Finding BC that fits...

[DiveMaven]

Try the Zeagle Zena! It's made for a woman's body, but you can put it together in a modular fashion to fit your body. You can buy different sizes for the shoulder piece and the body piece, so if you're just large around the middle but not long bodied, you can literally have a small shoulder section and a large body section.

Rather than a wrap around cumberbun, it has a zip up front panel that has 2 places to cinch down rather than the 1 with the cumberbun. I love my Zena because I have a rather large waist and can adjust my Zena perfectly so it doesn't ride up around my shoulders when inflated. I also find that it will adjust with me well as I lose weight. I currently have a medium that will cinch down at least 2-3 more inches, then I can simply replace the body panel with a small (I hope!) and not have to buy a whole new BC.

I'll never go back to a cumberbun style BC. Heck, if I keep going to way I'm going, I'll be in a BP/wings next!

 

[Trish The Fish]

Hi,
I COMPLETELY understand your situation. I had used the same Seaquest ("Infinity"=model name) size Small for many years. As I gained weight (got fat & happy)... my LDS adjusted my cumberband for a wider waist. THEN I want to expand my diving season into winter which will require me to have a full size heavy weightsuit.... SO.. I bought a bigger size M/L (to fit 180 lbs?) Seaquest Diva LX (luxury edition) last spring 2004. It is very comfortable and has vertical adjustments at the chest area to adjust for the "vertically challenged" woman. It has VERY COMFORTABLE FLEXIBLE "bra cross straps" at the chest area which I really like.
After Florida's 2004 hurricane season (4 hurricanes), I got really sick with flu which motivated me to eat properly and exercise.
NOW... I've lost 40+ lbs (and hope to continue)... and it is summer... my brand new BCD used only for 10? dives last summer is virtually useless.
SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING GOING TO A BACK PLATE AND WINGS SET UP. Halcyon?
ALTERNATE PLAN: Buy ANOTHER Seaquest Diva LX in size Small or Medium.

Good luck with your decision making process. If I can be of further assistance you can "private message" me.
Sincerely,
Trish the Fish

I'm having trouble finding a BC that fits me. Unfortunately, I'm a heavy woman (working to change that). My husbands large Nighthawk BC fits me - but since I need the extra width, the torso of the BC is too long. Any suggestions? If I look at women's BC's, it's a joke.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[PerroneFord]

NOW... I've lost 40+ lbs (and hope to continue)... and it is summer... my brand new BCD used only for 10? dives last summer is virtually useless.
SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING GOING TO A BACK PLATE AND WINGS SET UP. Halcyon?
ALTERNATE PLAN: Buy ANOTHER Seaquest Diva LX in size Small or Medium.

Every Tech diver in the world can't be wrong! LOL

Halcyon is good, Dive Rite is good, there are others, some who particupate here. Unfortunately, too many people seem to see the BP/W as "tech" gear only and don't realize that it is perfectly suitable to OW divers. It's a system that grows with you and it's SO clean and easy to swim with.

When you see a 5'5" 150 pound man take off a BP/W and hand it to a 6'0" 230 pound man who then can adjust it to fit himself perfectly, it really says something for the system. But they don't come in shiny colors, they don't have billowing pockets and fancy features like weight intergration, carry handles, etc. All they have is what you need to dive. Nothing more, nothing less. If you just HAVE to have something with colors and padding, etc., try a Dive Rite Transpac.

 

[DiveMaven]

I totally see the point of the BP/wing set up for most divers, however when I was choosing to replace my jacket style BC, I just wasn't comfortable with the BP/wing set up...for whatever reason. For me, the Zeagle Zena was the perfect compromise. It has an amazing amount of adjustability, is back inflate, and you can even have 2 bladders for cold and warm diving that are easy to swap out. I like that it is weight integrated, but extremely basic and simple.

It just fits my needs 100%, which to me is what we're all hunting for in that perfect BC.

 

[DanaMichelle]

I just had to respond to this thread! I hate to admit to this, but I'm large, too, though trying to "shrink" right now! I tried on almost every single BC made for women, and NOTHING fit me right. Tried on most of the men's BCs (I seriously went to every shop within 100 miles in any direction of my house, and drove MUCH farther to OceanFest to see what I found there, and made a point of finding exactly which shops carried BCs that I hadn't tried yet!). I'm short (5'3" or so), and by the time I got a BC (men's or women's) that fit around me properly, it was either FAR too bulky to be useful, or the shoulders were so big that I could put baseballs between my shoulders and the straps! It was terrible. During my open water class, I used rental equipment (men's, of course), and floating on the surface was a real trip! I had the shoulder straps somewhere around the top of my ears! Admittedly very funny to see, but not so amusing to actually wear.

The other major problem I had with fit was my chest area (which was part of the problem with needing a larger BC size than expected). Every chest strap was uncomfortable, and because of the size of the shoulders, I HAD to have it attached/strapped down, or the shoulders would just fall off me. I have a large chest (built in buoyancy! Haha!!), and the straps were inevitably in a terrible position. . . I was smashed down, squashed UP or cut in half. Very bad. And terribly uncomfortable. I was to the point of giving up and just taking the cheapest BC I could find (after all, I couldn't see paying a lot of money for something that wasn't going to fit me well, anyway!), until I finally tried on a Zeagle Zena. I was in love with it from the moment I tried it on. The shop switched out the shoulder section to a size smaller than the body section, and I got a PERFECT fit! They put me in the pool with all the equipment, and I happy bubbled from one end to the other and back, over and over again. I tried all the buoyancy "tricks" that I never could accomplish when using the rental gear, and had no trouble with any of them. I was overjoyed! Because of the adjustability of the Zena, your shop can switch out different sizes on the individual "parts" and get a perfect (or at least very close to perfect!) fit for you. As I lose weight, I will be able to switch out the pieces, and not be required to buy an entirely new BC. And, best of all, the front zips up like a bathing suit, no straps across my chest, so I don't even feel it once it's on! It's the ultimate in comfortable. I can't even begin to tell you how much I love that BC! My only complaints are that I would like more D-rings (easily fixed), and it would've been a great idea to actually give this BC pockets! There's only one pocket, a removable net pocket that folds out or tucks away when not in use. I truly don't know that I will miss the pockets if I get more D-rings (camera, safety sausage, flashlights, and I'm pretty much out of rings!), but I do kind of wish I had more than just a long, expandable pocket. I don't want to put anything in the pocket because I'm aware of how far down it hangs when expanded out.

Good luck! The BP/wing idea would probably be just as useful, but I think you should do yourself a favor and at least give the Zeagle Zena a try. I had given up hope on comfort until the shop put me in that BC and changed out the sizes on the shoulder section for me. Sorry for the long post, but this is really a subject near and dear to my heart, or at least various other parts of my anatomy!

Dana

 

[PerroneFord]

Some very good info in this thread. For those who might not have considered the BP/W setup and are open to it, many of the problems of BC fitment are just immaterial. There are no issues with shoulder straps, waist band etc, since it's all just one piece of webbing. You simply cinch it down as required. Need more D-Rings (beside the 5 you should have ) easy, just thread them on. Want to move to diving double tanks? No problem, change the wing and off you go. Want to take some weight off your weight belt? Easy, buy channel weights. For the ladies who are a bit well endowed, no issue at all, there is NOTHING on the chest at all. Full freedom. It's also lighter than anything else.

Only drawback is that they lack pockets. Personally, I think that's a good thing. As is having a weight belt. But that's another discussion. They also tend to cost less up front and certainly over the long haul than jacket BCs.

So if you're open to the idea, walk on over the the "tech" section at the LDS, and get them to slip one on ya. You might actually like it! The real joy comes when you hit the water and you feel like there is nothing on you. It simply disappears.

I do give lots of credit to Zeagle for making a modular jacket BC that fits the ladies though. I know some of you just don't like the idea of the metal backplate and such. Very industrial. Although I do wonder how many women would like a transpac if they tried one after using a jacket BC,

http://www.diveriteexpress.com/bcs/transpac.shtml


Good diving!

 

[Dragon2115]

Lower cost is definitely NOT one of the reasons to go BP&W. On the contrary. By comparison DiveRiteExpress has ready to go Transpac package - http://www.diveriteexpress.com/dive_rite/packages/st2070p.shtml - for $680 vs a ready to go Zegal Zena at Scubatoys - http://www.scubatoys.com/store/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=Zena - for $448. The difference between the two, $232, is probably a whole seasons worth of air fills, or more, for most divers. Add the cost of any additional storage pockets and you could cover a 6-day unlimited dive package at many caribbean dive operators.

That is my biggest gripe with BP&W setups. The slogan is supposed to be less is more, not, less costs more. Would somebody care to offer a reasonable explanation as to why a set of two weight pockets sells for $99, when an entire weight harness sells for the same price, and a belt with pockets already on it sells for less than half that?

 

[DiveMaven]

You can get last year's Zena from Larry for less than $300.....(including the Scubaboard discount).

 

[PerroneFord]

Lower cost is definitely NOT one of the reasons to go BP&W. On the contrary. By comparison DiveRiteExpress has ready to go Transpac package - http://www.diveriteexpress.com/dive_rite/packages/st2070p.shtml - for $680 vs a ready to go Zegal Zena at Scubatoys - http://www.scubatoys.com/store/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=Zena - for $448. The difference between the two, $232, is probably a whole seasons worth of air fills, or more, for most divers. Add the cost of any additional storage pockets and you could cover a 6-day unlimited dive package at many caribbean dive operators.

That is my biggest gripe with BP&W setups. The slogan is supposed to be less is more, not, less costs more. Would somebody care to offer a reasonable explanation as to why a set of two weight pockets sells for $99, when an entire weight harness sells for the same price, and a belt with pockets already on it sells for less than half that?

First issue... the Transpac is NOT a backplate and wing. So this is an apples and oranges comparison. You can get a factory new Halcyon Pioneer 27 for $485, and this is generally known as the most expensive brand of BP/W.

As for your weight pocket issue.. Tech divers use trim wieghts and a weight belt for a good combination of ditchable and non ditchable weight.

So the cost of the most expensive BP/W combo is about $40. Something tells me that the Diverite setup, the Oxycheq setup, and the other setups are less than the Zeagle. And there is your answer.

Should we begin to discuss what happens when you decide to mount doubles? Or use stage or deco bottles? Or if you lose or gain weight? Of you decide to get cave or wreck certified? The real cost savings of a BP/W is not at initial purchase. There the costs are competitive with the better BCs. The difference come in when it's time to upgrade from a recreational BC to one that will actually work well for more technical diving. Or one that will fit 10 years from now. BP/W stays with you.. no cost. How much is that second Zeagle gonna cost?

 

[ScottZeagle]

Good thread....

I think the point is, do you really NEED a BP/W if you are quite happy being a recreational, traveling, single tank diver?

I am not debating the fact that you can use a BP/W for those things - just that there are other options that will work as well, if not better.

I know that is blashemy to the Gods of BP/W, and I may get sent to BP/W purgatory, but I'll take my chances...

Scott