Which BCD for a Girl

[fnfalman]

and if they are not in that, then they are in a DiveRite Transpac. Primary reasons, Fit, Comfort and Control.

That's because the Transpac is fitted like a BPW. It doesn't discriminate between girth size, waist size, etc. Only torso length matters.

Love my Transpac. It fits me perfectly and in a jiffy, it fits a girl that I dive with even though she's 100-lbs lighter than me.

 

[pj5]

Depends on how she's built. I had to try on a lot of BCs (Women's and Men's) before I found one that fit around the girls correctly.

I ended up with a ScubaPro LadyHawk for 3 reasons:

One, the fit. It fit my figure better than the KnightHawk.

Two, the tank band. It's the only one that I could consistently get on the tank tightly enough.

And three, the ease with which the weight pockets can be secured and ditched. My orginal BC was a Mares HUB (BAD idea) and I always had had an extremely hard time securing the weigh pockets. There was one BC that fit well with a ripcord weight pack release, but the salesman got very nervous when I wanted to ditch the weight pockets because they were such a pain to reinstall...like packing a parachute.

 

[ben_wilson3301]

My wife loves her Sherwood Luna, fits her great. She's skinny with D's so the regular BC's she tried didn't fit very well.

__________
Ben

 

[Bubbletrubble]

I let my girlfriend try out my BP/W (DSS LCD30). She never gave it back! She liked the Scubapro Ladyhawk OK...but thought that the BP/W was much more comfortable and performed better in the water.

 

[H2O 70]

BCs designed for ladies will typically be designed for less board shoulders and shoulder straps the are cut to accommodate a ladies chest. A common feature found in ladies back packs is the angle of the hip belt. Mens are around 14 degrees and womens are around 22 degrees. I don't know if this is the case in womens BCs.

 

[spectrum]

It really comes down to fit and the magic slipper may not be in the lades line.

5 years a go the best fit my wife could find was a Seaquest DIVA LX. She has since switched to a DSS BP&W with a modified custom harness and is infinite happier and capable.

Leverage any chances you have to test dive by restring, borrowing or begging.

Pete

 

[potato cod]

Like others have said, it all depends on her build. I'm thin for my height, so I found Zeagle BCs best for me because they're modular and I could get a longer sized shoulder/torso section and smaller waist section. I also found the women's BCs fit my narrower shoulders better than men's versions.

See if she can test dive some BCs to see what really feels best in and out of the H2O.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Did I miss where you gave us her measurements; so that girls with similar measurements could chime in

It seems to me that where you/she dive and what exposure protection you/she wear are good bits of info to factor in; you did say "travel." I also noticed the word "standard" - what gear did you/she train in and what gear have you been diving in since certification?

Now; does she have any complaints about her diving in any of the generic "standard" BC's she has used? Integrated or belt might also be a good question, there might not be a non-integrated option in one or more styles.

 

[princessaprilia]

I have the Zeagle Ranger... the hubby and I bought them right after certification. I was happy with it at the beginning - now, not so much. If she has a slight build (small chest and butt) probably any BC would be fine. If she has curves, not only should she try it on first... she should dive with it first. The Ranger fits me fine on land, but it hits me in the back of the head when I'm diving in good trim.

 

[scubajo007]

Yeah, I guess some information about her measurements and the dive environment would be useful.
She is of Asian origin, about 5’4” tall; weight around 120 lbs, she is a bit bulky, her chest (breast) size is something like B or C, in crude mans English she has a small handful.
She just got certified recently, and she has only used rental BCD’s, which means the normal thing you rent in a dive resort, she says that she gets different BCD’s each time she is in the water and that the fit tends to be “loose”, it could be the BCD’s are one size too large I do actually not know.
We dive exclusively in tropic waters, she use a 2 mm farmer Jane with a 0.5 mm rash guard.
Hope this spread some light over the scenario.