First DPV - Your recommendations
- Thread starter scorpenesub
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
ben.mcgeever
Contributor
Hi
My intention was to highlight that I strongly disagree with your opinion that all current vehicles are copies of the Farallon.
It would also be better if you were more open with your employment with Stidd, then everyone would understand where you were coming from. Your statement makes perfect sense to me now as it helps your military sales to put all the other DPV's in a "Farallon" box where you can build upon the bad experiences many people had with the Farallon's.
Technology has moved on, the Farallon's are dinosaurs.
sailcsy44
Guest
Well Ben we obviously got off on the wrong foot. But strongly disagree and stupid are two different things.
What I do for a living has no bearing whatsoever on this issue.
Rather than belabor it and bog this thread down I'll just move on to other diving subjects so you can have the only opinion here that isn't stupid.
Have a happy day.
What I do for a living has no bearing whatsoever on this issue.
Rather than belabor it and bog this thread down I'll just move on to other diving subjects so you can have the only opinion here that isn't stupid.
Have a happy day.
Getting back to talking about DPV's...
I have seen the video's of DPV's with Mammals. How does the DPV speed compare with the speeds of sea mammals. e.g. otters, seals, dolphins, whales, and manatees. For those of you that have dove with mammals using a DPV what is the most common behavior for the mammals? The videos showed that seals and dolphins are not treatened and actually want to play. My instinct would think that the sound of the DPV would tend to scare away most mammals.
I have seen the video's of DPV's with Mammals. How does the DPV speed compare with the speeds of sea mammals. e.g. otters, seals, dolphins, whales, and manatees. For those of you that have dove with mammals using a DPV what is the most common behavior for the mammals? The videos showed that seals and dolphins are not treatened and actually want to play. My instinct would think that the sound of the DPV would tend to scare away most mammals.
Gosh, a little more acid with my coffee please.
BTW - My team and I are working on a deep penetration for 09'. It may require more scooters. The X would be the De facto choice. This means it works when it should, goes deep, takes a beating without falling apart, or requires a dolly/winch to lift it
X
I'd say about 60% of the time they want to play; 35% they couldn't care less; 5% they run away.
The latter (run away) was a pod of Spinner dolphins that kicked it up a gear when we started the scooters. We thought it was odd - usually they zoom around you and play tag - and back on the beach, we remembered they had some very small babies with them protectively placed in the middle of the pod.
Usually they are lots of fun, though.
All the best, James
sailcsy44
Guest
I don't know what the top speed of a manatee is though I have seen them sprint to the water hose when its hanging off the dock but even the fastest military DPVs can't hold a candle to other mammals in the water.
Drag and limited HP influence that.
From the surface I have seen all kinds of marine life head towards our DPVs not just mammals. Barracuda seem particularly fascinated. We always live boat and on one dive recently two dolphins stayed within a few feet of the divers nearly the entire time on a one hour straight run. From the surface they looked like they were close enough to touch the DPV. The two divers never saw them.
We have had numerous shark encounters in the Keys and they tend to leave rapidly when we get close enough to make eye contact. I normally spend the rest of the dive looking over my shoulder frequently when this happens.
Rather than scare marine life away I feel the sound brings them in. Besides the thruster/prop noise we use locating beacons so in normal operation our DPVs are making all kinds of noise in the 20-40 khz range. We can't hear it but I don't doubt everything that lives in the water can.
Last edited:
Thank You so much for sharing your experience. Obviously Sea Mammals are very different than land mammals. Any wild land herbovior will run and hide if they hear a strange noise. Since sound travels farther and faster in water, and Marine mammals have evolved hearing to hear frequencies that humans can not hear, I find it amazing that mammals would come to humans using DPV's, even if it was just out of curiousity.
The speed of DPV's makes sense (compared to mammals) as I have done a lot of swimming and the more aquadynamic you are the faster you can travel through water. All marine mammals are much more aquadynamic than the human diver. Curiousity is not a evolutionary strong point. Where the fight or flight syndrom is much more common.
The bottom line is I want to use the DPV's to search for the Okinawan Dugon a relative of the Florida Manatee, but I am concerned that the speed noise of the DPV would scare away the Dugons more than it would help me cover more ground.
I solicit any and all opinions on this subject:
ProfessorAronnax
Contributor
- Messages
- 3,164
- Reaction score
- 6
- Messages
- 704
- Reaction score
- 61
- Location
- Winston, Georgia, United States
- # of dives
- I just don't log dives
I bought 2 SeaDoo Explorer scooters at DEMA in 2007 and have had a horrible experience with one of them. It went into flood mode at about 60 feet and continued to do so. I have sent it back for repairs and have not had a chance to try out the "fixed" model. I have read posts from others who have purchased the SeaDoo and I share their low opinion of the scooter. In all fairness, the one that works has worked well. I got a good price for them at DEMA so I am not as pissed as others have been about theirs. But I am still irritated at the fact that I bought something that doesn't work. Whenever I removed the battery, there was no leakage. I hope the "fixed" one stays fixed.
I also have an X scooter Sierra and an X scooter Cuda. The original thread had to do with selecting a DPV for a diver that was new to scootering. In that spirit, I would cast my vote for the X scooter. They are absolutely incredible. They are very reliable and are quite fast. Once you balance them, they move effortlessly through the water. The Cuda is even more impressive. I met Andrew at DEMA and he was great. All of the guys affiliated with Dive Xtras have been extremely knowledgeable and helpful.
I agree that the type of scooter you buy should be tailored to the type of diving you are doing. If you are just scootering around a lake or a quarry and finances is a consideration, they a "less than" scooter is reasonable. The working SeaDoo I have is pretty good at that. I let my students play with it after they have completed their OW certification. In shallow water with me following them, they get a small taste of what scootering is like. For anything beyond that, then I would make the investment and get an X scooter. It's durability, speed, ease of use, and multifunctional capabilities make it an easy choice. You can stay shallow or go deep. You can take it into a cave or wreck. The combination of speed with great burn time makes it the best thing currently on the market.
I approach buying a scooter the same way I approach buying a car. If the car spends alot of time in the shop, or if the repair shop people are rude, incompetent, and unreliable, then that brand new Corvette you bought is an expensive piece of crap. Fortunately, the people at Dive Xtras make and outstanding product and back it with quality and professional service. I am very pleased with my scooters.
Similar threads
