Uncle Pug dives a Zeagle Ranger BC ~ my report on the problems we had with it.
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cra2
Contributor
Uncle Pug:. ... The walk to the water wasn't my usual spritely sprint. The integrated soft weights and steel tank were un-supported and hurt my shoulders. It felt... well... floppy. Ahhhh yes... now I remember why I preferred boat diving.
I'm in the market for a BC myself now and so I have a question for you.
I understand the point of the post (especially now that you've been forced to SPELL it out a couple of times - dunno if that indicates a problem with the readers or the sender), but I wanted to know if you were being honest about the weight on the shoulders.
I rented a zeagle tech this weekend and that was my primary complaint. The integrated weight and tank caused the shoulder straps to kinda 'bite' into my shoulders. I don't mean that the straps were thin enough to literally dig in, but the weight distribution was obviously ONLY on about 2" of material on each shoulder.
On a boat dive, I probably never would have noticed.
But on this shore dive, we had to walk from our cars, through a park, and down a boardwalk.
I've done this dive several times before and never noticed the weight - usually having some of it distributed around my hips in a weight belt. I'm wondering if all BCs with more narrow shoulder straps (or worse - bp/w setups with harnesses) place all of the weight directly on two small spots on the shoulders.
Are the zeagle straps particularly narrow? Do other "jacket" BCs tend to have wider shoulder straps distributing the weight across a greater surface?
Thanks for any input,
cra2
OP
I've been honest about everything... though I've used irony and hyperbole.cra2:
As for the weight on the shoulders... yes, in my experience the Ranger does not carry the weight as well as a backplate with 2" webbing harness.
It isn't the width of the shoulder straps but the difference in the way these two systems fit. The Ranger is floppy... even with the cumberbun tight (which is high enough to put pressure on your diaphram.) The integrated weights are not supported by your hips but carried by the shoulder straps.
The harness of a backplate supports the weight of the tank better because the waist belt carries the weight. If you are using weight pockets on the harness waist belt that weight is still not transfered to your shoulders. The shoulder straps serve mainly to keep the rig from falling backwards off of your back.
I wasn't kidding when I mentioned the spritely sprint... I can actually run wearing backplate rig and steel tank but I wouldn't want to try it with a Ranger. I've actually done jumping jacks (a few anyway) wearing double steel 104s and a SS backplate. Try that with a Ranger.
Uncle Pug:I've actually done jumping jacks (a few anyway) wearing double steel 104s and a SS backplate...
LOL - for some reason I mis-read that and pictured you doing cart-wheels with them on ... I'd guess you only do that with double al80's though
Tim
ScottZeagle
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Uncle Pug:
You are wearing it too high, which is a common mistake.
Stop by Diver's Fair and I will demonstrate the proper way to wear the BC.
For a few extra dollars, I will even show you how to rehtread the ripcord, and for a 5 spot, I will do jumping jacks in the darn thing... :dazzler1:
djanni
Contributor
Uncle Pug:
Humm... let me think!!! Honest and hyperbole. Hyperbole and honest. Water and oil. Salt and vinegar. Contradicting words. A Hyperbole is an extravagant exaggeration; for example " a mile-high ice-cream cone." I'll have to think about this one a long long time.[/QUOTE]
Uncle Pug:I wasn't kidding when I mentioned the spritely sprint... I can actually run wearing backplate rig and steel tank but I wouldn't want to try it with a Ranger. I've actually done jumping jacks (a few anyway) wearing double steel 104s and a SS backplate. Try that with a Ranger.
Also, I was wondering if people who wear backplates are "bullet proof?"
Boogie711
Guest
Don Janni:
I thought once you were banned under a username, you couldn't come back and simply register under a new name? So why is the (thankfully) banned djanni, who changed his username to Road Warrior, back with us?
JeffG
Contributor
Because of the insight and experience that he brings to the siteBoogie711:
cra2
Contributor
ScottZeagle:
I can't speak for the way Pug wore it, but I was fitted by my LDS where I rented it. I assumed they did it right. They had it pretty low (ie. not sucked in around my waist, but lower around my hips).
But that just means it's as wide as my hips and the weight of the system is still not supported by my hips - it's all on the shoulders.
This felt odd to me, as most hiking backpacks I've worn distribute the weight so well that there's no single point of pressure.
(ironically, they did the opposite to my wife - pulling it in to her waist vs. her hips, intentionally preventing it from being fitted to her hips so as to avoid it becoming "floppy" if it slid up due to her inverting or something.)
Scott, I realize it sounds like we're comparing a hiking backpack to a scuba BC and it seems unfair. I'm a new diver and am just asking questions to see how it's "supposed" to feel. I like to shore dive, whenever possible, and the ranger tech I rented made me think twice about that preference. But that was the first time I had used a weight-integrated unit, so I'm just checking to see if they ALL feel that way.
tanks,
cra2
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