Zeagle Regs

[crpntr133]

I can tell you that Scott's last name isn't Zeagle.

 

[ScottZeagle]

when i first saw your name, i assumed (yeah yeah ) that you were related
to the founder of the Zeagle brand

so... i am curious. how did the name Zeagle come to be, and what is the Zeagle's
family relationship to the brand?

Ok, ok...one more story...

When Dennis Bulin moved to Zephyrhills in the 70's, it was to basicaly be a skydiver. They did skydive in Wisconsin, but Zephythills, FL was the "skydiving mecca" and Dennis wanted to be near the action!! After being a skydive bum for a while, Dennis started working for a guy who made parachute containers. The company, called Eagle Systems, made parachute containers for the local sky divers, and all was good.

At some point, Dennis met Audra, and they were married. They have one child, named Amanda.

Dennis loves skydiving, but a new hobby - scuba diving, has started to replace sky diving as his love. Dennis buys Eagle Systems from the guy who he worked for, and set up shop in a very small house in Zephyrhills. He isn't real fond of the scuba gear available, and starts to experiment with mixing his paprachute container knowledge with his scuba gear.

Fast forward a few years and Dennis has developed a back inflation BC with a ripcord weight release system that is revolutionary. Eagle Systems doesn't seem like an apropriate name for scuba gear, so Dennis borrows the "Z" from Zephyrhills and creats Zeagle Systems.

Fast forward to 1998.

I am a manager at Circuit City when I meet Amanda Bulin. We become good friends, and start dating in 1999.

In 2000 we are married.

Also in 2000, Circuit City decides to stop selling appliances, which leads to a "down sizing" of their management team. Ironically, there is some "inner turmoil" insode Zeagle, which leads to the Vice President and the Customer Service Manager leaving their jobs. Although I was not slated as a casualty of "down sizing" at Circuit City, I ask to be released with the severance package they are ofering to the people they are letting go. To make a long story short, I end up leaving Circuit City after 10 years of employment, with a very generous package and go to work for my in-laws at Zeagle.

That is, in a very abbreviated version, the history of Zeagle and how I became involved.

You have to remember that Zephyrhills, FL was a very small town up until the last few years. AOL was the ONLY available internet provider until only 2 years ago!! To make everything easy to remember, we all had AOL email addresses that were "zeagle" - ScottZeagle, AmandaZeagle, DennisZeagle, etc. When I signed up for internet forums, I simply kept the AOL screen name...

In 4 hours (2am) I must head to the docks to leave for the Spearboard Open spearfishing tournament, so I am going to grab a little sleep now...

This concludes tonights story and history lesson!!

Good night, kids.

Scott

 

[MoonWrasse]

Ok, ok...one more story...

When Dennis Bulin moved to Zephyrhills in the 70's, it was to basicaly be a skydiver. They did skydive in Wisconsin, but Zephythills, FL was the "skydiving mecca" and Dennis wanted to be near the action!! After being a skydive bum for a while, Dennis started working for a guy who made parachute containers. The company, called Eagle Systems, made parachute containers for the local sky divers, and all was good.

At some point, Dennis met Audra, and they were married. They have one child, named Amanda.

Dennis loves skydiving, but a new hobby - scuba diving, has started to replace sky diving as his love. Dennis buys Eagle Systems from the guy who he worked for, and set up shop in a very small house in Zephyrhills. He isn't real fond of the scuba gear available, and starts to experiment with mixing his paprachute container knowledge with his scuba gear.

Fast forward a few years and Dennis has developed a back inflation BC with a ripcord weight release system that is revolutionary. Eagle Systems doesn't seem like an apropriate name for scuba gear, so Dennis borrows the "Z" from Zephyrhills and creats Zeagle Systems.

Fast forward to 1998.

I am a manager at Circuit City when I meet Amanda Bulin. We become good friends, and start dating in 1999.

In 2000 we are married.

Also in 2000, Circuit City decides to stop selling appliances, which leads to a "down sizing" of their management team. Ironically, there is some "inner turmoil" insode Zeagle, which leads to the Vice President and the Customer Service Manager leaving their jobs. Although I was not slated as a casualty of "down sizing" at Circuit City, I ask to be released with the severance package they are ofering to the people they are letting go. To make a long story short, I end up leaving Circuit City after 10 years of employment, with a very generous package and go to work for my in-laws at Zeagle.

That is, in a very abbreviated version, the history of Zeagle and how I became involved.

You have to remember that Zephyrhills, FL was a very small town up until the last few years. AOL was the ONLY available internet provider until only 2 years ago!! To make everything easy to remember, we all had AOL email addresses that were "zeagle" - ScottZeagle, AmandaZeagle, DennisZeagle, etc. When I signed up for internet forums, I simply kept the AOL screen name...

In 4 hours (2am) I must head to the docks to leave for the Spearboard Open spearfishing tournament, so I am going to grab a little sleep now...

This concludes tonights story and history lesson!!

Good night, kids.

Scott

So....why did Circuit City stop selling appliances?

 

[crpntr133]

Better question...what in the world is a parachute container? Kinda neat about the "Eagle" to "Zeagle".

 

[shark.byte.usa]

Better question...what in the world is a parachute container? Kinda neat about the "Eagle" to "Zeagle".

I'm guessing it's the harness and pouch system, skydivers pack their parachutes in. So I'm guessin' basically, he replaced the parachute pouch with a bladder, and rigged a ripcord to dump the weights, wala a new BC. Simple yet cutting edge at the time I'm sure. I love to hear stories of people from other sports/cultures stepping in with different perspectives and improving the sports. Many instances, I just can't think of any of the top of my head. Not to mention, I'm sure it took some big cahones to wager your company and well being going into the scuba manufacturers market or is Eagle, still alive and in the Sky Diving biz?? Was it a successful company? All the more remarkable if it was and he still made the leap to scuba. (Man why can't I get a good idea like that)

Thanks for the stories Scott!

 

[ScottZeagle]

I'm guessing it's the harness and pouch system, skydivers pack their parachutes in.

Is Eagle, still alive and in the Sky Diving biz??

You parachute container answer is pretty spot on.

No, Eagle no longer exsists and hasn't for about 25 years.

As for why Circuit City stopped selling appliances...well, I don't know, but it wasn't a wise move inho...

Scott

 

[ChrisJones]

As for why Circuit City stopped selling appliances...well, I don't know, but it wasn't a wise move inho...

Scott

Put all of their money into the DIVX basket...

Chris

 

[Rich G]

Great Thread!
Makes me happy that I did my research and bought Zeagle Regs!
So, Scott how did you do spearfishing? More stories

 

[ScottZeagle]

Welll.....to be quite honest, I didn't do very well.

We left the dock at 3am in 3-4 ft seas and headed out. 2 out of 5 people were seasick before we hit the first spot. The capt. decided that due to the rough seas, we would hit a couple of 90-100ft spots, then just work our way back in. By the third dive of the day, another guy was seasick, so me and the other non-sick diver hit a few more spots and then called it a day, so that we could let the sickies get back to shore. The water was nice (mid 70s) the vis was good, but the fish just weren't around. I only weighed in one hogfish, which is pathetic, but at least we got out and competed. Hopefully next year will be a better showing!!!

Scott

 

[Rastaman]

As the original post asked about Zeagle regs what reg did you dive ScottZeagle. How did you like it.
I dive a Flathead and for the original poster 'it is like a dream in cold water'.