Zeagle Ranger

[Nomaster]

Yes, and you can also move so the lower dump valves are in the highest position, but frankly most divers are not experienced enough to do either and will simply add more weight.

When you mentioned experience, a light popped on.
When I was doing my training dives, two months ago, I had problems emptying the bag I was wearing, not a Zeagle.
It took me only a few minutes to learn to orient myself to take care of the problem, and then I could move on to other problems.
I don't think it's skills so much as feeling comfortable in the water, as soon as a beginner realizes that for the first time in their lives (unless thy're astronauts, a very small club) they are really in a three dimensional world, they'll be fine.
Also, as GDI said, the fit goes a long way toward correcting any major problem, my bag was old and wasn't very sleek, but I figured it out, I had a couple rentals which had the tendancy to want to hold air too, also not Zeagle, one was fit, the other was ancient design, easily compensated for both by using the three dimensional water world I was in.
So, for me it boils down to, are the beginning students comfortable in the water? How much time have they really been in it, have they always been back yard pool swimmers? No put down, but swimming pools for most it seems are treated as two dimensional surfaces for very short lap swimming.

Tom

 

[scubatoys]

Perhaps we can all agree on one thing... air goes up... Is that too much of a stretch for everyone to get behind?? If not... I continue. Gee... then to get the air out of a BC, we put the valve up. Now there is the problem. What position is the divers body in. True, the valve is not at the top of the BC if you set the bc on the floor inflated in an upright position. It will be slightly back of that... and on the left shoulder. I guess maybe Walters ScubaPro has been modified so his exhaust comes directly behind his head?? Uh...No. He has gotten used to the position he needs to be in to make sure his BC vents air.

I've never been diving with Walter... so I don't know what position he descends in, nor what position he tells his students to descend in. Me.... I like to drop with my body at a slight angle. Maybe about like this: / This allows me to easily see below me as I descend. I tell my students to do this as well. I have had the tar kicked out of me on many a platform from other instructors students who drop exactly feet first... not looking down at where there are dropping. I don't appreciate fins in the face - but maybe when I explained to them how they should descend... maybe, just maybe, I saved a piece of coral from having the same fate as my head.

Well guess what gang... In the way I descend... The inflator valve is in the perfect position to make sure every drop of air gets out of my BC. If you want to drop butt first... maybe not the BC for you. Then perhaps a valve on your chest.

But if a slightly forward leaning position where you can see what is below you is a method you would like, you will have no problem with this BC. I dive in the ocean with a 3 mil suit with 6 lbs of lead. If the BC trapped air, I'd have to don a bit more weight. I have students all the time in an open water class swap gear with me in the pool, and none of them have problems with their buoyancy... The opposite. They find the BC comfortable, good trim, doesn't squeeze them when they inflate it.

Hey, we're a large scubapro dealer. Scubapro classic BC's cost a lot more. I'd love to sell them from a profit stand point... And they will give me one for free... no charge... if I'd dive it.

I paid for my Zeagle.

Walter... you probably talk to your students all the time about positioning when diving... It's simply getting the right position. I've been diving with the Scubapro... you should try the Zeagle - and do it with an open mind. Too late for an old dog?? Hopefully not. You might surprise yourself.

 

[ScottZeagle]

Good god...the Zeagle Posse has ridden in to try and save the ranch!!!

I have had several PMs telling me that it is pointless to argue with Walter, so I will heed their advice...

Tens of thousands of Zeagle users can't ALL be wrong - I will leave it at that.

Frenchy, I hope somewhere buried in all this, you found the answer you were looking for!!!

Scott

 

[flcracker]

have a ranger ltd and love it bought my 13 yr old one also

 

[Frenchy2005]

Hey guys, Thanks for all the advice! From what I have heard I believe I will probably buy a zeagle ranger. Once again thanks for taking the time to post your messages!

 

[Walter]

I don't know the rules here very well, so I hope I'm not stepping out of bounds.

I don't believe you are out of bounds at all. You are entitled to your opinion and entitled to post it. I don't believe I've either slammed the Ranger, put Scott through the ringer nor tried to show anyone I'm better at diving.

The position of the inflator hose is far from ideal. That's a design flaw easily fixed. It's pointing out a problem, it's not slamming the Ranger. I made one post about it, the subsequent posts have all been answering questions or misconceptions about what took place.

Scott made several observations trying to shift the problem away from the design flaw in the Ranger. Each of his possible causes were obviously not the cause. It would have been easy to have seen this had the earlier description been given any thought. Since he failed to see the obvious, I explained. That is not putting anyone through the ringer.

I fail to see why you think I'm trying to show I'm a better diver than anyone.

you seem to want to find fault that just isn't there...maybe for some other reason.

I have no interest in the sale of any equipment. I don't sell dive gear, I don't work for a dive shop and I don't represent any company that makes any dive gear. Perhaps a Zeagle Systems Sales Rep might have more motivation for covering up faults that are there? Perhaps such a person wouldn't want to know about flaws that do exist?

I don't care if you like a classic jacket better

I don't. The Classic is also poorly designed, but for other reasons. The Classic Sport is, OTOH, an excellent BC.

I suggest again that her BCD was not a correct fit.

Possible, but unlikely. It looked like a nice fit, although I didn't examine the fit beyond what was immediately obvious. Even if this were the case, the inflator hose would still be attached at the same spot and would still not allow for easy dumping of air.

Making a judgement call based on one student who is learning how to use the gear is pretty weak IMHO.

First, she wasn't a student. She was a certified diver with about 20 - 30 logged dives. I was not her instructor, we were buddies for the dive. She was complaining about carrying so much lead. I assisted her in getting weighted properly. My judgement is based on objective observation.

 

[htn123]

One more Zeagle post .

My brother has a Ranger LTD. He loves his. He lets me borrowed to dive a couple of times. I loved it too, wanted to buy the Ranger LTD but can't afford it so bought some other copy cat that are almost the same as the Ranger.

Bottom line, Frenchy, as you can see in these posts 99.99999999999 % of the people found Ranger to be a great BCD. Ofcourse you can't please EVERYONE in the world so there is the other .000000000001% won't like it.

Take it as however you like .

Peace.

 

[Frenchy2005]

Thats Obvious

 

[Firefyter]

Buy the Brigade from Larry at Scubatoys. It's a great BC at a great price. I originally bought the Escape, and loved it except for the lack of pocket space. Larry fixed me up with the necessary parts to change over to the Brigade, and I've never been happier. It's the best of both worlds between the Ranger and the Escape.
Scott, just my 2 cents here, but I think it's a big mistake making the PFS available on the LTD only. It's one of several great selling points for your BC's, and I'd hate to mess with success. Added features are nice, removed features only help if they're useless, and this was an outstanding feature. But hey, what do I know? I'm just an end consumer, and so far, a happy customer

 

[Kestrell]

I have no problem with my Ranger. It doesn't trap air at all. In fact it is excellent in every way.

It is good to get the yellow weight bags though. They make it very easy to load and unload your weights.

I'll probably step up to a BP/W some day (probably a Zeagle as well) but not until I decide to start using doubles.

To expand on this, I generally descend head first once I am below the surface unless I am descending a line. Not straight up and down, but my head is below my feet. It's just easier since I can see where I'm going and by kicking down the first few feet with a bit of air left in my BC (by choice) I therefore have to add less as I go deeper. In any position my Ranger has me covered when I want to vent. I have the inflator and the inflator pull-dump when I'm heads up and two pull dumps at the bottom of the bladder when I'm heads down. Additionally, I rarely get much water if any in my BC since I don't have to spend too much time getting my buoyancy(sp) right.

Anyway, Scott, what was Larry talking about when he mentioned that the new Rangers have sewn in shoulder harnesses. I would have had to return my Ranger if I wasn't able to swap out the XL shoulder straps for larges. Say it aint so...