Been successful so far...women's bcd desired now

[swimbody]

so my wife wears a small men's size bcd, medium women's sizing. She sees my setup and is a little envious now thanks to someone here on Scubaboard that sold me a perfect regulator. Can anyone put me onto building my wife the perfect scuba setup?

Thanks,Swim

 

[sea_otter]

Not to be a scubaboard cliché, but the only BCD that's ever been a comfortable fit for me is a backplate and wing.

 

[swimbody]

Well it is for a woman and I know that that would be most comfortable for her, but she has about 75 dives under her belt and still wants something traditional. She is not yet a 5000 dive guru. Her thoughts not mine.

 

[Marie13]

I'm with Sea-Otter. Hated the squeeze of jacket BCDs, went into a BP/W right away. YMMV.

 

[Nic.]

I am also a women's medium, and love my Scubapro Ladyhawk. Having a back inflate is the way to go!!
If she's also looking for a regulator, I just upgraded to the Scubapro S620 Ti/ MK25 EVO and am very very impressed with it!

 

[Caveeagle]

Both my daughters use a Dive Rite transpac and are very happy with them. I think it's sort of a half way point from traditional and bp/w. You get optional wing size. Lots of adjustability and modularity.

 

[snowdog61]

My suggestions - unless she absolutely likes the poodle jacket squeeze (my now wife actually liked that bear hug feeling but is now in a back inflate and loves it) have her try a back-inflate type BC. I pressed hard for my GF to go BPW (in my mind, that seems to make the most sense) - she even dove one but in the end, it just didn't feel right. I have a Zeagle Zena for my daughter she tried (typically highly regarded) that is a back inflate but lacked the pockets she was wanting and used to (dive shorts w/ pockets were a fashion faux pas so no go). I ended up getting her a lightly dove LadyHawk that she really loves especially since it had pink accents (still didn't have the quantity of pockets she was desiring but was good enough thankfully) . The Zeagle Zena & SP Ladyhawk aren't BPW but the back inflate is a step closer. The new SP Hydro is another option but I typically only by used gear and look for 50% below retail items from those that bought everything new then decided scuba wasn't all that. thank you very much!

 

[tbone1004]

Well it is for a woman and I know that that would be most comfortable for her, but she has about 75 dives under her belt and still wants something traditional. She is not yet a 5000 dive guru. Her thoughts not mine.

have her try one that fits well. If anyone told her that a BPW is "advanced" or for "experienced" divers they're full of sh!t. People are trained every day in bp/w's from the first time they've ever strapped on a tank, and many on here will echo that they went to one almost immediately after training and it was the best decision they have made...

 

[geoff w]

My wife is on the smaller side of normal, and we've been diving over 20 years now. Even though she has done hundreds of dives, many advanced, she still doesn't consider herself advanced. Over the years, she's had several BCs, starting with a Scubapro Classic jacket, then tried some women's BCs from Zeagle, and for the past 6 years has been diving a Dive Rite Transplate harness with a steel backplate and Dive Rite pad. All the traditional BCs she tried wouldn't fit right, fit sloppy, and never made her happy. Now she wouldn't consider diving anything else besides a backplate with Transplate harness - it fits her perfectly, is comfortable, and simple. There is nothing inherently advanced about it. As an interesting aside, her cold water Transplate harness is size medium. I picked up a Dive Rite "lite" steel backplate on Scubaboard with an extra large Transplate harness, and I've got it adjusted so it fits her just as well, so that should give you some idea just how tailorable these things are

 

[Libby25]

I'm a total newbie and just never got comfortable or right in a jacket style bcd. I did a demo on the OMS and fell in love. I tried bc's geared towards women and they never felt as good as this. So the idea the wings are for more experienced divers, or techies, is completely wrong. If she gets a chance to dive with one, she should give it a try. People say that if you dive you can dive using anything. Maybe for some but I struggled and the change was completely worth it for me.