Our 12-year-old daughter just finished her JOWD by referral at the Red Sea, then did a bunch more dives during the two weeks. We had gotten her the (old model) Triple-L Juvi, which she used for all her pool sessions and these dives.
This is the first time I've seen the new Neo.
What's interesting is that the Juvi had been listed on Triple-L's old web site as an XS only; that's also what the tag on the BC says. Now, both the new Neo (yes, I know that's redundant) and the "Out Of Stock" Juvi are listed as size S.
Anyway, the Juvi fits our daughter very, very well; but she's kind of tiny for her age. Doubtful whether it'll still fit next year, though there is still some growth room in the cummerbund.
Great quality. Very heavy-duty material, like all of Triple-L's BC's; but since it's small and without some of the bells and whistles, it's much lighter than my full-size Stratos. Scaled-down inflator, but good quality.
Problem with our daughter was, there was just
no room under the BC on her for a weight belt, without the real danger of her losing it down past her hips. She did have to use a weight belt for her pool and open-water course skills, but then her referral instructor advised us to use the BC's two buckled weight pockets for all her weights. Still quick enough to release if necessary. Fortunately, all she needed was 2 kg -- one small 1-kg block in each pocket -- with an 8-liter kid's steel tank -- that would probably be like 53 cf. We had to make sure the weight pocket buckle straps were cinched tight, though, otherwise the corners of the weights started to slip out of the pockets. I don't think they'd have room to come completely out, though.
We had to use a 10-liter (~66 cf?) aluminum tank on one boat trip, and therefore had to add an extra kilo on each side; the pockets held those just fine.
With the weight in these pockets, her horizontal trim was pretty good... see attached photos. (She had her hair cornrow-braided there... kept it out of her mask!) You can make out the red buckles for the weight pockets on the sides of the BC. Now we've just got to work on those paddling hands!
Nice feature on the Juvi is the two tank bands, standard for Triple-L. Only the lower one, though, has a cam buckle; the upper strap has a complex double slide-buckle system, with the end conventionally velcro-ed. But no problems with tank security.
Hard to tell what the Neo's features are from the web site. Almost looks like a back-inflate design, vice the Juvi's conventional jacket style. And I'm wondering about the "2 zippered weight pockets." Are those intended as trim pockets? I'm not sure I'd trust a zippered pocket for all the weight, if the weights had to be dumped. Is this the front of the cummerbund we're seeing, with the zipper and the Triple-L logo? Or is that one of the weight pockets? Or...??
Anyway, it's even cheaper than the old Juvi. Like you say, Mark/zaboAA, you can't go wrong for that price. Please let us know how it looks and works!
--Marek
