RonFrank
Contributor
Your profile lists nothing that would help provide advice on where you may dive, or where you live. Such info is useful as not all gear is sold or serviced worldwide. Cost is also not the best way to determine quality. Fit is a much better measure for many items (BC/Mask/Fins/Exposure protection).
I like Zeagle. Some of their products are still made in the USA (rare among manufactures), they make very solid and reliable equipment, and their pricing is on the reasonable side. I dive a Stiletto BC (rear inflate), and use their regs.
There are a LOT of manufactures of equipment. Some others I use are:
OMS wing
Hammerhead Backplate/STA
Apollo fins
Force Fins
Atomic mask
Bare Drysuit
Bare Hood
Tilos Wetsuit
Sartek HID light
Intova Light
Tanks? Who knows, they are AL80's!
I have not seen a lot of poorly made scuba gear, but some regs are much harder to service than others. Zeagles are among the simpler designs. There are also a couple of manufactures that have recently gone out of business. You may not be able to get service on gear if the manufacture is no longer around.
I would not recommend a wing or lift system greater than 35lbs, unless you are a really large guy. Even then muscle mass may have more to do with lift requirements vs. pure size.
I like Zeagle BC's because they are easy to custom fit. Medium shoulder straps fit on Large BC's for example, and the dive shop can custom fit your BC if that is necessary. They are also so hugely adjustable, that is not often necessary. My M BC will fit a guy that weights 150lbs, and a guy that weighs 225lbs, so they fit a large size range.
Good Luck, you have a lot of decisions to make.
I like Zeagle. Some of their products are still made in the USA (rare among manufactures), they make very solid and reliable equipment, and their pricing is on the reasonable side. I dive a Stiletto BC (rear inflate), and use their regs.
There are a LOT of manufactures of equipment. Some others I use are:
OMS wing
Hammerhead Backplate/STA
Apollo fins
Force Fins
Atomic mask
Bare Drysuit
Bare Hood
Tilos Wetsuit
Sartek HID light
Intova Light
Tanks? Who knows, they are AL80's!
I have not seen a lot of poorly made scuba gear, but some regs are much harder to service than others. Zeagles are among the simpler designs. There are also a couple of manufactures that have recently gone out of business. You may not be able to get service on gear if the manufacture is no longer around.
I would not recommend a wing or lift system greater than 35lbs, unless you are a really large guy. Even then muscle mass may have more to do with lift requirements vs. pure size.
I like Zeagle BC's because they are easy to custom fit. Medium shoulder straps fit on Large BC's for example, and the dive shop can custom fit your BC if that is necessary. They are also so hugely adjustable, that is not often necessary. My M BC will fit a guy that weights 150lbs, and a guy that weighs 225lbs, so they fit a large size range.
Good Luck, you have a lot of decisions to make.
