Can't decide on a Zeagle

[stash3630]

Hey all,

I apologize if this is redundant, but I promise I tried to find my answer already posted somewhere else to no avail.

I have about 10 dives over the past 25+ years, but am only now finally getting certified. I just need to complete my open water dives. Regardless, I consider myself very very new to the sport despite the length of time between my first dive 25 years ago and my most recent dive last week.

That said, I'm having trouble choosing a BCD. I live in a small town in the mountains and as lucky as I am to have a sweet dive shop here, the options are pretty limited and also appear to be a little dated. While they only carry Hollis and Oceanic, my instructor says he can service Zeagle products as well.

Doing some research I've narrowed my choice to something from Zeagle, but am having trouble deciding which one of theirs to go with.

Being new to diving I don't want something that's overkill or too much for me to handle. I have my sights set on rescue diver and possibly beyond; maybe instructor. I'm at about 6500 feet of elevation so altitude cold fresh water diving is imminent, but at the same time, not where i anticipate doing the majority of my diving. For the most part I believe I'll be traveling to more equatorial diving locales while on vacation. At the same time I don't want packability or (to me) a possible nominal overweight baggage fee to dictate my longterm BCD decision. I'm 38, 5'9", 175lbs and very athletic.

I'm looking at the Zeagle Ranger, Stilleto and Covert XT. Price or travel convenience (unless I'm being ignorant) aren't really a factor.

I like the Ranger for its longterm ability to grow with my diver education, being super feature rich and not having to worry about growing out of it ability wise. I do worry that it may be overkill and too much for me as a novice especially as my first back fill.
Ranger

I like the Covert XT for its streamlined design and possibly an easier introduction to backfill BCD's, but worry it's too travel friendly, light on features, I might grow out of it quickly in terms of ability / application and wish I'd gone with the Ranger or Stiletto.
Covert XT

The Stilleto seems like a nice splitting the difference option, but I worry it's going to perform similar to the Ranger feature wise and I'll eventually just wish I'd gone with the Ranger.
http://www.zeagle.com/products-repository/bcds/products/stiletto

Any and all advice is appreciated. I know moving into backfill is a new ballgame, but my instructor is confident that as long as I get started on it now, in the end I'll be fine and more happy with it. Should I be looking at something else from Zeagle? Zeagle jacket style BCD's? The Hollis HD200? Something from Oceanic?

Thanks in advance!

 

[LPA]

Unless you're considering going to doubles down the road the Ranger might be overkill, have you considered the Zeagle Brigade? It's basically a Ranger with a smaller bladder (and a lower price). I decided for that reason on the Brigade, but actually regret not having just gone down the backplate/wing route which this comes close to but not close enough ;-)

 

[207diver]

I have around 230 dive on my stilleto with the majority of those dives in the northeast. Wetsuit or drysuit in cold or warm water it has served me well and shows little to no signs of wear. Zeagle makes a quality product.

 

[jgttrey]

My wife and 2 of my kids have Stilletos and it's a good product.

My advice is that it's okay to want a some versatility - but only within reason. The jack of all trades is master of none. A 50 lb wing is needed for some things, but stinks on a tropical dive compared to a 20 lb bladder. Giant heavy BCs are something you might put up with if you needed the lift but otherwise, less is more.

If you want versatile, get a backplate and just change wings when you need to. I started with a "feature rich" BC and switched to a bp/w after about 25 dives and haven't touched the BC since. But, even if you stay with a bc, I'd sure be incline to optimize it for the 95% of diving you'll do and not compromise that for the sake of a do-it-all model.

Two more random thoughts:

Back inflate is far superior to jacket style. Period.

While it is a big advantage to have an LDS that can service whatever brand of regulators you buy, BCDs require very little service and you can do that yourself. Just saying that for the BCD or bp/w I would not feel constrained to the brands carried by your LDS, at least not nearly to the same extent as regs, which require a whole different sort of regular service.

 

[driftwood]

Hopefully, there will be a lot of travel in your diving future. If that is the case, drop the Ranger. A great bc that I have hundreds of hours on. Few knocks on the design, pretty bulky for traveling, the accessory pockets are located too far to the rear for my taste and not really suitable for doubles. The Ranger will handle doubles, just not as well as a back plate rig.

I switched to the Express Tech a few years ago with no regrets. A bit lighter, packs much flatter, and I added the accessory pockets that fitted my needs. BTW, you will save a couple hundred.

 

[Single]

I bought the Zeagle Focus last summer and I really like it. However, it appears to have been removed from the Zeagle Sport line this year. I dove it yesterday during my drysuit course and actually fit 28lbs inside it. Here's a link below along with a couple places you can find it on sale.

Zeagle Focus BCD
https://www.amazon.com/Zeagle-Focus-Jacket-Style-BCD/dp/B013G1JIQ6?th=1&psc=1#customerReviews

 

[Aqua-Andy]

Back inflate is a non issue as long as you are weighted properly. I would forget the Ranger if you ever plan to travel with it and It's not a "Tech" BC despite what Zeagle claims. I started out with a Sherwood Avid, That lasted all of one year when the bladder started leaking. After dealing with Sherwood's warranty department I will never purchase anything with the name "Sherwood" on it again. I then purchased a Zeagle Ranger and thought it was a great BC, but it did have some downfalls. My favorite was the pockets, they opened in an arc from the bottom front up to the top back. So what happens is when you are diving in the prone position the pockets are actually opening from the bottom. Yup you open the pocket and all the contents fall out. When I started diving doubles I realized that the Ranger is not a suitable platform for that purpose and the wing that was way too big for single tanks was also too small and not wide enough for doubles. So I started diving a BP/W with doubles and the ranger with singles, that lasted about two dives and I purchased a STA and cam bands and singles wing for the BP/W rig and have been diving that since. The Steel BP provides the negative buoyancy you will want while diving cold water and also when diving the positive aluminum 80's that you will find in the tropics. I could have saved a bunch of money if I listened to the people here and started out with the BP/W.

 

[hammet]

Buy any brand you want online. no need to stick to your LDS.

 

[Blasto]

If you dive doubles, you will need a backplate and wing setup. It's physically possible without, but do you want to try and convince every prospective teammate that your jacket isn't a mark of inexperience, or just dive?

Unless you have a meaningful specific reason not to get a BP/W, do so. DGX has a kit for $300-$500.

If something precludes that config for you, go for a light back inflate.

BP/W do need some service every few years, but it's a joke to do yourself. They are highly standardized and anyone that can service one... it's a metal plate, ten feet of 2" webbing, a nylon donut, two dumps and a standard inflator.

 

[johndiver999]

Unless you get some kind of crazy discount on Zeagle gear, its like saying "I am buying a chevy - should I get a Covette or a Silverado 1500"?

Chevy and Zeagle make some good products, but it would be more logical to try to select the attributes you think are most important and then see what brands and models provide the best value.