first bc?

[herman]

The Ranger will make you a fine BC and unless you are going into some serious tech diving you will not outgrow it. For me it’s biggest disadvantage is it’s fairly bulky and if you travel a lot, it takes up a lot of room in your suitcase. That’s the only reason I no longer dive my Ranger, I bought a much smaller, lighter Zeagle.
As you can see, there are those who like the BP, I don't. It's a personal choice. I tried them but found they lacked many of the features I like such as integrated weights and quick releases. They preformed no better than my other BCs or provided any benefit to me for the type of diving I normally do. On the other hand, if I were diving doubles or doing serious tech diving I would be using one .
As for the Zeagle ripcord weight release, it's one of the oldest and most reliable ones on the market. For those who don't understand how to rethread it, it can be intimidating but it's fairly simple if you understand how it works.

 

[CaptainNemo]

Don't you love it when you wade through all of the products and finally decide on a BC, in this case a Ranger, and everyone tells you to get something else. I agree that the Ranger is not too much BC for you. It is made in America and has a great warranty and reputation. I can't wait to hear about the rest of the upcoming purchases. It never ends! I would never step foot back in the dive shop that dogged a competitor. He should try to be a salesman and tell you why is product is better or as good. Good luck and good diving.

 

[bradshsi]

I'll tell you what I did on my first BC purchase (just for contrast).

I didn't know exactly what type of diving I'd be doing, how often I'd dive and importantly what I wanted from my gear. So I hedged my bets. I read up on what was recommended as a bare bones (but highly functional) BC.

After some review I decided on several that would fit the requirements and managed to purchase a used Sherwood Silhouette from another diver (for about $35).

My thinking is that as my skills improve and I know what I want from my diving, I can easily buy the BC that meets my needs. That way my $35 was a low cost lesson.

If I'd spent ~$600 on say a new Zeagle Ranger and then decided I wanted something else I'd be in the hole for quite a bit of money.

This is not to say the Ranger isn't a good BC as others have told you. It's just that you have to ask yourself do you really know what your diving will be like in 1 or 2 years time ?

That was my approach for better or worse...

 

[DiveMaven]

I don't dive with a Ranger, but with a Zena that has the same ripcord system. Bottom line for me? I hope never to have to dump my weights, but if I do, rethreading the system will be the least of my worries.

Since you load your weights from the top, you don't have to mess with the threading at all. Personally, I like unzipping my pockets, putting my weights in, and never touching the release mechanism. My husband has to release and attach his weight pockets everytime he does anything with his weights, and I can't help but think that eventually those plastic buckles will show the wear. Just MO.

Oh yeah, and I can't help but love that Zeagle is made in the USA, comes with a lifetime warrantee, and that Scott has been so vocal and helpful on these boards...showing excellent customer service.

 

[Rinkopr]

Does the shop carry Zeagle? If so, I don't think you will want to buy it from him. If you were to, he would "DOG" you every chance he had...." If you had bought the ScubaPro, you wouldn't have that problem".... We sell the Zeagle line and the Sherwood line of products. I will guess that his margin on the ScubaPro is a bit more than the Zeagle if he is looking to compete with some of the larger discount stores.

Where are you in Florida?

 

[Chad Carney]

Weight systems that must remove from a BC to load and unload have a way of getting lost... most likely somewhere on land. That leaves a BC that won't hold weight, and new pockets to buy.

The Zeagle ripcord should hopefully never need to be pulled, so it never needs rethreading. In 30 years of diving I've never ditched weights, nor has any diver I've known. Training is the exception, and a new diver can learn to rethread a ripcord in about 3 minutes, just from reading the instructions.

If the Ranger is more BC than you want, check out the Zeagle Stiletto.

Chad

 

[divesmith]

I dive the Zeagle Tech rather than the Ranger because I prefer the two seperate waist straps instead of the cumberbund. Re-threading the rip cord is simple and should not cause a problem if you ever had to dump. I've found the crew at Zeagle to be very helpful especially if you have any custom work you want done.

 

[Splitlip]

the owner wrote me back and said " If you buy a Zeagle, make sure you can reattach the weight system if you ever need to dump. In my humble opinion it has the worse weight release system to date''

I can't believe people still bad mouth Zeagle's Weight sysem.Maybe they don't understand how it works.
The weights are distributed in two zippered pockets on the harness over the cumberbun.
If one needs to ditch some weight it is easily done by unzipping and removing amount of weight as required. You cannot do this with most WI bc's nor can you do it if all the weight is on a belt.
And if God forbid you are in real serious situation, a rescuer can dump all your weights with 1 pull of the ripcord. Re-threading is not that big of a deal and is easilly done in a few minutes. And as far as that goes, if you need to emergency dump you are probably done for the day anyway. Plus Zeagles have those nice trim weight pockets that can be dumped as well while wearing the BC.
Also, Zeagle BC's are modular which permits swapping of wings and harness systems. ScubaToys offers the Brigade which is a ranger harness with a smaller wing.
I have a Stiletto which I love. (also have new BP/W)

 

[OE2X]

I'm not a big fan of the Ranger. I own one, but dive a BPW. With that said if you are wanting to buy one, have no fear it is very, very, very well made. It is very reliable as well. Frankly I don't understand where your LDS gets off in being critical of the weight release system. I have only used it once to demo it and found that not only did it perform flawlessly, but it was also very easy to reinstall. The guy at your LDS is a chump. The Ranger is hardly too technical for a new or experienced diver. For that matter the only thing that looks too complicated is the Mares HUB. If this is what you want then go buy it and don't spend any more money at your LDS since the next thing he'll try to sell you is the Brooklyn Bridge!

 

[Squidboy]

I've used the zeagle 911 for three years now for work. The workmanship is great and I have to dive around cables and sharp objects all the time and this bc still is in great shape. The 911 was my first BC and I'm thinking of going to the Ranger LTD for my second BC. I've drove with twins and singles with the 911with no problems. The only thing I wish the pockets were easier to acess. I wouldn't recommend a 911 for your first BC cause it has 65lbs of lift which you might not need that much, I use that much lift for work, swimming with heavy cables. A local dive shop here brag on zeagle's warrenty ( he sent a BC in and the company totally refurbed it at no charge cause of the lifetime warrenty). My daughter is 12 years old and for Chirstmas Dad got her first BC and guess what kind it is? Thats right its a Zeagle! So what ever you decide go with and fits in your price range zeagle is a good choice. Plus the first thing I did was pull that weight release system and got familar with Re-threading it, you'll find out like me its not hard at all. Have fun diving and be safe dive buddy.