Mares Hybrid She Dive handle hits me in the back of my head!!!

[DrJeri]

Hi all,
I am a new diver and recently completed my Adv. Open Water Cert. I have several dives finished with my new Mare's Hybrid She Dives BCD and while it is so comfortable on land, the carrying handle keeps hitting me in the head while I am diving making it impossible to lift my head and look at anything! I know this BCD is incredibly versitile and I'm hoping someone here can give me some suggestions on how I can fit the BCD to be comfortable while in the water. According to the Mare's size chart, it is the right size and I was fitted at a professional dive shop for it. I viewed the video for this BCD and was suprised to find the model never turns around so the customer can see the back of the BCD with it fully loaded. My husband has a Mare's BCD as well, but his handle seems to be in a much better place and never causes him a problem. I look forward to an answer to my problem as quickly as possible...I have another dive trip scheduled in 2 days. Thank you in advance!

---------- Post Merged on July 20th, 2012 at 09:56 AM ---------- Previous Post was on July 19th, 2012 at 07:33 AM ----------

Hmmm...no response from Mare's! I am very disappointed.

 

[Zak OHara]

Hi there,
This is the first time I've seen your post. It is pretty hard for me to try and better fit you over the internet. Seems a little strange that the BCD handle is hitting you in the head. Are you sure you are getting the bcd snug when in the water, so as to not "ride" up your back which may cause this? In addition if you look under the flap on the inside of the rigid backpack. You will see several slots that the webbing either threads through or has the capacity to. This may be an area where you rethread the webbing to reposition the bladder / harness in a different position relative to the back pack. I am not in a position to check one at the moment to see if this is possible, and yours could be set up differently. Although I would look to see if this is possible. Otherwise an authorized Mares dealer should be able to help you. The handle shouldn't hit your head. Many people have trouble with the tank valve / regulator 1st stage hitting the head, but rarely the handle. If it's the tank valve but you think its the handle. reposition the entire bcd higher on the tank. Some women will have issue with this particularly. "in general" women have shorter torso's than men. When using a stand 80' AL tank it is long, and therefore position the bcd down lower on the tank so it doesn't hit them on the back of the leg, thus resulting in a higher position of the tank valve. In many cases a smaller / shorter tank is more ideal for women. Of course I don't know your dimensions, so this may be moot.

I hope I've helped some and please feel free to drop me a PM if you need more assistance.

Thanks,

Zak

 

[divad]

Cut off the handle.