Zeagle Stiletto vs. ScubaPro LikeHawk

[Paul Risk]

My son is just now getting into diving and I am looking at BCDs for him. He is 15 and 6'2", 130 lbs.

We do our diving in warm, tropical waters, so the BCDs have to be light for air travel. My daughter and I dive on identical Zeagle Escape BCDs, with the OctoZ. The BCDs are about 20 years old (one used to be my wife's, but she gave up the sport).
So, for my son, I am thinking of the Stiletto (similar to the Escape, which is no longer manufactured), because I am familiar with the Zeagles and have been very happy with them. I know how they operate and can do maintenance and minor repairs. Plus, we have interchangeable parts.

However, the Litehawk looks interesting. It is light and less expensive than the Zeagle, and highly rated.
Thoughts? Opinions? Suggestions?

 

[BoltSnap]

The SP Litehawk looks very interesting. I never paid attention to it in the past but I went and read the whole description and it seems to have all the features one would need in warm/tropical waters while being light weight and streamlined.

(I am not giving opinion on which is better, I am just commenting on my impression of the Litehawk after reading the description for the first time )

 

[explore_DMC]

I used to have a stiletto and liked it. The litehawk does seem very similar. The only real difference I noted is the weight integration/release. Zeagle has the ripcord with pockets in front. The litehawk appears to have pockets that are either a pocket or an inverted weight, but not both.

 

[Pressurehead]

I see Divers Supply has the Scubapro $180 cheaper and free shipping.
Try this link: Scuba BCD for Sale Online at Best Price | Divers Supply

 

[Belzelbub]

Nothing wrong with either option in my opinion. If I were in your situation, I would probably lean toward the Stiletto as you already have Zeagle BCDs so are familiar with them. The Stiletto was originally designed with spearfishing in mind, so were made to be fairly rugged.

I use a Stiletto. My two daughters also dive. The oldest uses a Zeagle Lazer (women’s version of the Stiletto, now discontinued), the youngest uses a Zeagle Zena. I got them Zeagles to keep the gear pretty much the same in the family, and also because they were still growing, and if needed, I could replace sections instead of the whole BC. At 6’2”, that probably is not much of an issue for your son.

When you get right down to it, there is a lot of similarity between different brands of BCs. There are two things that Zeagle has that I haven’t seen on others, (except Atomic for the first).

BX coupler for the inflator hose. Really simplifies cleaning the BC bladder. Though, if you opt for an Octo Z for your son, I believe the connector comes with it, so probably not a huge factor.

Ripcord weight system. You’ll get basically two different opinions on this. Divers either love it or they hate it. I love it, and I suspect that those who hate it haven’t actually used it. No proprietary pockets needed. It does take longer to rethread if deployed, but it’s only a couple minutes, and if deployed, you just need standard weights to continue using it as intended. One of the first things I did when I got mine was to pull the cord and rethread. Just to make sure. It was easy and intuitive, so no issue.

 

[Paladin]

My son is just now getting into diving and I am looking at BCDs for him. He is 15 and 6'2", 130 lbs.

We do our diving in warm, tropical waters, so the BCDs have to be light for air travel. My daughter and I dive on identical Zeagle Escape BCDs, with the OctoZ. The BCDs are about 20 years old (one used to be my wife's, but she gave up the sport).
So, for my son, I am thinking of the Stiletto (similar to the Escape, which is no longer manufactured), because I am familiar with the Zeagles and have been very happy with them. I know how they operate and can do maintenance and minor repairs. Plus, we have interchangeable parts.

However, the Litehawk looks interesting. It is light and less expensive than the Zeagle, and highly rated.
Thoughts? Opinions? Suggestions?

I have the Litehawk and I use it as my primary BC. It is light weight and is as comfortable, to me, as the simple non BC backpacks I used for many years. I tend to even forget I'm wearing it after a few minutes in the water.