Zeagle Stiletto Back Inflate BCD

A BCD should fit snugly enough that it does not ride up toward your ears when inflated, while still letting you breathe fully. Fasten the waist and cummerbund first, then adjust the shoulder straps so the tank sits close to your back and the shoulders cannot slide off. With the BCD fully inflated at the surface you should still be able to take a deep, comfortable breath; if it squeezes your chest, loosen it or move up a size.

Rinse the outside in fresh water and also flush the inside of the bladder, because salt water gets in through the inflator and dump valves. Fill the bladder roughly a third full of fresh water through the oral inflator, slosh it around, then drain it out through the inflator and each dump valve. Hang it to dry out of direct sunlight and store it partially inflated so the bladder walls do not stick together.

Integrated weight pockets carry the lead in the BCD itself, which many divers find more comfortable and easier on the hips, while a weight belt keeps the weight independent of your BCD. Either way, you must be able to release your ditchable weight quickly with one hand, and your buddy should know how your system releases. Non-ditchable trim pockets are useful for balance but should never hold weight you might need to drop.

Make sure the BCD is completely dry inside and out before packing so it does not mildew in transit. Remove all weights, deflate it fully, and fold or roll it around softer items such as a wetsuit to cushion the inflator and valves. Avoid hard creases in the air cell, and unpack and air it out as soon as you arrive.

Follow the service interval in the manufacturer's manual, which is commonly an annual inspection alongside the rest of your life-support gear. Have the inflator, dump valves, and bladder checked any time the inflator sticks, free-flows, feels rough, or the BCD holds air poorly. Between services, confirm that it inflates and deflates properly as part of every pre-dive check.

A jacket-style BCD holds air in panels that wrap around your sides as well as your back, while a back-inflate BCD keeps the entire air cell behind you. Jacket styles tend to feel very stable and upright at the surface, and back-inflate styles keep the chest clear and are often preferred for horizontal trim underwater. Neither is objectively better, so treat it as a fit and preference decision and try both if you can.

Most recreational BCDs use an adjustable cam band sized for common single-cylinder diameters, so standard aluminum and steel tanks generally work. Re-check the band tension after the first wetting, because webbing can relax slightly and let the tank shift. If you dive doubles or unusual cylinder diameters, confirm compatibility with the manufacturer before assuming it will hold.

The Stiletto carries up to 24 lbs / 10.9 kg of ditchable weight in the Ripcord integrated weight system, plus up to 16 lbs / 7.3 kg in the rear weight system for trim. The Ripcord system is Zeagle's integrated weight ditching system. Pair that capacity with the BCD's 35 lbs / 15.9 kg of lift when planning your exposure suit and tank combination.

Personal Fit System (PFS) sizing lets the waist size, chest size and torso length be fitted independently rather than locked to one fixed size. Adjustable elastic waist panels and an adjustable sternum strap further fine-tune the fit. The Stiletto is offered in XS through 4XL, with XXXL / XXXXL as a custom size.

Yes. Zeagle lists the Stiletto as travel friendly, and it weighs 7.4 lbs / 3.4 kg dry, which keeps luggage weight down. The low-profile retracting bladder stays streamlined when the air cell is not fully inflated, and the 35 lbs / 15.9 kg of lift plus reinforced 1000 denier nylon shell mean it is still capable for temperate local diving when you get home.

Yes. Zeagle publishes service components for the Stiletto, including the Stiletto shoulder section (replacement shoulder strap assembly), the Stiletto waist panel and the Stiletto bladder assembly in the 34 lb / 35 lb size. The BCD also carries a Limited Lifetime Guarantee to the original owner against defects in materials and workmanship, which excludes accident, abuse, neglect, alterations, improper usage and normal wear and tear.