Deciding on Zeagle Ranger LTD

Hi all,
i´m fairly new in scuba diving (advanced OW) but i decided that this year i will dive as much as possible and next year i will do all the way up to IDC.
So, i want to buy my own equipment to grow with as i gain experience with the dives.

I have decided the regs. (Apex ATX 100 or ATX 200) and was looking for BCDs. I was learning towards the usual jacket styled BCDs till the Zeagle Ranger series.
I want to make several specialties as enriched air, deep diving, etc but i don´t think i will become a very technical or proffesional diver. So i want to use reliable equipment that don´t limit myself to develop different diving techniques and to dive with doubles if sometime is needed without having to re-purchase some piece of my equipment.

so,
- is Zeagle Ranger LTD a good choice for what i want? is it an overkill?
- I read that you can fit smaller or bigger bladders if needed in the Ranger. Am i right? is this a process i can do myself on the fly?
- do i have to purchase extra adapters to fit doubles in a Ranger LTD or it can be done with the off the shelf BCD?

I will be doing both fresh and salt water diving with water temp. between 7-22 Celsius Degrees (44- 72F). I´m 6´1´´ and 210 lbs.

I think that is enough for the moment!!
best Regards

wallerwaker:

Hi all,
....
so,
- is Zeagle Ranger LTD a good choice for what i want? is it an overkill?
- I read that you can fit smaller or bigger bladders if needed in the Ranger. Am i right? is this a process i can do myself on the fly?
- do i have to purchase extra adapters to fit doubles in a Ranger LTD or it can be done with the off the shelf BCD?

I will be doing both fresh and salt water diving with water temp. between 7-22 Celsius Degrees (44- 72F). I´m 6´1´´ and 210 lbs.

I think that is enough for the moment!!
best Regards

Click to expand...

The Ranger is an excellent choice for they type of diving you plan. I prefer it to my BP/wing when I dive single tanks.

You can change the bladder easily yourself, but you likely won't. The size of the Ranger bladder makes it suitable for many different situations and ideal for some.

You can dive doubles with a Ranger by using small Zeagle adapters (bent, flat pieces of metal) or even by using a backplate. I tried the backplate route and it worked OK, but if you are planning on diving doubles regularily, a BP/wing setup is the way to go.

wallerwaker,
welcome to this board.
you will receive lots of info and advise from the members here.
there is also a search option which will show you posts on similiar subjects.
i dive with a ranger ltd.
give this board a chance and i'm sure you will find what you seek.
regards,

I just started diving too, and I picked up the Ranger, and I Love it. have only 4 dives on it and have to wait till a break in my school work to do more, but I am incredibly happy with it.

ekremer:

I just started diving too, and I picked up the Ranger, and I Love it. have only 4 dives on it and have to wait till a break in my school work to do more, but I am incredibly happy with it.

Click to expand...

I have had a Ranger for years. It's very comfortable and stable at depth. I went ahead and ordered the optional lumbar support for mine.
That really made a difference. It was like I was diving in my lazyboy.

You can't go wrong here.

Dave P

Why the LTD? I was looking at the Ranger and ended up buying the Brigade (only at Subatoys). For the extra money I didn't think that the LTD was worth it.

Hi all, first of all thanks for your advices, they are very useful.

Darkstar: Good point about using doubles with the Ranger, thanks!
crpntr133: Other good point! i didn´t realize there was other model of Zeagle exclusive for Scubatoys till after i sent my first message to the board.
It really looks good and seems to meet all the needs of a roocky like me. A question, it has the same 1050 heavy duty harness and back than the Ranger BUT smaller bladder, isn´t it?

To be fair i´m trying to figure out what is in the market and what products can meet my actual and future needs and expectations. Also i have to buy products that have dealers in my country. There are very few authorized dealers here (e.g: no Mares or Cressi) but Zeagle does, so that´s is why in thinking about them, aside from their reputation to stand behind their products and their quality.
Other problem is that is almost impossible to test different products, so i always have to buy based on reviews, comments, advices, etc. the closest scuba dealer from home is something like 800 miles away!

After reading a lot, i guess i will buy a lighter jacket (like the Brigade) for most of my dives and after a while when i decided what to do most often and if i will really need it, i will have to go with a BP/wing set up, but only based on my own experience and needs. I think it will be the wisest thing to do. I have been reading also about Tusa Imprex Pro cubic, that also has a dealer in my country.

BTW, is the lifting capacity of the Brigade (35lbs) enough to lift me (6´1´´ 210 lbs) in fresh cold water? sorry about this, but as i told you before, is unable to try stuff before buy!!

best regards,

I think that you might get better advise if you update your profile with your country of residence. Chances are that there are members from your country here that will able to give you region-specific input if you give them a chance...

That being said (and welcome to the board btw) I would agree with darkstar that I don´t think the limited is wort the extra cost. I looked at one just last week and for the difference in price I´d go for the "normal" ranger or maybe a brigade...

The lift-capacity that is usually recommended for singles is somewhere around 20lbs. It depends on whether you´re diving dry, how much lead you use etc etc...

I personally dive a BP/W and would recommend it to anyone regardless of diving "style". As you are already considering doubles, I think it makes even more sense, as the only thing you´d need to change between doubles and singles would be the size of the wing...everything else would stay the same...

wallerwaker:

... Other good point! i didn´t realize there was other model of Zeagle exclusive for Scubatoys till after i sent my first message to the board.
It really looks good and seems to meet all the needs of a roocky like me. A question, it has the same 1050 heavy duty harness and back than the Ranger BUT smaller bladder, isn´t it?
...
BTW, is the lifting capacity of the Brigade (35lbs) enough to lift me (6´1´´ 210 lbs) in fresh cold water? sorry about this, but as i told you before, is unable to try stuff before buy!!

best regards,

Click to expand...

The Brigade is really just a Ranger with a (smaller) Escape bladder. If you dive drysuit, or heavy wetsuit (7mm), the Ranger (or Ranger LTD) would offer more range. The LTD also has rear weight pockets, which I added on my older Ranger. IMO, they are essential for trimming it out when you need to carry a lot of weight (drysuit diving).

It's hard to say if 35# is right for you without knowing where you will dive and with what equipment. I think if you will be in 7C water, then you will eventually want to go to a drysuit and the Ranger would be a more versatile choice. You can always order the Escape bladder later and put it on when traveling or diving warm water.

Hi Grazie and darkstar!
i´m from Argentina, Patagonia region, but right now i´m in Europe for a while scaping from southern hemisphere winter and having a good vacation. As you may imagine, in Patagonia there are just a few diving centers and almost none LDS, BUT we have very good places to dive!

darkstar, as for a suit, i tried and liked a lot and think is great for what i need a Cressi Sub Comfort wet suit. It comes in a 7mm long sleeves/legs suit (shoulder to sholder semi dry zipper) + 5mm shortie with hood + a separate hood. I think this is very versatil and have 3 different suites in one package covering from fairly cold to fairly warm water. The downside is that is LOTS OF RUBBER if i use all together, i will have to use more weight and in cold fresh water.... you got the picture, right?
That is why i was asking if 34lbs of lift is enough in that kind of situation. I think that is the more extreme situation a can face in the next 2-4 years from now.
Drysuit? mmm, not yet. As with BP/wings, maybe in the future, if i really need them...

BTW, any of you have any picture using the Brigade or Ranger?

best regards,