The wife and I started tuning our bouyancy on our new Zeagles. She has a Zena,size small, was wearing a 3mil corewarmer and a 3mil fullsuit, tank was a 63AL @ 3000psi. The tank was adjusted as high as it would go, to the point of touching the inflator hose exhaust valve. With 2# in each pocket she'd start to roll backwards with fins coming up. Added ankle weights that total 1 1/2 pounds. Vertical position was then attained and could hold half mask with normal breath, sink when exhale and fin pivot fine. Of course all air was out of bc. I thought of lowering tank position, but figured that would make things worse. Wife is 5'2" and prefers the smaller tank. I suggested putting her weights on a belt and moved to her front, but she said she'd rather use ankle weights. Anyone using this model encounter a similar problem, or have any suggestions? My Brigade with a 3mil shorty, 80AL and 14 pounds was AWESOME, will hit the briny in a couple of weeks for some fine tunin. Thanks
Zeagle Zena positioning?
- Thread starter scubabear
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DiveMaven
Contributor
Is her Zena properly positioned on her body?? I've found that I cannot adjust my Zena properly on the surface, and always do it during my descent instead. I simply go horizontal, pull it down, tighten the bottom straps, tighten the middle straps, THEN do the shoulder straps. This puts your weights at your hip level and stabilizes everything so nothing moves while diving. It really is imperative that the shoulder straps be tightened last and the bottom straps done first and around the waist. Although it sounds complicated, it takes me about 5 seconds and is totally automatic now.
Lord knows that I'm no expert, but if she's rolling backward with her fins coming up in front of her and ankle weights seemed to help, then it seems to me she's a little heavy through the shoulders (pulling her back and down). Seems to me that lowering the tank to distribute the weight across her body, and making sure her BC is adjusted properly would be a good first step.
Lord knows that I'm no expert, but if she's rolling backward with her fins coming up in front of her and ankle weights seemed to help, then it seems to me she's a little heavy through the shoulders (pulling her back and down). Seems to me that lowering the tank to distribute the weight across her body, and making sure her BC is adjusted properly would be a good first step.
Blue Moon
Contributor
scubabear:
Hi Scubabear,
My 5' 2" girlfriend and I have the same basic set up that you do. She has a Zena (XS) and I have the Brigade. Just curious if you are using what they unfortunately named "Yellow Thingies" that they sell at Scuba Toys to hold and trim weights? See: http://www.scubatoys.com/store/detail.asp?product_id=zeagleweightpouches
I like the Yellow Thingies, except the name that is.... They allow you to better trim the weights within the BC as they have Velcro defined areas so you can move and keep the weights in an optimal position.
Also, did you by chance have the 2 pounds of weight that you mentioned on each side in the optional rear trim pockets? If so, that may be the problem. The rear trim pockets have a red pull tab that is easier for a buddy to reach...
The Zena, at least the XS, looks a bit different than your Brigade as you have two pockets in front per side, one is a pocket and one is for the weights/w rip cord release & red zipper. The Zena (again at least the XS) only has one pocket per front side and it is for the weights as it has the rip cord release. Just wanted to make sure that you did not have all her weights in the rear "optional" trim pockets on the Zena... My girlfriends Zena does not have the red zipper that our Brigade has for weights in front and since the rear trim pockets do have red, it could be confusing...
Depending on how much neoprene Lydia has on, we often use 1 pound in each of her rear trim pockets to help keep her from rolling....but only when we have a lot more weight in her front pockets. Lydia likes her trim pockets and they seemed to make a big difference in achieving perfect trim.
Also, I'm very curious where you recommend diving in your area. I'm going to be in Miami next week for a trade show and I'm considering diving on Saturday... Hope you all end up enjoying your Zeagles as much as we like ours.
Enjoy,
Blue Moon
Wish that you have get the issue resolved by now.
I am not sure if it is good to tell you about another bc since you got one already,
anyway, for female bc, besides the Zena I've heard that tusa is v. good also.
But then I would also recommand you to try it first before you buy it,
I've heard about the good lower back support etc.
Tusa Selene (then Platina):
http://www.divernet.com/equipment/0402testextra.htm
http://www.divernet.com/bubbling/0302bubbling.htm
http://www.divernet.com/equipment/1204divertests.shtml#top
http://www.divernet.com/bubbling/0904bubbling.shtml
I am not sure if it is good to tell you about another bc since you got one already,
anyway, for female bc, besides the Zena I've heard that tusa is v. good also.
But then I would also recommand you to try it first before you buy it,
I've heard about the good lower back support etc.
Tusa Selene (then Platina):
http://www.divernet.com/equipment/0402testextra.htm
http://www.divernet.com/bubbling/0302bubbling.htm
http://www.divernet.com/equipment/1204divertests.shtml#top
http://www.divernet.com/bubbling/0904bubbling.shtml
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