Exactly Who/What Is "Scuba Lab"?

[rainmaker]

I'm new to diving, and in the process of being a bit overwhelmed by gear and gear choices.

I've noticed things like "Scuba Lab Testers Choice" and "Scuba Lab Perfect Score" on commercial web site pages for various gear items.

Is "Scuba Lab" really an independent testing facility for scuba gear? Are they the Consumer Reports of diving?

I suppose I'm a bit suspicious, since I couldn't find a web site for them.

Any input will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Vie]

Try www.scubadiving.com/scuba/gear/

ScubaLab is the (supposedly independent) equipment “testing” team used by (formerly Rodale’s) Scuba Diving magazine to review, test and rate Scuba equipment/products. Force Fin, and now Scubapro, have a policy of refusing to submit their products to ScubaLab. In some cases, ScubaLab sometimes purchases the products and “tests” them anyway—Scubapro’s MK25/X650 reg being a recent example. IMHO ScubaLab seems to favour Oceanic products.

 

[TwoBitTxn]

AFAIK, (I could be wrong) Scuba Lab is (was) owned and operated by the publishers of scuba diving magazine. It used to be Rodales, but someone else bought it. It touted itself as being an independent lab for testing scuba gear. They claimed the tests were non-biased. They obtained their gear by asking the mfr's to send a piece of gear to be tested. As opposed to Consumer Reports, who buys the piece of equipment from a retailer.

There are appearances that the large advertisers in the magazine often received the best ratings. There were often companies who "failed to get a piece of gear in on time" or just didn't send anything at all.

TwoBit

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I have not subscribed in a couple years but from time to time Rodale's used to give short bios on the scubalab members. They usually struck me as persons who were already fairly opinionated or alternatively were relatively new divers who were potentially clueless. I think the idea was to have a fairly diverse collection of divers who would give some varied opinions. But I don't think it usually worked that way once you got done with the group dynamics and group selection. I also never saw a tech oriented diver in the bunch, so I don't think there was really all that much diversity outside of Rodale's (and their advertisers) target market group.

I always got the distinct impression that if they adervised heavily, a company's products would consitently rate well. I also nearly always felt that some of the leading contenders were usually left out or that the selection of products tested was a bit limited and at times that the field was inappropriately matched.

 

[DeputyDan]

The bottom line this is not consumer reports so take their recommendations with lightly.

 

[drbill]

Would certainly have to disagree with this assessment. ScubaLab was created by long-time Catalina diver Jon Hardy who was deeply involved with the dive industry, especially NAUI, for many decades. Several of the ScubaLab testers are dive buddies of mine or people I know personally. I do not considered them overly "opinionated" (unlike me!) and definitely not "clueless." For example, dive buddy Vicki Durst has been diving longer than many members of this board have been alive and is an outstanding diver.

While I doubt any diver is truly objectivve, and subjectivity almost always plays a role in product evaluations, ScubaLab tries to use some objective measures in evaluating product when possible.

Dr. Bill

...persons who were already fairly opinionated or alternatively were relatively new divers who were potentially clueless. I think the idea was to have a fairly diverse collection of divers who would give some varied opinions. But I don't think it usually worked that way once you got done with the group dynamics and group selection. I also never saw a tech oriented diver in the bunch, so I don't think there was really all that much diversity outside of Rodale's (and their advertisers) target market group.

 

[johnmckenzie]

Numerous scuba equipment manufacturers have told me that they have paid over $5000 for each 60:Second Scuba Lab video about their product. However and in spite of the FTC ruling requiring that compensation be reported by reviewers, I cannot find any such notice on the 60SSL videos or websites. I have contacted the FTC and am awaiting the results of their investigation. More after the break...

 

[mdb]

Apollo had bio-fins tested by the Scuba-Lab. We never spent even one cent in advertising. We were ranked very high test after test without advertising.

Test teams were made up of divers from around the country and the test protocols seemed to be well thought out.

 

[scubamarketing]

Just like Consumer Reports (who typically highly rates products I loathe), take all published reviews for the factual data only. When it comes to opinions, I always find the best people to be professionals in your typical dive area. They use their gear hardest and know what works under pressure (nyuk nyuk ) and what doesn't. Second best is going online and seeing if you can find a bunch of reviews for a given product. Just like when I go out to dinner, I use Yelp frequently and a 5 star rated restaurant with only one review will not rank as highly for me as a 4 star restaurant with 1,000 reviews. Maybe that's just me.

 

[scubamarketing]

I don't care what anybody says about split fins, I love my Bio Fins