Old Ranger

[JSUSoutherner]

New to Scubaboard. Just got old Zeagle Ranger for a steal. 1996 manufacture date...checks out fine at dive shop, including bladder. Contacted Zeagle about faded side panels on bladder cover and was advised solution is to replace bladder, cover, and valve. Bladder may be newer than backpack, but works fine in any case. Anyone have trust issues with a Ranger of this age?

 

[enduser]

Nope. If it will hold air and the inflator doesn't have any issues dive it.

How old is it? Is the Ranger emblem on the inflator strap embroidery or plastic? Does it have straight shoulder straps or curved? 1 D ring per shoulder strap or two? Are the D rings stacked or a bit separated? Did it comes with yellow weight pockets?

 

[JSUSoutherner]

Plastic emblem. Curved straps. 1D metal ring per shoulder strap. 1 plastic at end of each adjusting strap below buckle. No weight pockets included. Has Scubapro Air 2...gen 4, I believe.

 

[PSUSciDiver]

I have a old ranger I got used at a good price. It would hold air but lose pressure over a few hours. The bladder was yellowed and looked real old. It came with a warranty so I figured I would send it in to be looked at. Zeagel sent it back with only changing the LP/oral inflator. It had the same old yellowed bladder. I have around 50 dives on it over the last year with zero issues.

Before I owned it I was trained from my open water up until working on Master Diver using old beat up zeagel equipment that was used by dozens of students over many years. It's great gear! I have dove it in everything from 40f@100+ft in murky lake and river water to the south Florida bath water. It your dive shop looked it over its good to go!

 

[JSUSoutherner]

I was great with it until Zeagle guy suggested I update bladder and cover, which would be 2x what I paid for the whole thing. Just prompted me to ask. Planning on hitting the local quarry for shallow check out dives soon.

 

[herman]

As long as it holds air for a reasonable amount of time, it's good.
And if it fails, no big deal, it's a BC after all. Contrary to what many/most divers think today, It's job is to make life easier and not an essential part of your dive gear. It is to COMPENSATE for buoyancy shifts while diving, those being wetsuit compression and gas usage from your tank, it is not to compensate for improper weighting....a use it is way too often used for these days. Unless you are wearing a very thick wetsuit or huge doubles, swimming up your gear with a completely failed BC should not be a problem. This however is the realm of tech diving and a different subject.

 

[enduser]

Plastic emblem. Curved straps. 1D metal ring per shoulder strap. 1 plastic at end of each adjusting strap below buckle. No weight pockets included. Has Scubapro Air 2...gen 4, I believe.

So not that old. Dive it. It will most likely outlast all of us.

 

[JSUSoutherner]

It's looking better and better. Looking forward to diving it. Thank you.

 

[JSUSoutherner]

Enduser, how old do you suppose it is, then? It does have Oct. 1996 on the warning label inside the jacket. Unless that is the date of the warning requirement. It is listed under the initials CE and prEN1809 is written below that.

 

[northernone]

Sounds early 21st century to me. Another decade or two life in it depending how it's been stored and treated.

Here's a little ID guide for the air2. Provided it's age matched the bcd that confirms early 2000s.

How to tell the difference between AIR2 generations?

I'd happily dive it.
Cameron