Anti ScubaPro bias?

[tbone1004]

MK 10 / G250.....From a business standpoint they couldn't stop there....From the needs of 95% of diver in the world they could have. In my opinion and experience most everything they have done since has been 10000000 spent on marketing 1000 spent on Engineering.

if the other 5% is true cold water divers *assuming you mean the 10's without spec boot*, they still don't really have an option for that IMO since they don't have a 5 port diaphragm...

@drrich2 Apeks is MUCH cheaper in Europe than in the US. It's marketed as a premium brand here, not so much there

 

[kelemvor]

a) There is no singular thing called "the diving community"
b) In my experience, most divers are not "impressed" by any particular item of gear, with the possible exception of Shearwater DCs which some treat as a shibboleth
c) The main diver characteristics I find impressive are a sense of limits, the ability to maintain neutral buoyancy and the ability perform gas planning

But yes, if you're trying to telegraph high socioeconomic status, a T3 would be a good choice. Thorsten Veblin would be proud

I thought the primary reason to lay out so much money for Titanium is the corrosion resistance. I don't own one so I'm going by what I've read but I was under the impression you could almost skip rinsing entirely if you had a titanium regulator.

 

[bamafan]

I keep seeing people mention pricing in Europe is much better on Scuba Pro gear; why is it so? Is this an issue with many other brands?

Richard.

I am guessing it is a dealership thing here that is keeping the prices inflated here. Prior to LP becoming a dealer they sold grey market SP regs and helped push prices down here. Since they are no longer doing that it seems to me that even the used prices have come up. Some of the European stores will ship directly to the US and if you find one that will you can get them to take off the 18% vat tax the EU customers pay. You can also buy service kits in Europe for SP regs.

 

[dead dog]

I’m not biased. I just do not like their equipment.

Example 1: I have hated the way their BCs attach to the tank since 1989 when I started diving. That 2 pc clamp style doesn’t hold a candle to the plastic tension buckle with the rubber strip.

Example 2: When we had some underwater work to do at the lake, I had my 30 yr old US Divers regulator and it worked perfectly. My buddy with the top of the line SP regular got some dirt in it and it started to free flow. He spent TWO HOURS taking it apart and cleaning it out while I did the rest of the work in that cruddy lake.

It’s not a bias, it’s a dislike based on true experience.

Smart man your buddy, while you did the rest of the work in that cruddy lake.

 

[2airishuman]

I offer, for discussion, this SCUBAPRO ad that recently appeared on my Facebook feed.

The tag line, "Distinguish yourself from the crowd," is a textbook effort to convince the consumer that the product will improve the purchaser's social standing. SCUBAPRO advertises extensively, and their message is consistent.

 

[boulderjohn]

And yes, there are problems with ScubaPro gear other than price.

As I mentioned in a recent thread, I did some extensive diving in a part of the world with little access to spare parts and the equipment to make repairs. I brought a set of tools in case anything happened, and it did. I got a bubble in a regulator hose. I went to the only dive shop in the area to see if they had one. Yes, for $50. I then saw it was a ScubaPro. I did not have the proprietary wrench needed to install it--all I had was a couple standard open end wrenches and a crescent. I passed on it and eventually found a shop that could sell me a regulator hose with the standard fittings that the rest of the world uses ($30).

 

[boulderjohn]

Something has to make up for the minimum wage one receives for teaching.

I assume you declare the discount as income when you do your taxes.

 

[tridacna]

I assume you declare the discount as income when you do your taxes.

You assume quite incorrectly. Nor, for that matter, do I declare the massive profits on the sale of said booty when disposed of on fleabay.

 

[boulderjohn]

Find a diver you admire: buy what they have.

1. When I worked for a shop that sold ScubaPro and Aqualung, the local ScubaPro representative came by and gave us a one day offer for great keyman pricing. For the next few years I looked like a ScubaPro billboard when I dived.

2. Sometime after that, the shop began its transition to SSI and adopted the SSI philosophy that the instructor is the chief sales person and needs to wear an approved "scuba uniform." The shop identified specific gear models from the neck down (we could choose our own masks) and required all instructors to purchase (at a discount) those items and use them for instruction and personal diving in the presence of customers. We were to tell all students and any other customer that we had selected those specific items (almost all in the Aqualung family) because they were the best there was. The real reason was that they provided the best markup, because with Aqualung, the more you sell of a specific model, the lower your dealer cost for it. I quit that shop then, partially because I did not want to have to flat out lie to my students, and partially because I did not want to pruchase that equipment, not a single item of which I would use of my own free will. I therefore never had to make the transition from being a ScubaPro billboard to being an Aqualung billboard.

3. When I switched to another shop, I had to transition out of my ScubaPro stuff, but it was more complicated than that. In the meantime, I had become a tech instructor, and so in addition to the ScubaPro stuff, I had acquired the tech gear that that former shop had also sold. So it all had to go. The new shop sold Oceanic, so for the new tech program they were adding through me, they naturally had to stay in the family and go with Hollis. It took me quite a while to sell all my old stuff and fill up my inventory with Hollis, especially since Hollis was having a problem filling orders in a timely fashion.

4. I have since gone independent, and I am beginning the next transition. How long will it take me to shed my Hollis gear? Will I become a billboard for something else? I have no idea.

 

[tridacna]

@boulderjohn Wow! The IRS musta made a mint outta your outrageous profits!