addittionally, those handy pockets in the back of the cumberbund I mentioned? They are nearly impossible to reach when you're in the water. I think I'll leave one on, and use one as a trim pocket on the tank strap.

With the negative past, onto it's many virtues. Trimming for horizonal 'flight' can be a trick, involving proper weight to begin, an proper tank & trim weight placement beyond. Whether blind luck, or clever engineering, I swear, I just fell into horizontal position.

Given that this is my first rear-inflate experience, I was a bit worried about surface position, the tendancy of the rear buoyancy to stuff my face in the water. I have to be honest, it was a little uncomfortable. paddling backwards a bit seemed to help, but it took constant attention. I think what I'll do is take 4 pounds out of the dumpable pouches, and move them to my new trim pouch on the back. It will hopefully not affect my in-water attitude, but will give me better position on the surface.

Comfort was great, I was able to put it at any height comfortably, unlike the vest BC's that dictate where your cumberbund & such will sit.

All told, I think when it comes to the negatives, I'll probably get used to & over it. Just a matter of experience. Really, I'd have to say it did it's job wonderfully. In all fairness, the deal is second to none. I had a few other random divers in the hole eying my kit, and when I told them I only paid 145 for it, they wanted details.

Any other Triple-L owners out there?