Seaquest Balance vs Libra - any difference?

[OldNSalty]

My wife is going to finally get certified and I had a question about these 2 BC's for her. Basically, is there any advantage to one vs the other? I have heard that the Libra is just a balance built for women but the local shops don't carry either style. I found a balance that is in good shape and used but I am willing to buy my wife a new Libra if there is really a difference because I want her to be as comfortable in the water as possible. Of course the selfish side of me says that if I buy the balance and she decides that she does not like diving all that much I will have a back-up BC (but while I would love to have more equipment I really hope she enjoys it and I honestly think she will).

Thanks for the help.

edit-actually I just realized that the used Balance is ideally sized for my wife it really wouldn't fit me

 

[ScubaNoey]

I don't recommend you getting either one without her trying them on. I planned on getting the Seaquest Balance after doing a lot of research; however, when I went to buy it I tried it on and found it to be very uncomfortable and hard to take on and off. I ended up with a completely different one = ScubaPro - Ladyhawk.

 

[jameseg]

My wife tried both the Balance and the Libra when we were BC shopping and liked the fit of the Libra quite a bit better. We ended up buying a Balance for me and a Libra for her. Very happy with both a year later after about 40 dives. I don't recall all the differences between the two models, but I think one is that the torso on the Libra is a bit shorter.

James

 

[OldNSalty]

So after showing my wife a few more models and talking about what might be good/bad about each and having her try them on she asks this very simple question “So what’s wrong with what you have?” I dive a BPW set up.

The only thing I don’t like about my set-up is that I have problems with a shoulder sometimes and so it can be difficult to put on but then it is fine when I hit the water. My wife does not have this problem and has no real bias for or against a set up so we will probably go in this direction.

She slipped it on and liked it and said she wants something similar (mine is an aluminum freedom plate which I don’t think Eric makes any more). She did ask if I could find her something in hot pink…

 

[Sheri SGR]

The Libra is a womens BC and is cut for a womans frame, it will fit her better like wearing a womens wetsuit cut with hips and breasts instead of a small mens suit. I had a Libra dove it for 6 years and passed it onto my sister who has continued to dive it for ten more years. I bought a Ladyhawk and have dove it for the last 10+ years and love it. recently I purchased the Lotus I3 I like the lever inflate deflate but my Ladyhawk "feels" like home to me when I wear it. (I am sure after a decade using the Lotus it will feel like home as well) There is a womens BC review on the home page of this website.