UniversalDistributors.US

14230 Westheimer Houston, TX 77077 Phone: (281) 493-4358

How much buoyancy lift

do you need for Ocean diving?

Open Water Diving Positive Buoyancy Graph

Having enough positive buoyancy during scuba training exercises when you are under weighted and professionally supervised in a confined water pool environment is usually not a problem. Real life diving is VERY different, involves waves and currents. Being comfortable and having enough support at the surface in rough ocean water conditions can be very serious, and become dangerous when your exhausted. Remember, your cylinder will become positively buoyant (up to 6 pounds lighter) as you consume the air, so your going to have to add that additional 6 pounds of weight just to be able to descend easily and not have to struggle to stay down as your air supply gets low or when performing your safety stop. When cold water diving, you will be wearing about 10% of your body weight just in ballast weight to be able to sink with zero air in your BCD. At the end of a dive your going to be pretty tired and will need to rest at the surface as you work your way back to the boat or beach.
Having enough surface support to hold you high enough in the water to see your buddy, exit point or boat, and out of the typical waves is a really big deal.
When it comes to buoyancy lift and the ability to ride high above the waves,  it is ALWAYS better to have it available and not to use it, than to need it and not have it. Low lift capacity and poor balance is always dangerous in open water.
As any scuba instructor or group leaders will tell you. We have all observed far too many divers being forced to ditch their weight belts and drop their internal weights pockets just to keep their heads above water in typical 3-4 ft ocean conditions with substandard low capacity BCD's. The equipment manufacturers trend is to provide a low cost / high profit lightweight buoyancy device for easy travel. The design trade off to save those 32 ounces of travel weight involves using the "Pop and Drop" bladder-less air cells and less than required buoyancy capacity. This bladder-less air cell is profitable for the equipment sellers because of shorter life span, and the fact that they are impossible to repair. These bladder less air cells also makes it a pretty stupid long term investment for the active divers.

You have already seen the Eagle Z1 BCD's on the TV being used by sport divers and dive rescue personal world wide in the last 3 years. There is a good reason the professionals choose the Eagle Z1 products. It is because the Eagle Z1 products are far more comfortable, work better, and last longer! Now you too can use what the pro use.
The Eagle Z1 products have been thoroughly tested and approved by the Ocean Corporation commercial diving school graduates and one of the most active Police dive teams in the USA. The Eagle Z1 BCD was tested against Dacor, DiveRite, Mares, Halcyon, Tusa, Zeagle, and beat them all.

Compare the Design and Quality between BCD's

MATERIALS: Some BCD's like the Zeagle Ranger and Tech still use the less expensive problem prone loose weave ballistic nylon for their air cell cover. The factory warranty is void if they are used in a swimming pool with chlorine. Others use lightweight nylon material "Pop and Drop" air cells. All Eagle Z1 models use the super tight weave Cordura air cell cover material. It does not sag, unravel, snag, or have seam problems. The Cordura is a much stronger, and a problem free fabric!
CYLINDER RETAINERS: Most BCD's use the cheap plastic cam buckles on the cylinder strap. These will crack or break if you bump them, or drop them hard, and all will fail if enough stress is applied. The Eagle Z1 deluxe BCD uses solid Stainless Steel that will never break.
ENTANGLEMENT: Most BCD wings cause massive drag as they flap around, and these will snag on obstacles when diving in wreck and through caves. All the Eagle Z1 models have elastic wing retractors built into the BCD. This simple low drag device prevents trapped air, and always keeps the wings in tight to your body with nothing exposed to snag in a wreck or cave.
WEIGHTS: Our advanced integrated weight system does NOT require expensive mesh pocket inserts. All of the Eagle Z1 models use the safer 2 speed integrated weight design, and superior emergency ascent control. There is no Silly Ripcord weight release system to re-thread, and it can use any kind of weights, soft or hard. A unique feature is that with our weight system, ballast weights can be ejected and your weights reloaded in only seconds while the divers is still wearing the BCD.
OPTIONS: The lumbar pad is included at no extra charge
Please compare features and prices when you shop for a BCD. Our comprehensive BCD warranty does NOT exclude pool diving or have chlorine disclaimers like most do.

The Zeagle Ranger LTD MSRP is $819.00 The Eagle Z1 MSRP is $599.00

….now do the math. Our Discount Price is only $495.00


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