Announcing new line of SubGravity DPVs engineered by Bonex!

[SubGravity]

We are very excited and pleased to announce the new line of SubGravity DPVs, engineered by Bonex!

SubGravity and Bonex are proud to announce an official partnership. As of June 1st 2015, SubGravity will have an entire line of Diver Propulsion Vehicles, engineered by Bonex and available for order.

“We are excited to be working with SubGravity as our exclusive civil distributor for North and South America, as well as the Caribbean. With their strong focus on performance products and customer service, we feel as though the Thorntons and their passion for diving will work extremely well with the image and standards the Bonex brand has held for years. We are excited that the Americas will now have access to the best DPVs made in the world.” - Christiane Bonetsmueller, President, Bonex Exploration Systems

“We only want the best, which is exactly what led to this partnership with Bonex. We, here at SubGravity, love all types of diving, but especially exploration diving. Bonex has an outstanding reputation for quality products that deliver as promised. We are very excited to be working with the great folks at Bonex to launch our line of SubGravity DPVs.” - Josh Thornton, President, SubGravity
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View available models HERE

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SubGravity Concept

SubGravity DPVs, engineered by Bonex, are all about high performance and reliability in a compact package. The innovative SubGravity Scooters have been developed and tested extensively with these features in mind. Many exploratory dives are only possible when the equipment used meets all the specific project's demands, is light and 100% reliable.

Another importance aspect, especially in cave, wreck and mixed gas diving, is the simple operation as well as the easy handling which makes diving in these advanced environments safer and more enjoyable.

State-of-the-art technologies such as lithium-manganese (LiMn) cells and modern servo technology are used in the SubGravity Scooters. These features (along with many others) offer the safety and runtime that exploration divers expect from their high end equipment.

View available models HERE

 

[Aquanomad]

You guys are killing it! Training. Exploration. Confrences. Computers. Side mount gear. And now DPVs. When do the Thortons sleep?

 

[CCR Josh]

You guys are killing it! Training. Exploration. Confrences. Computers. Side mount gear. And now DPVs. When do the Thortons sleep?

Ha! We can sleep when we are dead... Too much diving to be done in the mean time


Sent from my rebreather using Tapatalk

 

[tbone1004]

great to hear but you guys need them to ditch the carbon fiber which is not what you want inside of a cave for something a bit more durable and cost friendly.... Keep it with a composite, but go to something like fiberglass/polypro which will take a bit more abuse than the super brittle carbon...

disclaimer:work in composites....

really excited to see them coming to the US though, that's huge and will hopefully put some pressure on Rodney et al for some big innovation steps as this thing has some serious bullet points that some of the others don't.

 

[alewar]

Bonex scooters are great... until you look at the price!

Edit: to be fair Bonex also sells the Aquaprops for less than $2k.

 

[tbone1004]

Bonex scooters are great... until you look at the price!

due to using the wrong material for the application.... Carbon has no business being on a DPV other than to say it has it, and to look sexy. too brittle, too expensive, and no actual benefit other than saving a pound or two on land compared to more traditional materials.

 

[Aquanomad]

All DPVs in that spec range will set you back. I drive a $4k Nissan and fly a $8k DPV. No regrets.

 

[SubGravity]

A bit more about the materials used in manufacturing the SubGravity DPVs, engineered by Bonex.

By selecting the correct materials, we can guarantee an operational diving depth of 200m while still maintain a very lightweight, powerful design.


POM (or Delrin) (Nose cone & various attachment parts)
This material grade is chosen for its impact strength. It also features the needed flexibility to, for example, absorb impacts, even in low temperature environments. At the same time it is strong enough to avoid deformation.


Aluminum (Rear section & various small parts)
Aluminum is produced in numerous alloys and has to meet specific requirements. We avoid any welds to reduce material fatigue and maintain the highest strength. By using a sacrificial anode of zinc, we effectively eliminate corrosion at the rear section. This provides superior corrosion resistance for long term use in salt-water environments.


Carbon Fiber (main body tube & shroud)
This high grade material is fabricated using complex textile mats with special epoxy resins. It offers a uniform and corrosion resistant surface and is extremely light, while maintaining stability under high pressure. The carbon used is not effected by long exposures to salt water. A uniform tempering of our tubes and shrouds permanently stabilizes the internal structure of the carbon fiber.

 

[tbone1004]

agreed, just know they could have saved likely about $1k off of the production cost if they went with another fiber choice for the composite. Composite was the right decision, carbon just made it excessively expensive. Suggest that the engineers look at a Basalt, polypropylene laminate stack which will cut their material cost in less than half and be about the same weight while maintaining strength and increasing damage tolerance

 

[CCR Josh]

super brittle carbon...

disclaimer:work in composites....

You probably know more about it scientifically then....

too brittle,

I always heard people say this about carbon fiber. BUT in use, I have not seen it be an issue. Been diving the DPVs for a few months now, including in the caves. I don't claim to be the best DPV pilot, and I definitely don't pamper my dive gear. Haven't had or seen any issues. Bonex DPVs also have quite a good reputation with exploration cave divers in Europe.

I have also sold a lot of carbon fiber free diving fins to spearos over the last 5 years, and those things get the crap beat out of them, (walking on rocks, stepping on them while bent, thrown in the back of trucks etc etc) again with no issues.

We also had a customer back down the boat ramp with his tailgate down and had two Discovery RS DPVs role about 10 yards down the boat ramp. Of course they got banged up (cosmetically), but they have been going strong with heavy use for the last few months as well.

too expensive,

Compare the price of our DPVs to others in the same class, we are quite competitive. :thumbs-up https://www.sub-gravity.com/product-category/dpvs-2/dpvs/

and no actual benefit other than saving a pound or two on land compared to more traditional materials.

Quite a few people find that a few pounds here, and a few pounds there are actually important and worth their time and money!

Anyway, not looking to start an argument, just sharing my personal experience.