Zeagle vs. Aeris

[Centroides]

I was just about to buy a Zeagle Ranger and I came upon a new BC made by Aeris. It looks pretty good and fairly comparable and is quite a bit less expensive. I could not find any product reviews or even any info on the Aeris website so I called Aeris directly. Seems Aeris is branching out from computers. This rear-inflate is their first BC and it's been out about a year.

Question -- has anybody used this BC and are there any commments?

Fyi- I work with biologists doing transect surveys in reef and seamount ecosystems. Mostly shallow work in the high light penetration zone (<80ft) but we have to lug some equipment around.

Thanks a bunch.

 

[wheezy]

Well.. never seen it or heard of it. When it comes to life support I go with what I know works and what I know is good.

I'm just a scardy cat when it comes to "new" life support equipment. I'd go with the Ranger... proven design / quality / and easy to have worked on / find parts for.

Just my opinion and you know what they say about those don't you???

 

[TexasMike]

Agree with Wheezy about going with the proven product like the Ranger if the choice is between it and the Aeris model. (Your mention is the first I have heard of it).

Short of going with a full bp/wings setup, the Ranger is a good choice for moderate tech diving where "lugging gear around" is required. Plenty of attachment points, with the ability to add more, and an upgradable bladder to increase lift.

However, you might consider the bp/wings setup anyway since you have even more options than the Ranger with regards to lift capacity and attachment points. Pricing will run very similar, and it might cover more of your technical dive profiles.

 

[tombiowami]

I have the Ranger and am just echoing the previous two. One of the reasons I went with it was the huge install base online and in this area. First hand info went a long way toward knowing about the safety and reliability. The only other setup I seriously looked at was the backplate/wings but did not really have anyway to try the equipment out beforehand. Figured I'd go with tried and true and as I dive more, and get exposed to more equipment and advice, decide where to go from there. I will end up doing deep (120') wrecks and caverns but probably not any more on the tech realm than that, so the Ranger is a great bc for me.

Tommy

 

[Centroides]

What a great resource this website is! After reading a ton of postings, I've reframed my search and am now looking very seriously at the Dive Rite with Rec wings (rated at 50lb). My only temptation is that there is one already set up with Travel wings in my LDS and it will take another 1-2 weeks to get the new one delivered. And I'm headed to Baja on Monday morning. And I have all this weekend to play with it in my pool to get it rigged right.

By the way, I enjoyed reading the exchange regarding warantees in the Dive Rite thread. I will probably buy some things from LP but I'm planning on sticking with my LDS for the major items even though it will cost me a couple hundred bucks more after it's all done. I guess the endpoint is that I really want them to stay in business because the shop is a great resource for me too. That's worth something.

Cheers.

 

[SubMariner]

I recently bought the Aeris BC; so far only about 2 dozen dives on it, most of the time in a drysuit (which I use for bouyancy control u/w) so I can't give you a definitive answer just yet.

However, I bought it for a few reasons:

1) good lift. My old Dacor just wasn't cutting it anymore.
2) hybrid inflation: it's not pure back inflation, but extends a bit around the sides. So it doesn't push you forward when fully inflated at the surface and doesn't crush you to death either.
3) good controls. No confusion regarding inflation & deflation.

As I said, I don't have a lot of dives on it yet, but will definitely post a full report once I do!

TTFN,

~SubMariner~