Zeagle Ranger -- my personal negative review

[diverkun]

I cannot at all recommend this setup for someone using a single tank. The lift capacity is too great, and the "wing" portion is fabricated to be usable with double tanks.

I have to agree. I absolutely love my Ranger, but I have swapped out the stock wing for a smaller (23#?) wing for single tank diving. Basically a DIY Brigade.

one of the benefits of zeagle's modular construction is that you can tweak the set-up to suit your personal preferences

 

[DiveMaven]

My husband's been diving a Zeagle Ranger for over 7 years and has never had a problem venting while horizontal. It does require a small of a shoulder tilt but the air pocket always moves to the top of the vent nicely. He does keep it buckled down so it won't taco around the tank, so perhaps that is the key.

 

[abnfrog]

Interesting. That is all that we rent and all our OW students use them. We don't seem to be seeing issues with them.

I can have a student nicely weighted and swim in trim.

iI was an early adopter , i too recommend the zeagle (both the tech and ranger ) to my students .....i have 8 zeagles in my family (even on rebreathers ) never has a problem ...my wife added the trim weights to hers and worked great ... i cant see why someone would have a problem with bc ....but again as with ALL diving equipment its dependant on personal feel for the gear

 

[Pullmyfinger]

I recently sold my Ranger. It was ok, but not enough to make me want to keep it.
I replaced it with an Apex Black Ice; I will wait until after more diving with it before I form an opinion. I do like it so far after just a few dives with it; but time will tell.

I agree with Nemrod.......companies just can't resist making big wings. Why??

 

[claymore]

I have a Ranger and Zeagle SS back plate with the Ranger 44# wing on it that I use for singles diving. The wing is set for singles on the plate and tethered to the plate so it won't taco as badly.
I have always had issues getting the wing to vent when horizontal on the Ranger and the SS plate. I have learned to deal with it but may go back to my 32-36# wing.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

They just cannot resist building in too much lift capacity. There is no such thing as a doubles ready singles wing or vice versa, there are only ill contrived attempts at such.

N

I think there's a macho factor built in to the design and marketing of such units.
I had an aquintance that years ago bought one of these huge lift padded up back inflate units (can't remember exactly what the name was Recon...something?) It was something like a cross between a Black Diamond and a Zeagle Ranger type BC.
He bought it because it had the most lift (70 LBS) of anything he could find and some rediculous amount of D rings...like 12 or some such number. We tried to explain to him we didn't even use that big of a wing on BP/W for doubles much less for a single. We also tried to explain to him that something like that would be next to worthless if he thought he was going to use it for doubles and for tech diving, but that's part of what they market it for.
But he insisted on getting it since it was the biggest badest thing out there and he thought it would somehow make a man out of him and earn everybody's respect.
It wasn't cheap either! back then something like $800 - $900. (That was probably part of the appeal.)

 

[j yaeger]

we sell the ranger mostly at the shop
most divers love them
i and a few others do not
as was said-personal preference i guess or good sales technique...
the women like the zena with the zip up front and good sales there
my preference for personal diving is bp/w for doubles
thats it
have fun
yaeg

 

[Brandon]

The Brigade is a Ranger harness with an Escape wing. That was my first BCD up here in Alaska, and it worked great for cold-water drysuit diving. If a diver has no interest in doubles, and doesn't want to go to a BP/W, it's a solid choice.



I switched to a BP/W about a year after that was taken; but I also wanted to move to doubles and a DIR config. It was a good BCD though.

-B

 

[Peter Guy]

Where are the buckles that hold the wing down? And how many of them are there? I was with the second diver and her wing tacoed badly (well, actually I guess, it tacoed very well!).

 

[tomfcrist]

They attach from the wing to just above the weight pouches.