AERIS - A BC Saga

[SubMariner]

Until the purchase of the AERIS (purchased under duress I might add,) my wife and I only owned equipment (BCD's & REGS) made by Scubapro. My wife has been diving for 15 years with the same BCD and REGS and I have been diving for 9 years with my Scubapro BCD's and REGS. I bought the AERIS because the dive shop I chose to teach for sold AERIS and required their Instructors to use them in front of students. In that combined 24 years of usage, we have never had a problem. The reason is quite clear. Scubapro is a quality product. AERIS is not in the same league. It was clear to me that something either on the BCD, my weight belt or the tank caused the rubbing and ultimately the hole. My concern was that the weightbelt and the tank have been worn on Scubapro BCD's for years and never has a hole been formed. As far as lucky not to have gear go south... that's not luck... that is called regular maintenance, routine service and proper care and storage.... Thanks for the input though!

With all due respect, I've had an Aeris XT for 5 years and never experienced the problem you describe. The BC has been used in a variety of conditions (salt/fresh, cold/warm) & configurations (wetsuit/drysuit) and not shown any symptoms of "wearing through" in any particular area.

No one is denying you had difficulty with your Aeirs BC. However it's not fair to label it an "inferior product" simply because of a single incident.

Pax,

 

[toodive4]

I did not say it was an AERIS Atmos XT. It was an Aeris Atmos Sport. I also have an Atmos XT and have worn it with the same confirgurations. The XT has not developed a hole... the Sport did. It occured because compared to the XT and the Scubparo BC's, the material it is constructed with is dangerously thin and not of the same quality. This is because the sport is an entry level BC. So the point is, Aeris and other inferior entry level BCD's are dangerous because they are made with lesser quality materials, used by entry level divers. I believe the combination of inexperienced divers using lesser quality products is a combination which potentially leads to trouble... especially if the entry level products are going to fail. Had this BCD been on a new diver... leaking air... on a deep dive... it could have lead to panic and or worse, death. I'm not an alarmist... I am a realist. I respect your opinion, but this was a strange occurence with no clear explanation... that is my major concern.

With all due respect, I've had an Aeris XT for 5 years and never experienced the problem you describe. The BC has been used in a variety of conditions (salt/fresh, cold/warm) & configurations (wetsuit/drysuit) and not shown any symptoms of "wearing through" in any particular area.

No one is denying you had difficulty with your Aeirs BC. However it's not fair to label it an "inferior product" simply because of a single incident.

Pax,

 

[Storm]

I did not say it was an AERIS Atmos XT. It was an Aeris Atmos Sport. I also have an Atmos XT and have worn it with the same confirgurations. The XT has not developed a hole... the Sport did. It occured because compared to the XT and the Scubparo BC's, the material it is constructed with is dangerously thin and not of the same quality. This is because the sport is an entry level BC. So the point is, Aeris and other inferior entry level BCD's are dangerous because they are made with lesser quality materials, used by entry level divers. I believe the combination of inexperienced divers using lesser quality products is a combination which potentially leads to trouble... especially if the entry level products are going to fail. Had this BCD been on a new diver... leaking air... on a deep dive... it could have lead to panic and or worse, death. I'm not an alarmist... I am a realist. I respect your opinion, but this was a strange occurence with no clear explanation... that is my major concern.

I am relatively new to the sport and to this board. I've been kind lurking for a while and haven't posted much. I just recently purchased an Aeris Atmos Sport, and while I am not overly concerned at this point about the product, can you describe, in detail the area that the whole developed. I am curious by nature and would like to take a serious look at that area on the BCD.

Also what year did you ay the BCD was made. In 2001 the manufacturer that supplied CD's to Aeris, Genesis and Sherwood for the overpressure valve but I have not seen any such warnings or consumer recalls for this type of an incident.

I do not mean to imply anything, especially since I am still in the rookie stage of the sport, but I compared my BCD to the Genesis models my local instruction/dive shop uses and I can see nor feel any difference in the overal construction. (Hence my request for a detailed description of the location.)

I AM the "New Diver" that you mentioned and beofer I place my trust in the BCD I'd like to make a detailed search of the ares you mentioned.

BTW, just as an aside did your Atmos have a single strap for your tank or did it have 2?

Storm