Franken-Ranger

[Skiddy79]

One of my neighbors is a retired military diver who also did some commercial diving. We were having a drink or two and were talking about diving. With some prompting, he convinced me to drag out my BC, a Zeagle Ranger. He immediately started to razz me because it is a soft back and had no backplate. After some great conversation and tips, he left.
The next morning he showed up at my door with a large cardboard box. This was all of his spare and miscellaneous dive gear. After some trial and error, this was the final product:

The Ranger had a DiveRite Stainless Steel Xt backplate added. This was accomplished by feeding the outside two of the three straps at the top of the Ranger through the plate. The two horizontal wing straps were the fed through the plate and BC. We then added a DiveRite Rec EXP wing and STA. The sides of the wing were connected to the BC with bungee cord where the old Ranger wing was attached.

We then added a Dive Rite single crotch strap. We used the plate and the tri-glide on the BC. I added a small bungee loop and barrel slide to stow the strap if I’m not using it. I had a MilSpec Monkey trauma shears Plus pouch that we used as a snorkel holder. It is just zip tied to the plate.

The snorkel completely disappears but is quickly accessible.
The only issue was the wing nuts. I am going to order some Derlin thumb screws and replace them. Those suckers are not real comfortable.

All in all, this felt super stable on land and didn’t feel like I was wearing anything in the pool. Let me know what you think.

Skiddy

 

[ams511]

The only thing that matter is that you like it. However, the wing is for double backmount tanks so you may have difficulty venting if the wing starts to wrap around the tank. I see you are trying to control for that with the bungees. Given all the changes would it not have been better just to sell your ranger and build a new rig with the parts?

 

[Ghetto Diver]

By design, most Zeagles can acccomodate bp

 

[Bubblesong]

Do you now have two inflatables: old Zeagle and new dive right wing? Or is the last function of original Zeagle just a dive harness now?
Looks like a fun experiment.

 

[wwunder]

When I had a Ranger LTD I installed a backplate and really liked the increased stability. I had the backplate on the inside of the Ranger harness though. Something looks funny about your setup. The wing nuts should be set within the bend of the plate and should not contact your back....

 

[Skiddy79]

Do you now have two inflatables: old Zeagle and new dive right wing? Or is the last function of original Zeagle just a dive harness now?
Looks like a fun experiment.

The Ranger is being used as the harness.

 

[Skiddy79]

When I had a Ranger LTD I installed a backplate and really liked the increased stability. I had the backplate on the inside of the Ranger harness though. Something looks funny about your setup. The wing nuts should be set within the bend of the plate and should not contact your back....

I wonder if it is due to the STA. The bolts for it have a square collar to fit the square holes on the STA, preventing rotation. I ordered a set of Delrin thumbscrews to see how they work.

 

[stuartv]

I would just buy $10 worth of 2" webbing, make a harness from that, and ditch the Ranger altogether.

Then I would buy a wing that is actually good for single tank use and ditch the Rec EXP. I have a Rec EXP. I love it for diving my double steel 120s. I would not use it for single tank.

Or I would just stick with the Ranger the way it came from the factory....

 

[diversteve]

Or you could've just bought a Zeagle backplate - they sell them in AL or Steel.

 

[Skiddy79]

So I am with you guys -
Use it as a backplate wing setup
Get a Zeagle backplate
Etc....

If I had purchased any of this, I would have gone a different route. This was all donated by my neighbor for the price of a few bottles of cold beer and a promise of future diving.

So I was happy with the Ranger but now I see where the short falls are. These modifications have made, for me at least, a super comfortable BCD that has all of the features I like. I get the rip cord integrated weight system, tons of storage, and a system that is instantly recognizable by OW divers. YMMV, but I’m starting to think this could be a good modification to the Ranger for people that just find a bit missing.

I may try to see if the plate fits better inside of the jacket. I’ll let you know.

Skiddy