These days if your BCD is not bulky; then you feel like you are wearing body armour
underwater or they have so many unnecessary added features that you feel like a
walking Christmas Tree wearing one. The feature of “welds” in the air cell that
causes the unit to “wrap around” you simply gives the manufacturers a method of
adding more crud to the unit and keeps it comfortable. To avoid the cumbersome
feel and bulkiness of a jacket style BCD, you have the option of going with a
back inflation style BCD (my proffered option). Be careful when you go this
route; as you may find that many manufacturers concentrate more on lift than
function;  some BCD’s have enough lift to
raise the Titanic which equates directly with more fabric and more bulk.

To me, the perfect BCD would look like something that you could use easily out of
the water as in, the bladder would perform all that it needs to do (buy a lift
bag if you really want to raise objects other than yourself) it should also
come with just enough strap material to hold the tank on the back and keep it
against my back and connect your essential objects to streamline your dive but
have all that you really need (you really do not need 24 stainless steel D
rings ). Now, I have to admit my Zeagle Stiletto BCD doesn’t quite match that description,
but when compared to many of the units on the market today, it’s pretty darn
close.

It is a very simple, comfortable design that isn’t packed with a lot of needless
“features” and “frills” to make it overly cumbersome. It’s 35lb (16 KG) lift
capacity is still far greater than I need but the folks at Zeagle have figured
out how to make that bladder not quit as obtrusive as most. This for many
divers equates to a piece of gear that is completely functional for most diving
in most waters. I’ll be the first to admit that on warm water dives the padding at the back is quite
comfortable, and welcome, and the 5 stainless steel D-rings are tucked away in
just the right spots to secure an octopus, console/computer, small light or whatever
other trinket you may be taking along on your dive, but never seem to be in the
way or “dangle” excessively.

Zeagle’s integrated weight system is also equally as streamlined and simple. No bulky
pockets at each hip. The finishing touch on this BCD is the fact that it’s a
soft pack design. You can literally roll this thing up into a tiny little wad in your luggage/dive
bag jump up and down on it to compress some space (careful not to step on your
power inflator) and take it out when you reach your destination and it’s ready
to go diving. The bladder has a good pair of access ports for rinsing after
your dives and is overall a simple very functional piece of equipment for many
divers.
All the important information:
Integrated ipcord Weight System – 44 lb capacity (24 lbs Diver releasable – 20 lbs non-diver releasable trim weights for improved weight distribution and
balance)

35-lb (16-KG) lift capacity low profile bladder

Twin tank bands for single tanks included

1000 Denier Material

Two flap utility pockets

Adjustable Cummerbund

5 – stainless D-rings

Adjustable Sternum Strap

SIZES: XSmall through XLarge

So if you are looking for a light weight BCD that has all the features and
functions of a real heavy-weight contender this should be one of the first you
take for a test dive. Zeagle has a list of suppliers on their web page http://zeagle.com/Find-a-Dealer/

 The writers and staff would like to take this to both thank all our readers and authors also to wish all a safe and happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

All the best,

Justin

Editor Scuba-Pro

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The video shows how most tanks are made from a solid billet of aluminium, this is a question that I have been asked many times over the past 20 years. So enjoy the video and tell your friends.

I never dive with a “ cold “ or even the symptoms ! That’s a comment  you hear a lot, but it is interesting to know that 90 % of Barotrauma injuries are caused by the inability to equalise,  due to the onset of a cold or even just the symptoms.

When you get the beginning or the end of cold symptoms, you may feel that just popping a tablet will work as well under water as it does on the surface. This assumption could cause you a great deal of pain and even the expense of a Ear Nose and Throat Specialist, this should be avoided if possible. When you get symptoms, your Eustachian tubes are the first area to play up, by this I mean as far as diving is concerned. The tubes get a coating of mucous, much the same way as a straw does when you drink a milkshake. At first this appears quite harmless and of cause if you are not going to go to where the atmospheric pressure will increase then you wont even notice this, but if you do decide to risk a dive, well then you open yourself up to injury.

As you descend on your dive the pressure that you would normally equalise, can cause the eustachin tubes to squeeze together and cause a blockage, normally you would just ascend a little until this pressure was decreased and the tube would open, but if you have mucous in the tubes it will act as an adhesive, so when you attempt to ascend you will have an air space that cannot be equalised and therefore places you at risk of any number of Barotrauma injuries. This could result in a perforated eardrum, rupture of the oval window, rupture of the round window or even a rupture of the euastachin tube. All of these conditions could result in at least six months out of the water as well as the pain and expense of treatment.
So next time you don’t quite feel 100 % have a think about the possible consequence’s of the dive, hey it’s only one dive is it worth injuring yourself?

But the real gems in Australia diving are not the best known ones.

I really enjoy diving in Port Phillip Bay in Victoria, there is an abundance and variety of dive sites from beginner to jaded professional. Just out of the heads in Bass Strait are some of the best dives in the the world, the charter market and rentals are competitive and safe.

The rule of thumb I always use if its older than 5 years and in excellent condition I would pay 1 third of its cost to buy new at today’s rates. If it’s less than 5 years and in the as new or close too condition them half price is fair. I would suggest the obvious “ebay” but also is another site that targets the scuba and watersports market.