Looking to buy a BC

[Mtrewyn]

What are the thoughts on BC's?

I'm Shopping for one, and so far I like the Zegal Ranger, or the Aries Atmos xt.

Does anyone have thoughts on these? Or another one that I might try?

So far I've done mostly warm water dives, in the local lakes, but I am diving alot, and have trips planed for the next year to both the south.(Mexico, BVI, caymans, etc), and next summer I'm going to northern Canada, and am going to try to dive there also, (that would most likely be a dry suit dive)

It's hard to get unbiased thoughts about things like this from a dive shop, they only want to sell what they stock and that is not always the best fit.

thanks for any help you give.

[Sasha_K]

Check out the vendor specific forum on this site. ScottZeagle is really good on the Zeagle side

http://forum.scubatoys.com/forumdisplay.php?f=50

[Mtrewyn]

thanks

[No Misses]

I have tried the Zeagle Ranger and it is a good BC. It's well made and modular. This makes it fit better and most repairs can be accomplished by replacing parts instead of shipping the whole thing in. I have no experience with the Aeris. I currently dive with bp/w. With your current level of experience, I suggest that you try out several different configurations (rent) until you make up your mind. What works well for someone else, may not be best for you. I hope this helps.

[Mtrewyn]

thanks for the info.

Is the spring I'm headed down to Destin, any good referances for dive sights, shops, charters things like that?

[ReefHound]

If you have any tech aspirations go ahead and get a backplate/wings setup from the beginning.

If not or if you prefer the jacket BC for now, at least get a back inflation model. I know people who are very pleased with the Scubapro Knighthawk. Zeagle also gets rave reviews on many of their models.

[scootermcfly]

I have the Aries Atmos xt and really like it, plenty of room, D-Rings, and very sturdy construction. My brother bought the same one after seeing mine and checking it all out. I then went and bought the accessory kit for it that is a nice light, bag, and knife.

Scooter McFly

[ScubaToys Larry]

We used to sell the knighthawks, and sitting side by side with the Zeagle - where people could come touch, compare features, quality and price - it's a pretty staggering number. In our store - for walk in sales only - Zeagle out sold the knighthawk by 1268 to 9 in a one year time.

Lifetime warranty, component design, the ability to custom fit and swap out parts, much more pocket space - etc.

But there is that person every now and then that does prefer the scubapro.

From a profit standpoint - since scubapro has their price fixed and doesn't allow discounting - it would have been more beneficial for us to sell them - but the customer normally would take the zeagle features - especially for the price.

[BSea]

I used to have a ranger/brigade, but switched to a BP/W and sold my brigade because it was just collecting dust.

There is a pretty good thread here if you want to know more: What are the benefits of a BP/W?

[ReefHound]

To be honest, the two people I know offhand with the Knighthawk probably got them at keyman price at the shop where they work, and that shop doesn't stock Zeagle. So maybe they are "happy" with it because they have to be. Ha ha.