Zeagle Stiletto BCD Review

August 10th, 2005

- Updated November 10, 2005 -

Okay, after a ton of traffic to this post and many questions raised, I’ve decided to follow up on my original post and let you know what I think of the Zeagle Stiletto after a great number more dives with it. For my original impressions, and some comments from others on the subject, go ahead and scroll on down. I’ll start by saying that having more dives on this BCD did not significantly change the impressions I had in the beginning. More than anything, my initial thoughts have been confirmed. Bottom line: This is one of the smallest, lightest and most rugged travel BCDs on the market, but it has some design issues that led me to look for another BC for everyday diving.

To be more specific, I found that the positioning and orientation of the weight pockets were less than optimal. The weights on the Zeagle Stiletto (and Ranger) are situated toward the back of your hips. Furthermore, because they are triangular, most of the weight is shifted towards the rear. This resulted in a turtleback effect, where I was continually rolled onto my back by inertia from turning to either side. It was annoying but to the credit of the Stiletto I imagine that this happens a lot more in cold water where you need to wear a lot more weight (18lbs for me). In addition, I think the zipper holding the weight pouch in place would be much better if it started in the other direction, so that you don’t have to start by turning the corner on a weight pouch that hardly fits into the pocket.
Which brings me to my next complaint, the Ripcord weight system is not my favorite setup. You have to buy mesh weight pouches to keep your weights from falling through the threads. I don’t understand why these weight pouches don’t just come with the BC in the first place since you really can’t go without them. As you can see here, the Ripcord system is basically a single, long plastic cable attached to a handle at one end, very er….. ripcord-like.
Proponents say that it’s very easy to ditch in an emergency. Zeagle started out as a manufacturer of parachutes so you can imagine where they got this idea. People who don’t like the Ripcord say so because they say its difficult and time consuming to re-thread the cord through the small eyelets. I don’t really think that its such an issue since you (hopefully) won’t be doing this often. However, there are many other more convenient weight systems out there.

Aside from the weights I had some fit issues. Let me start by saying that I’m 5′8″ and 160lbs, not fat and not skinny. The Stiletto comes with the cummerbund in the smallest setting (for a skinny person), I found that this was too short for my waist (32 inches), leaving a lot of the velcro exposed. The hooks-side of the cummerbund ended up rubbing on the edge of the BC and it started fraying as a result. I tried to make the cummerbund one setting larger and that’s when I found another design shortcoming. As you can see in the photos, if you thread the cummerbund through either the front or the rear, the shoulder strap pinches up against another piece of webbing designed to keep the cummerbund in place, not very friendly for medium-sized people like myself.

Another thing that I found of poor quality is the adhesive they use to affix the velcro under the shoulder buckles. I picked up my Stiletto the other day and found the velcro had stuck together and the backside of it started peeling away from the plastic. I’m not sure what kind of adhesive is used, but I imagine that after this many dives this shouldn’t be happening. I live in the Pacific Northwest, so I know heat shouldn’t be an issue.

Now that I’ve enumerated various negative points, you’re probably wondering why anyone would want to buy one of these. Well, there are plenty of features the Stiletto has that makes it a terrific BC for travel. One of my favorite features of the Stiletto is the power inflator hose. The hose is long and flexible and perfectly suited for the Atomic SS1 combination octo/power inflator. Going with this setup, you’ll eliminate the need for an octopus and therefore another hose altogether, terrific if you’re trying to pack simple and light. How big of a deal is this? I had to forgo my trusty SS1 when I was diving a SeaQuest Balance, and that was one of the only things I was unhappy about. The Stiletto also has two very dependable tank straps. As you may have found, a new tank strap expands when it gets wet. Sometimes this can result in your tank falling disastrously out of your BC, usually with your regulator in your mouth as the only thing holding it up. I’ve had that happen a few times, but with the Stiletto there was a second strap holding the tank and keeping my ego intact. (You should always wet a new tankstrap before using it the first few times….even then it still happens once in a while). This Zeagle also has four ways to dump air, with the standard hose-dump, a pull-dump on the other end of the hose and two dumps at the bottom of the bladder. Only a company that prides itself in being at the cutting edge would fit an otherwise sparse BC with so many ways to quickly deflate the BC bladder. I was also very impressed wiith the precision and quality of stitching as well as the materials they chose. Another thing about the Zeagle Stiletto is that it has no rigid backplate. This means that it’s a little soft at times and hard to wiggle into, but for traveling you can’t find a more compact, pack-friendly BC. As I mentioned before, without carrying much weight, the turtleback issue is almost nil. Thus, I think the Stiletto belongs in the turquoise waters of the tropics. Add to that the fact that you’ll get a few nods of approval from ‘divers who know’

, and you’ve got the respect and performance of a real travel BC.

Looking to get into a Zeagle Stiletto? Head on over to Bellevue Underwater Sports.

Here are some pics of the Zeagle Stiletto from different angles, and below is my original post.

The following was my original post last August:

This is a basically a lite version of the very successful Ranger. Its stripped down to the essentials, lightweight, packs easy, yet has a 5 D rings 2 pockets and 35 lbs of lift. New for 2005, this BC also has trim weight pouches on the lower tankstrap to minimize faceplanting on the surface while fully inflated, a major drawback of back-buoyancy style BCDs. This thing is also fairly rugged, constructed with reinforced 1000 denier nylon bladder material. It has no stiff backplate, thus packing easily into luggage. The Stiletto also sports a traditional long and flexible power inflator hose, perfect for attaching an Atomic SS1 or other combination power inflator/octo. There are a myriad of anchor points and D rings (2 bent at the shoulders) to attach gear, and on top of all this the Stiletto has comfortable lumbar padding. This BCD does not compromise much functionality to acheive its small stature, and most of my gripes are a result of pure potential design shortcomings, which I will get to.

So far, after only a few dives with this thing, I’m convinced its a pretty good piece of gear if you’re an avid traveler, or just would rather dispense with the additional bulk of average BCs. If you want all the bells and whistles, or need a lot of lift, then this probably isn’t for you.

On the downside, I did notice a considerable turtleback effect, due to the integrated weight pockets being rather far back compared to other BCDs. The weights sit just at your hips, rather than towards the belly, and this results in less stability underwater. When I was rotating to the side to look up or away, I noticed a tendency for my inertia to keep me going until I was looking upwards at the surface, taking additional effort to right myself back into a belly-down position again. Annoying but not a deal killer.

Another nuisance was the fact that the Stiletto tends to ride up on me if I have even any air in it at all, proably due to the fact that it has mostly smooth nylon on the inside, which makes it comfortable but slippery against an exposure suit.

Also, I’m not a big fan of their touted weight integration system. Sure, it may ditch in one step, but honestly, how often are you going to need to ditch your weights (and even in that event, both sets of them)? I’d rather have the convenience of a weight system that goes in and comes back out quickly and easily. The Zeagle’s weight system, when ditched, requires the user to basically thread a cord back through many eyelits to get the system to hold weight again. To pull weights out the other way, you have to unzip and pull out the (optional) mesh inserts, a chore if you ask me.

I bought my Zeagle Stiletto for a screaming deal though my LDS, and it comes with manufacturer’s warranty (not offered on any products bought through Leisurepro).

An interesting discussion came about as a result of this entry and I thought my responses in context of that thread from scubaboard might shed some light on my opinions presented here on the Stiletto, and on any other review for that matter. I may be presumptuous in assuming that Scott Zeagle is materially vested in Zeagle the company, since he is listed as an ‘Equipment Manufacturer’ on Scubaboard. Alternatively, here is the direct link to the thread.

Scott Zeagle said:

Go ahead, Chris…say it!!!

Ok, I will…

If you are going to post a true “review” on a public forum, you should at least have your facts correct…

I replied: alive movie download

40 days and 40 nights free

Sure, I’m open to any suggestions. My review was just that, a review (i.e. a personal opinion based on my own experience). I also noted in the review that I had not logged that many dives on the BCD, so really it is just my initial reaction. Like some other BCs, I’ll probably make some mods and it will work better in the future. I did have some good things to say about it as well, but it wouldn’t be much of a review if they were all good, then it would be more like…….marketing.

So what ‘facts’ did I have wrong? Please let me know so I can make corrections.

Adobo said:
What is it that was so objectionable about the review?

Scott Zeagle said:
It is fine…

I have re-read it, and maybe I misunderstood a few things the first time though.

I would, however, like to get your opinion of the BC once you have a few more dives on it!!!

Scott
__________________
Gear to take you there - and bring you back safely! www.Zeagle.com

I replied:
Hi Guys, seems I’ve almost made a few enemies out of doing a little writeup on the Stiletto. Honestly, no harm intended. If you notice, most of my ‘review’ was either positive or informational. I do have a critical eye to design and always (optimistically) believe there can be improvement on any piece of equipment. I guess the constructive criticisms I offered were in the spirit of making a perfect BC in a perfect world. Also, I would not have bought this BC if I didn’t think it was by far the best in its class among the competition this year. I tried on BCDs from 5 other manufacturers multiple times before selecting the Stiletto based on personal fit and needs for travel.

Also, I’ve had the opportunity to have about 10 more dives on it since and I do have some additional insights, which I will post when appropriate. That blog entry was intended to be a timeline of impressions: First few dives, after 20 dives, after 50, after 100 and so on…. Please do not be offended Scott, I do meet a lot of people out there who swear by your products, and that fact played a big role in my choosing of this BCD. However, I am trying to write articles that will help people in making decisions about what to expect from products they are thinking of purchasing. And to some of those people, the initial impressions of another diver who bought the BCD in question may be valued in the decision process. For example, after doing a couple of dives with my Stiletto, my buddy went out and bought one based on my opinion of it. That opinion had both positive and negative aspects, but the negative points were in the context of: “if I could just adjust this here, or reconfigure that there”, i.e., spoken in an air of trying to improve upon a situation. No one is going to have a perfect experience with a brand new piece of gear they’ve never used, no one.

Also, people’s views on areas of improvement or difficulties in usage may potentially be seen as valuable information to the designers of that product when the next revision comes up. If one does not listen to the user, then how does he ever improve upon his product?

best regards,

Calvin

they call me trinity dvdrip

Entry Filed under: SCUBA