Poseidon's Parlour: Scubapro

Sunday, 23 March 2014

I'll Tell You What Really Bugs Me - 23/03/2014

On Facebook I 'like' Mares, Scubapro and Fourth Element. I like many of their products in real life too.

For example, I own:

I also like hoods by Waterproof and my Oceanic Shadow mask, but I'll tell you what really bugs me are the string of professional film makers, professional divers and 'explorers' who endorse these products. When buying a product I'm not interested in 'celebrity' endorsements. I'm interested in how cost effective/efficient/comfortable/useful is it going to be for me?

How long does a drysuit take to dry hanging under my stairs? How expensive is the service pack? If it breaks, how good is your customer service?

Like the vast majority of people I have to pay for my kit and it has to perform and last. Wouldn't it be great if these companies, instead of expedition divers, used honest recreational divers to review and promote their products?

It would be amazing to watch a review of two products and hear the diver honestly say, that they can't tell the difference between the two regulators or after using these gloves my fingers were a wee bit warmer.

The current marketing of the big brands in SCUBA is a throw back to last century. Peer to peer marketing is the future it's time for the diving industry to embrace it.

Wednesday, 12 February 2014

My Credit Card Just Took a Tanking

So, the deed is done. I finally bought a 12 litre cylinder. I opted for Faber given it was about £100 cheaper than a Scubapro one.

Aquatron, my local dive shop price matched the best online price (Aquanauts) and then took another £9 off because the tank was 6 month old stock.

So that was £150 in total. I've seen secondhand tanks go for that on eBay and gumtree, and you don't even know what kind of condition they're in. Seemed fair to me and I could have the tank there and then.

That's the house gone from zero tanks to 4 in 8 months...Gill will be pleased. :/