Pls suggest lightweight tropical BC to replace Zeagle Ranger

[happy-diver]

You will never go better or comfier

than ScubaBoards own

Freedom Plate!

 

[Stoo]

I wear a Zeagle Scout when I'm south. I barely wear any lead, so I just drop a few pounds in the trim pockets and forget about them. It's small, light, and does the job.

I will add that I dive a bp/w up north, but I like having some pockets for an SMB etc, stuff that would normally be in my drysuit pockets.

 

[happy-diver]

Hey or stick with Zeagle

Zeagle's Express Tech: The first and last BC most will ever need (or want)

Zeagle Express Tech opinions please

https://www.zeagle.com/product/buoyancy-compensators/back-inflate-bcds/express-tech-bcd/

 

[happy-diver]

Hey or you could thin out your Ranger, like I did

and add some Drings

Magnificent!

 

[aceswerling2]

Thanks to everybody for your input and suggestions. I really appreciate it. I'll share my thoughts on everybody's feedback.

Centrals made a good point that padding isn't helpful once in the water and it's only useful when walking on land. As I've been shore diving in Hawaii most recently, that's included a good amount of walking. As a result, the ability for a BC to distribute weight across my shoulders and back are important to me.

Looking at the Zeagle Express online, it appears that it's not that much skinnier than the Ranger once weight pockets are added. The material is moved around a bit, but the overall mass is about the same. I'll find one in a LDS to take a closer look.

The Scout looks like a great BC - like a slimmed down Ranger, which makes sense. I certainly like the strap system on my Ranger and I expect the Scout would be similar. Along those lines, I'm thinking it wouldn't be worth swapping out the Ranger for a Scout. Sure, the Scout will lose a little mass, but I suspect it wouldn't be enough to justify swapping from the Ranger. I'll check out the Scout when considering the Express at my LDS.

Happy Diver, can you elaborate on how you thinned out your Ranger?

My big conclusion is that people are big fans of BP/W setups. I need to learn more about them and determine if they'll work for me.

Thanks again for sharing your insight and experience.

 

[JohnN]

Thanks to everybody for your input and suggestions. I really appreciate it. I'll share my thoughts on everybody's feedback.

Centrals made a good point that padding isn't helpful once in the water and it's only useful when walking on land. As I've been shore diving in Hawaii most recently, that's included a good amount of walking. As a result, the ability for a BC to distribute weight across my shoulders and back are important to me.

Looking at the Zeagle Express online, it appears that it's not that much skinnier than the Ranger once weight pockets are added. The material is moved around a bit, but the overall mass is about the same. I'll find one in a LDS to take a closer look.

The Scout looks like a great BC - like a slimmed down Ranger, which makes sense. I certainly like the strap system on my Ranger and I expect the Scout would be similar. Along those lines, I'm thinking it wouldn't be worth swapping out the Ranger for a Scout. Sure, the Scout will lose a little mass, but I suspect it wouldn't be enough to justify swapping from the Ranger. I'll check out the Scout when considering the Express at my LDS.

Happy Diver, can you elaborate on how you thinned out your Ranger?

My big conclusion is that people are big fans of BP/W setups. I need to learn more about them and determine if they'll work for me.

Thanks again for sharing your insight and experience.

Don't dismiss the comfort of a BP/W until you try one. If you're familiar with the "Dog Beach death march" (big Island in Hawaii), the BP/W and tank were the most comfortable thing about getting to the beach. Again board shorts and a rash-guard. Once you try one, the feeling of freedom with nothing on your chest while diving is hard to believe.

 

[uncfnp]

I know most of SB is probably tired of hearing about the Freedom Plate but for the right diver it really is that good.

Freedom Plate Divers Roll Call: show us your rig!

Streamline, comfortable and customizable.

 

[Jcp2]

I know most of SB is probably tired of hearing about the Freedom Plate but for the right diver it really is that good.

Freedom Plate Divers Roll Call: show us your rig!

Streamline, comfortable and customizable.

Not easily obtainable now that production has been halted.

 

[uncfnp]

Not easily obtainable now that production has been halted.

They have almost always been rare and with a wait time but had not heard Eric was completely out of production.

 

[aceswerling2]

JohnN, Dog Beach at the mouth of the harbor is exactly what I was thinking about when walking with my rig. Going over all those rocks is challenging under any circumstances and the Ranger helped a lot. My 15 year old son, who was a newly certified diver on this trip, comparatively struggled with his rental BC. (BTW, shout out to Chris and Dom from Kona Shore Divers for doing a great job with my son's open water checkout dives.)

OK, I'm hearing *very* clearly that I need to look at BP/W setups. I'll work on that over the next couple of weeks and get report back on what I find.

Thanks for taking this journey with me.