How do you judge or form an opinion on gear you have not tried?

[AbyssalPlains]

Imagine a scuba forum with only informed opinions and tried-and-proven accounts.

How much fun would THAT be?



Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their Omega Flip Fins. That way, when you criticize them, you're washed offshore but you have their Flip Fins.

 

[The Chairman]

This is the "Spare Death" or the "Bungeed Wings of Death" phenomenon. People feel the need to express negative comments about gear that they don't understand. Comments such as "they are a solution in search of a problem" provides absolutely no input into the design, use or performance of the product. I just don't understand the need to ridicule gear you have never tried! It just destroys your credibility.

I would like hear input from those who tried the gear, rather than the cyber test divers who think that their intuition is better than actual field tests. Sure, ask questions! But the insinuations and deprecatory remarks don't add to the thread and they detract from you as a gear critic.

 

[Melicertes]

Yes I agree, I often look at something new in a glossmag and think "man, that' just doesn't look right" but how would I know if it works or not if I have not tried it. I guess in my case about the Amphibians I just looked at them flipped up and thought by myself I've had some pretty tough entries here in SoCal for beach dives and I cannot help but be very dubious about the flipups helping that situation any. That being as it may, my opinion is still just based on a theoretical premise - that increasing your surface area of your shins while trying to make your way through surf that is hell bent on doing a spin cycle on you would make entries that much more difficult. Have I tried it? No. Will I? I doubt it. But that's just my opinion.

And that's just the thing about opinions - they are just opinions - not necessarily fact. If the opinion is based on solid fact and happens to hold up when tested in practice, well then I guess it's a respectable opinion, if not then I would change my mind about it

 

[Teamcasa]

Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their Omega Flip Fins. That way, when you criticize them, you're washed offshore but you have their Flip Fins.

I love that line!

 

[Luis H]

Also...if it is meant to solve an above water issue, I would think twice before even trying it.

I personally feel comfortable in the water with most Scuba gear I have ever tried…it is out of the water that I find Scuba gear to be kind of cumbersome, but maybe that is just me.

 

[Rhone Man]

I don't think you necessarily need to have used gear to have an opinion on it, but you probably need to have used it to have an authoritative opinion on it.

The flip fins are an unusual example because they are unlike what has gone before. If someone passed judgment on a conventional fin that they had never worn before their views would probably not be treated with great respect.

But on the "solution looking for a problem" page, I heard recently about a mask with a digitial SPG in the bottom left of your vision that is wirelessly connected so you don't need to grab your conventional SPG to monitor your air. Now I can see a use for this in low-viz commercial diving, but I cannot imagine that this has any huge benefit to most sport divers who still have at least one functioning arm. I have never ever seen one of these masks, let alone used one, but I still feel comfortable expressing the view that it sounds like a gizmo that is of very limited practical use except to the laziest sport diver in the world.

 

[JeffG]

This is the "Spare Death" phenomenon. I just don't understand the need to ridicule gear you have never tried! It just destroys your credibility.

Some things are just beyond the pale dumb. You would lose credibility supporting devices like that.

 

[JeffG]

I personally feel comfortable in the water with most Scuba gear I have ever tried…it is out of the water that I find Scuba gear to be kind of cumbersome, but maybe that is just me.

You need to ask what your priorities are.

 

[leapfrog]

I

But on the "solution looking for a problem" page, I heard recently about a mask with a digitial SPG in the bottom left of your vision that is wirelessly connected so you don't need to grab your conventional SPG to monitor your air. Now I can see a use for this in low-viz commercial diving, but I cannot imagine that this has any huge benefit to most sport divers who still have at least one functioning arm. I have never ever seen one of these masks, let alone used one, but I still feel comfortable expressing the view that it sounds like a gizmo that is of very limited practical use except to the laziest sport diver in the world.

They didn't design it with sports divers in mind...but they know lots of sports divers like to buy stuff that was originally designed for others. A friend of mine who works on Madison Ave. says this is marketing strategy.

 

[24940]

This is the "Spare Death" or the "Bungeed Wings of Death" phenomenon. People feel the need to express negative comments about gear that they don't understand. Comments such as "they are a solution in search of a problem" provides absolutely no input into the design, use or performance of the product. I just don't understand the need to ridicule gear you have never tried! It just destroys your credibility.

I would like hear input from those who tried the gear, rather than the cyber test divers who think that their intuition is better than actual field tests. Sure, ask questions! But the insinuations and deprecatory remarks don't add to the thread and they detract from you as a gear critic.

I invented a valve for pony bottles which eliminates the possibility of undetected leaks depleting the air supply. It has a combination lock which requires the correct combination be entered to release 1ft3 of gas. This way, any leak would never exceed 1ft3.

Do you really need to dive something to know it's crap?