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...