why is zeagle brand looked down upon

[SHARKBAIT94]

I pretty new to scuba diving and only have 5 dives under my belt. My g/f and my self use Aqualung and Seaquest gear , my g/f still needs a bcd. Now When we were looking at getting gear the LDS around the jersey shore and only a few sell Zeagle, Sherwood or Genesis. We really liked the Zeagle ranger and the idea that it can be fitted for women but were quickly brought into another direction with pretty much every lds saying "no zeagle is not really diver freindly and Genesis regs breath wet and are not that great of a company and so on and so fourth and that Zeagle and the other brands are not really all that good for jersey diving and if you notice that not to many dive shops carry those brands. I just want to hear from the manuf. what they think of thier gear in jersey water. Not trying to start a huge thing but just want to see if any of these comments "hold any water"

 

[Arduous]

There’s nothing wrong with Zeagle.

 

[Damselfish]

Zeagle isn't looked down upon.

Unfortunately there are shops that will talk up the brands they carry and slam the ones they don't, no matter what the truth is.

 

[Vie]

no zeagle is not really diver freindly and Genesis regs breath wet and are not that great of a company and so on and so fourth and that Zeagle and the other brands are not really all that good for jersey diving and if you notice that not to many dive shops carry those brands.

This comment from the LDS is one of the stupidest diving related BS that I’ve ever heard.

 

[MoonWrasse]

Sounds like Tony Soprano has a hold on the local LDS scene

 

[D_O_H]

I pretty new to scuba diving and only have 5 dives under my belt. My g/f and my self use Aqualung and Seaquest gear , my g/f still needs a bcd. Now When we were looking at getting gear the LDS around the jersey shore and only a few sell Zeagle, Sherwood or Genesis. We really liked the Zeagle ranger and the idea that it can be fitted for women but were quickly brought into another direction with pretty much every lds saying "no zeagle is not really diver freindly and Genesis regs breath wet and are not that great of a company and so on and so fourth and that Zeagle and the other brands are not really all that good for jersey diving and if you notice that not to many dive shops carry those brands. I just want to hear from the manuf. what they think of thier gear in jersey water. Not trying to start a huge thing but just want to see if any of these comments "hold any water"

The way you've phrased this question probably makes it hard for someone like Scott Z. to respond - it's sort of like one of those "when did you stop beating your wife?" type questions.

I would assume the shops that badmouthed Zeagle and Genesis have some ulterior motive for doing so (either they do not carry those lines or they have a larger profit margin on other brands, perhaps?). I have not heard of anyone looking down upon Zeagle products, either online or in the real world. Some of the backplate/DIR crowd seem to have issues with Zeagle backplate and wing setups, I guess, but that doesn't seem to be the issue here.

I don't dive NJ waters, but for what it's worth, I love my Ranger in our fairly cold N. Cal waters and cannot think of any recreational dive it would not be more than adequate for. My girlfriend has a Zena and is similarly pleased with it. If your girlfriend likes the Ranger and it's not too much BC for her, get her the Ranger. So long as I'm dispensing advice, I'd also steer clear of the dive shops that are eager to bash perfectly fine products in order to sell you whatever it is they want to sell you.

 

[JustinW]

You need to look at the fit, the tank strap mechanism, inflators, dump valves, general construction of all the brands you are considering. When you look at whats out there you will know whats best. Hype is worthless, performance is priceless.

 

[The Kraken]

I would stay far away from any LDS that told you that Zeagle products are inferior in any way.
If they'll lie to you about that, then they'll lie to you about anything.
It's probably because they can't get the line.

 

[herman]

I own 2 and have had some great help from Zeagle on a request I had. No equipment problems, just some mods I wanted to make. Like any manufacturer and model, each has some negatives and positives.There are things the Ranger does well and some it does not. This can be said of any BC and the reason I own 2. One for each type of diving I do. I seriously doubt you will find any other manufacturer of scuba equipment or darn near anything else for that matter, that has better customer service than Zeagle. Be very wary of any shop that trashs any brand without good proof of the problems with the equipment.
I have been diving a while so I guess I should know but, just exactly what is "diver friendly" anyway? I would think that easy to adjust, comfortable, well built, good warranty, customizable and good customer service would fit the bill.
Customer service is the reason Scott is on this board. A while back a couple of customers were not getting responces to their emails from Zeagle and were getting upset and happened to vent on this board. One phone call got him on the board in less than an hour, their problems were solved (bad email server they were unaware of) and he has been here since.
There may be a good reason that some other brand of BC may better suit your needs but quality is not one of them.

 

[The Kraken]

"Diver Friendly" = that which the LDS has in stock at the moment and needs to sell.