I was looking at the Zeagle Stiletto and Ranger in the shop, they seem similar overall.
They are similar. The Stiletto is a bit smaller (bladder) and set up only for single tank. The Ranger has higher lift capacity, but it’s unlikely you’d need the higher lift for Florida waters.
They sell Atomic (for double the pricetag of Zeagle so nty) and Oceanic, but he told me the Oceanic models they sell are more on the "cheaper side" and don't provide much and are a pain to clean.
Regulator: Had a very long chat with the guy, he said he would go Atomic Z2 for the reasons I described during the dive. He said Mares feel cheapo and the Scubapro I used was not balanced. Said the Z2 is balanced and should breathe much like normal. He showed a bundle combining
this with a Zeagle octo and a SPG (pressure and depth) for about $700. The Zeagle octo had a shutoff "lever" on the side to prevent freeflows.
Seems like a good deal. That “shutoff lever” on the Zeagle is the Venturi switch. At the surface the Venturi vane is positioned (- on the switch) to prevent free flow. During the dive, the switch is moved to +, and the air flowing past the vane creates negative pressure to help keep the valve open, thereby lowering work of breathing.
The Atomic 2nd stage has the Venturi vane as well, however it’s automatic.
The regulator you are looking at probably has the Zeagle Envoy II octo. If it also has the adjustment knob, it is probably the Onyx II octo. Both are good. The Onyx should add $15 to the set if you wanted to go that route.
I saw others mention keeping the primary and secondary identical. That’s certainly an option, but not necessarily a requirement. Mixing Zeagle and Atomic is just about as close to the same as you can find. They are both assembled in the same location, and share some internal components.
Computer: He said he tells everyone to just buy a computer and just have the gauge/console for depth/pressure. I mentioned the Shearwater Peregrine and he pulled up one from the case and went through it thoroughly. Seems like a safe selection.
Yep. Pretty much can’t go wrong with the Peregrine, but you can ditch the depth gauge from the console if you want. Adds a little bulk, and is not needed since you will have a computer.