Chad Carney:Zeagle Systems has been around since 1979, and making BC's in Florida since 1982. We still do.
(I've been selling them all thes years, first as a retailer, and since 2000 as a sales rep.)
Can any other BC manufacturer say they can still build a BC here? None that I know of. Most companies can't make a damn thing, or repair it.
More importantly, Zeagle can fix anything right here in Florida, and PDQ!
It isn't the model of BC that is so much an issue as it is the size. We sell a huge amount of size medium and large product in our popular BC's. As Scott has said we can't keep up locally.
The Stiletto is the best quality single tank BC I've seen from Zeagle in a long time, and it has never been solely produced in the USA. The bladder is the defining part of the Stiletto and we have never made that, yet it's a great BC!
If you think that American assembled products are made in America from scratch, you have been dillusional for a really long time.
I really worried about the public reaction to Zeagle being partially offshored. Simply because we were the only diving company left standing that hasn't done it solely, for better than a decade.
Can you hold Zeagle to a higher standard than every other company in the industry? Just because we held out longer than the rest?
It would be interesting to see how many US jobs are provided by each manufactuter in the diving business, proportionate to their sales.
My guess is that the beginning of that alphabet would start with a Z!
Chad
Chad; With all due respect. I do not think the beginning is a Z, it could well be, and most likely is, Ikelite, DUI, Pelican, USIA, UK, some of the tank and weight folks etc. Atomic, Scuba-Pro, Aqua-Lung, Sherwood, Oceanic, etc. provide lots of jobs for US citizens and make a lot of their products here. Just take off the US flag when it is not made in the US. You don't need to put up the Red China star. A good Zeagle label is good enough for me. The folks at Zeagle are first class.