A knife-light?

[Diver0001]

my opinions are not ADVERTORIAL... they are me saying exactly what I think about stuff....

True. I've known and watched Dan online since well before Scubaboard existed (we're both refugees from rec.scuba) and I've grown to respect him as a good, clear, honest communicator with integrity and passion as well as having a confident and (sometimes) headstrong nature. (what person worth knowing isn't like this?...)

When I read his posts they didn't surprise me but I guarantee you that you can take them at face value. I'm sure if he makes a recommendation about gear that you can believe there's nothing behind it except his own belief that it's the right tool for the job.

R

 

[Brandon]

For any online review site, I tend to pay as much attention to the negative reviews as the positive ones for any given product... I believe a lot of people do the same, and do so because they want as much information about the product as possible. No one wants to read 100% glowing reviews, unless that product is TRULY awesome. And there aren't many of those types of items out there...

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

What would be really nice would be something like a consumer report style of review where a selection of different items are compared side by side and the differences in cost, various benefits and issues are discussed with an open mind. Of course, this requires a sizable base of customers to pay the cost of the reviews / samples since the deep pockets of the vendors are off limits. Its not going to happen in our small industry.

I find the opinions of posters on SB a valuable resource. Some are highly biased and need to be somewhat discounted, Dan is not one of them. I found his post had one short paragraph with more meat in it than the entire review. No advertorial for gear, but a little offbeat humor about DIR, only the overly sensitive would be offended.

BTW: I am not a DIR, not a wannaba, don't own any Halycon gear, but like it other than the cost. What I do like about DIR is they publish a lot of the reasons behind their regimented system and even though I don't fit or want to fit into their system, there is a lot of good in it that I can benefit from when they share it. If there is a little propaganda tossed in, I am a big boy and I can handle it.

 

[Diver0001]

What would be really nice would be something like a consumer report style of review where a selection of different items are compared side by side and the differences in cost, various benefits and issues are discussed with an open mind. Of course, this requires a sizable base of customers to pay the cost of the reviews / samples since the deep pockets of the vendors are off limits. Its not going to happen in our small industry.

Actually, I think the power of social media is that these kinds of reviews CAN be done... maybe for the first time ever! The reviews can be executed objectively, with exactly the same criteria and completely free of the commercial pressures manufacturers put on media players.

The one thing about social media that distinguishes it from all other forms of media is integrity. Mainstream media has no integrity.... manufacturers write their own reviews... opinions are bought, manipulated, and sold for profit.

On social media, a lack of integrity is immediately identified and mercilessly punished. The majority opinion rules. A policy of lies, exaggerations and half-truths driven by under-the-table deals will gain you a bad reputation at cyber-speed and only that which resonates as true will be accepted..... that's not perfect but it's ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE better than the status quo.

R..

 

[Tortuga68]

Dan may well be the personification of integrity; I still think it's hypocritical to acuse someone of not being independant while simultaneously plugging products that you have a vested interest in - regardless of whether your product is good or not

 

[danvolker]

Dan may well be the personification of integrity; I still think it's hypocritical to acuse someone of not being independant while simultaneously plugging products that you have a vested interest in - regardless of whether your product is good or not

Exactly where is my "vested intetrest"...I do not get paid by Halcyon or GUE. Once upon a time, back around 1998 to 2001, I did the marketing for Halcyon ( and was paid for this) ...
....Zero since then from Halcyon....and NEVER anything from GUE.
If anything, I probably make GUE nervous from time to time, "because of the way I consume the Kool-aid"

I pay for my gear the same way everyone else does here...
I do have a "vested interest" in Palm Beach, because my magazine is about Palm Beach, but I chose to do this because I absolutely believe that I can "prove" everything I discuss about Palm Beach with videos, stills, and ultimately by showing divers the diving in Palm Beach in person

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Dan may well be the personification of integrity; I still think it's hypocritical to acuse someone of not being independant while simultaneously plugging products that you have a vested interest in - regardless of whether your product is good or not

I expect the koolaid drinkers to pitch their religion because they are true believers. This is hardly a reason to get worked up. He is already condemned to a live of diving all in black. He has an opinion and some sound logic to back it up. You can take it, discount it or ignore it.

Compare this to SGR which has published a web site full of fluffy advertising reviews. Nothing inherently wrong with the advertising as its free speech and nothing they said is glaringly untrue. Its exactly what I would expect to read in a press release written by a companies marketing department.

But what they have done is declared themselves experts and that they are providing intensive testing, expert analysis and the unvarnished truth rather than just their opinion. Yet its the same old advertising slop we read elsewhere with no critical thinking.

The statement below I copied from the SGR web site (underlines are added by me)

The SGR team’s broad product knowledge and experience evaluating virtually every fin, BC, reg, dive computer, wetsuit and mask that has come onto the diving scene in the past dozen years, is now being put to work delivering the unvarnished truth about what gear is hot, and what gear is not, exclusively for the subscribers of Scuba Gear Reports.

Intensive Testing, Expert Analysis, In-Depth Evaluations…
​

My opinion is that they have claimed a high standard for themselves and failed to live up to that.

​

 

[Diver0001]

Dan may well be the personification of integrity; I still think it's hypocritical to acuse someone of not being independant while simultaneously plugging products that you have a vested interest in - regardless of whether your product is good or not

At the risk of starting to sound like Dan's PR manager, I think there is a difference between plugging a product because someone paid you to plug it and plugging a product because you personally like it.

Of course he has his own biases (who doesn't?) but that makes him biased (just like the rest of us), not hypocritical, imho

R..

 

[Tortuga68]

I think what irked me about Dan's plugs for Halcyon was that I really didn't think they were really relevant or necessary, or even perhaps open-minded. Looking at the posts in this thread, I think it's pretty clear that almost everyone thinks the SGR review is a bit of a joke

I also knew there had been a connection with Halcyon at some stage & perhaps assumed there still was - so if that's incorrect, then my apologies

 

[danvolker]

I think what irked me about Dan's plugs for Halcyon was that I really didn't think they were really relevant or necessary, or even perhaps open-minded. Looking at the posts in this thread, I think it's pretty clear that almost everyone thinks the SGR review is a bit of a joke

I also knew there had been a connection with Halcyon at some stage & perhaps assumed there still was - so if that's incorrect, then my apologies

Tortuga, I was not plugging Halcyon when I made those posts, but in order to answer your coments, this will become something of a plug for them

I mentioned the Halcyon knife, because unlike most knives sold to divers, the Halcyon knife was thought out ahead of time, regarding what the purpose of it would need to be, and how it could be best utilized. Halcyon correctly decided their knife should NOT be worn on the leg, as this can be a point of entanglement itself when worn this way, it is drag in an area you don't want drag in, and most importantly, in a bad entanglement situation, a diver may not be able to reach down to the leg--but the crotch area the halcyon knife goes, is much more likely to be reachable by one hand or the other, it is in an area where it's drag will be irrelevant, and the knife is made and sized to be used to cut your self out of entanglements, not to be a pig sticker, a sword, or a pirate's knife.

In a discussion of lights--which we were in, Halcyon is "one of" the manufacturers that pushes lights that use a goodman handle...so that you have both hands free. I think this is way more intelligent than some stupid underwater kintetics monstrousity, that you have to carry around almost like a camera, and the light coming out if it does not compare well to the Halcyon lights either.

Halcyon gear is very unlike "most" gear made by the majority of dive manufacturers, because Halcyon trys to pinpoint real problems, real issues, and to fix them. They are true innovators ( but NOT the only ones). The Halcyon mc storage pouch was a smart way to carry a smb or even a full fledged one man inflatable raft, completely out of the drag--between the back and the backplate.....the whole bp/wing was something a large group of divers specifically were asking for, at a time when ALL of the bc mfg's wanted to do was innovate a different BC color that was different from last year's color.


Today I can say alot of good things about other companies also...Scubapro and Diverite have made a lot of excellent gear that many DIR divers use, and even the big guys like US Divers and MAres will occaisionally make a piece of gear which is good based on function, rather than fluff. When I see something I don't like, I enjoy explaining what I don't like about it.

Divers should hear alot about the actual functions that a PIECE OF GEAR is supposed to perform, and how well it actually does this....I like using the DIR philosophy, because it is a common sense system that all recreational divers can read a little about, and then easily understand where we are coming from with an opinion on some gear.

For some gear reviews, it would be hard to really offer a spectacular service--say with most regulators--most do the job so well, that there is really little difference a recreational diver will experience between one brand and another....there are a few that are, and these need to be known...but most are just "good".

Fins would be fun for me to review, because there are so many pathetic fins on the market, and no magazine has ever tried to address this.... I see a video series showing major fins being used by several different body types and kicking styles, with a significant current running sideways, head on, and behind you. I would even show people walking in the fins on the boat, though I consider this something anyone can "learn" how to do for any fin--it is still something worth showing

I will probably "NOT" actually do a Gear Review series, because I have my plate pretty full right now with what I am already working on....but I do believe there is a strong need ( people would want this) for the type of reviews I have described here...