I've seen and posted videos of the Jet Boots before, and now I know where they are now, thanks Mr X 
BLADEFISH Sea Jets - A Completely Different Approach
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bladefishterry
New
Hi I have had my Bladefish 5000 for about 3 weeks. I have used it most days for Skin Diving and have done a few dives with it. I feel that its better without diving equipment but it still pulls you along with full kit on.
I have noticed a problem with it today though, its leaking some of the oil from the centre bolt assembly on the rear of the unit. Its been doing it for a week as I have noticed an oil substance on it but didn't know where it was coming from.
Just wondered if any of you other Bladefish owners have had this problem.
Thank you in advance
Terry
I have noticed a problem with it today though, its leaking some of the oil from the centre bolt assembly on the rear of the unit. Its been doing it for a week as I have noticed an oil substance on it but didn't know where it was coming from.
Just wondered if any of you other Bladefish owners have had this problem.
Thank you in advance
Terry
ProfessorAronnax
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As that external bolt secures the prop to the shaft, I don't think any oil is used-so there isn't any to leak. I did notice silicone grease coating the nut, washers etc. which is normal.
bladefishterry
New
Yeah its definitely not coming from the centre bolt as i originally thought. Although I have been getting a bit of rust around that area which is why i thought it was coming from there. I have cleaned the rust off but every time i use it (which is most days) I get an oily substance coming from the bottom of the unit somewhere. I have got in touch my supplier and they have had a response from the manufacturer (which I havent been impressed with the manufacturers responses to my emails as I have had none back) but they say that it wouldn't work if it had a leak. So Im carrying on as normal. I have noticed a dip in power when it has about 30% charge left, but saying that Im still impressed with its performance. Still think its better for skin diving though.
ProfessorAronnax
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deeper thoughts
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I just dove with it today. I think it is fantastic and perfect for our shallow reefs.
I altered the way I hold it so there is no more discomfort with the grip.
There is plenty of power for such a little scooter
commanderscuba
Registered
I am amazed at some of the skeptics on this topic who have trashed this device and never even used it. They make their assessment based on a pool video posted on YouTube and their understanding of physics. Its one thing to state your opinion once without using a device and it's another thing to repeatedly bash it without ever using it. There's a word for people like that but this is not the place for that word.
Well, I have the Bladefish 5000 and so does my dive buddy. We both purchased them prior to a trip to Grand Cayman with the full intention of shore diving. In Grand Cayman, many if not most of the moored dive sites are accessible from shore if you're a strong swimmer and have an aid such as a scooter/dpv. Dive boats typically cost 80-110 usd for two dives. I've been to Grand Cayman about 8 times in the last 15 years and I've always wanted the freedom to dive without being at the mercy of a crowded dive boat that often choose conservative sites to cut down on their liability.
In Grand Cayman, I did 11 dives in 6 days. 9 of them were with the Bladefish 5000 and 8 of the dives were from the shore. I've journaled all of the dives and will post a link to that on this topic at a later date if you really want an in depth firsthand account of how the Bladefish 5000 contributed to the diving in a very meaningful way.
I've been diving since I was 11 (now I’m 30) and have quite a bit of formal training and dive experience. Most of my diving is in the cold waters of Southern California, but I had obviously done my share of warm water tropical diving as well.
In brief, they outperformed my expectations. The single greatest attribute of these devices is their size. They are easy to travel with (can you say that about any other DPV?) and they are easy to transport with you to the dive (even on a boat), during the dive when they are not in use, and after the dive when you're tired and thirsty. They do require two hands to operate, but it is easy to position your gauges in your left hand and operate the scooter at the same time. During our dives, I could see my computer pressure and compass while simultaneously operating the Bladefish. These devices do not zip you around like the much heavier and more expensive DPV's that would be used in the Military, but for recreational diving they are perfect. With full gear on in tropical conditions and not kicking, they move you as fast if not slightly faster than if you were kicking. Add a few dolphin kicks to the mix and you move at a good pace. The Bladefish 5000's allowed us to do nice leisurely dives with maximum down time at sites and in conditions that would have otherwise been severely limited by the current or distance from shore. Below is my account of just one such dive in Grand Cayman. There are several others which I will be posting on my site of which a link will be provided on this topic at a later date.
North of Lighthouse point from Divetech resort – Main Wall - Grand Cayman island
We took a look at the conditions at Cobalt Coast dive resort and decided that a shore dive there would be ill advised. We headed back to lighthouse point, rented tanks and got a fantastic dive brief from the gal at the shop (we had run into her at west bay dock earlier on in the trip and she was friendly and helpful then as well). Instead of diving 80 ft aluminum cubic foot tanks like we had been, this time we grabbed 100 cubic foot tanks. The current was still strong, coming from the north and pushing south, but the surge was minimal so off we went. Right after we got in the water with our Bladefish 5000’s in hand, a man and his wife got in without any scooter. My buddy and I headed to the main wall, scootering against the strong current headed North West. While we weren’t exactly zipping along and we were kicking leisurely to go a bit faster, we did make steady progress against the current and did not have to drop down until we hit the main wall. We dropped into about 65ft of water and were quickly at 115ft, our max depth for this dive. At depth, the current was not real noticeable so we scootered North along the main wall until we hit the pinnacle with the anchor line strewn all around it as we were told about in the dive briefing. This marked the area where fisherman discard the fish guts and heads so we headed East towards shore looking for more the bigger fish. In the dive brief, we were told that we probably wouldn’t make it that far, but we sure did (thanks to the scooters) and we had plenty of pressure left in our tanks. As soon as we turned east and started heading for shallower water, now on top of the main wall (as opposed to adjacent to it), two grouper swam out of their hole, right next to us. The first one I estimate to be about 80 pounds and the second was much smaller at probably 20-30 pounds. Turtles were abundant here as was sea life in general. We were now heading across the sand towards the mini wall and the current became very noticeable. On the way we saw some stingrays and a small eagle ray. The shallower we got the more intense the current became but because we planned our dive against the current anyways and because we were at our halfway point in the dive, it worked out perfectly and we let the current take us back to shore effortlessly. In fact, on the way back, I actually used my Bladefish to slow me down in the few places without having to turn around. Two thirds of the way back, the scooters batteries were exhausted, but it did not matter because the current was all we needed. We worked the scooters pretty hard on this dive on the surface swim out against the current and then on the swim across the sand to the mini wall. Without the scooters, this dive would have not been possible, we would not have covered even a quarter of the area we covered and most likely we would have had to exit the water south of where we entered.
Once on dry land and after rinsing our gear and laying some of it out to dry in the sun, a car pulled up and two fully suited scuba divers got out of the passenger seats and pulled their tanks from the trunk. Remember how I told you about the couple that entered the water without scooters right after we did? It was them. They did not look very pleased and they commented on how bad the current was and how it was not advisable to dive in these conditions. They told us they were swept south by the current immediately upon entering the water and they had to exit very far south from the entry point and hitch a ride back to the dive resort. We gave them an obligatory nod, acknowledging the bad current which we effortlessly overcame with the Bladefish 5000’s.
Well, I have the Bladefish 5000 and so does my dive buddy. We both purchased them prior to a trip to Grand Cayman with the full intention of shore diving. In Grand Cayman, many if not most of the moored dive sites are accessible from shore if you're a strong swimmer and have an aid such as a scooter/dpv. Dive boats typically cost 80-110 usd for two dives. I've been to Grand Cayman about 8 times in the last 15 years and I've always wanted the freedom to dive without being at the mercy of a crowded dive boat that often choose conservative sites to cut down on their liability.
In Grand Cayman, I did 11 dives in 6 days. 9 of them were with the Bladefish 5000 and 8 of the dives were from the shore. I've journaled all of the dives and will post a link to that on this topic at a later date if you really want an in depth firsthand account of how the Bladefish 5000 contributed to the diving in a very meaningful way.
I've been diving since I was 11 (now I’m 30) and have quite a bit of formal training and dive experience. Most of my diving is in the cold waters of Southern California, but I had obviously done my share of warm water tropical diving as well.
In brief, they outperformed my expectations. The single greatest attribute of these devices is their size. They are easy to travel with (can you say that about any other DPV?) and they are easy to transport with you to the dive (even on a boat), during the dive when they are not in use, and after the dive when you're tired and thirsty. They do require two hands to operate, but it is easy to position your gauges in your left hand and operate the scooter at the same time. During our dives, I could see my computer pressure and compass while simultaneously operating the Bladefish. These devices do not zip you around like the much heavier and more expensive DPV's that would be used in the Military, but for recreational diving they are perfect. With full gear on in tropical conditions and not kicking, they move you as fast if not slightly faster than if you were kicking. Add a few dolphin kicks to the mix and you move at a good pace. The Bladefish 5000's allowed us to do nice leisurely dives with maximum down time at sites and in conditions that would have otherwise been severely limited by the current or distance from shore. Below is my account of just one such dive in Grand Cayman. There are several others which I will be posting on my site of which a link will be provided on this topic at a later date.
North of Lighthouse point from Divetech resort – Main Wall - Grand Cayman island
We took a look at the conditions at Cobalt Coast dive resort and decided that a shore dive there would be ill advised. We headed back to lighthouse point, rented tanks and got a fantastic dive brief from the gal at the shop (we had run into her at west bay dock earlier on in the trip and she was friendly and helpful then as well). Instead of diving 80 ft aluminum cubic foot tanks like we had been, this time we grabbed 100 cubic foot tanks. The current was still strong, coming from the north and pushing south, but the surge was minimal so off we went. Right after we got in the water with our Bladefish 5000’s in hand, a man and his wife got in without any scooter. My buddy and I headed to the main wall, scootering against the strong current headed North West. While we weren’t exactly zipping along and we were kicking leisurely to go a bit faster, we did make steady progress against the current and did not have to drop down until we hit the main wall. We dropped into about 65ft of water and were quickly at 115ft, our max depth for this dive. At depth, the current was not real noticeable so we scootered North along the main wall until we hit the pinnacle with the anchor line strewn all around it as we were told about in the dive briefing. This marked the area where fisherman discard the fish guts and heads so we headed East towards shore looking for more the bigger fish. In the dive brief, we were told that we probably wouldn’t make it that far, but we sure did (thanks to the scooters) and we had plenty of pressure left in our tanks. As soon as we turned east and started heading for shallower water, now on top of the main wall (as opposed to adjacent to it), two grouper swam out of their hole, right next to us. The first one I estimate to be about 80 pounds and the second was much smaller at probably 20-30 pounds. Turtles were abundant here as was sea life in general. We were now heading across the sand towards the mini wall and the current became very noticeable. On the way we saw some stingrays and a small eagle ray. The shallower we got the more intense the current became but because we planned our dive against the current anyways and because we were at our halfway point in the dive, it worked out perfectly and we let the current take us back to shore effortlessly. In fact, on the way back, I actually used my Bladefish to slow me down in the few places without having to turn around. Two thirds of the way back, the scooters batteries were exhausted, but it did not matter because the current was all we needed. We worked the scooters pretty hard on this dive on the surface swim out against the current and then on the swim across the sand to the mini wall. Without the scooters, this dive would have not been possible, we would not have covered even a quarter of the area we covered and most likely we would have had to exit the water south of where we entered.
Once on dry land and after rinsing our gear and laying some of it out to dry in the sun, a car pulled up and two fully suited scuba divers got out of the passenger seats and pulled their tanks from the trunk. Remember how I told you about the couple that entered the water without scooters right after we did? It was them. They did not look very pleased and they commented on how bad the current was and how it was not advisable to dive in these conditions. They told us they were swept south by the current immediately upon entering the water and they had to exit very far south from the entry point and hitch a ride back to the dive resort. We gave them an obligatory nod, acknowledging the bad current which we effortlessly overcame with the Bladefish 5000’s.
cool_hardware52
Contributor
Has physics changed? Is power not a function of velocity to the third power?
I never questioned the claimed size of the bladefish, only the claimed speeds of 3.75 mph
But the manufacturer claims they actually *Exceed* the performance of "heavier and more expensive" scooters.
A kicking diver will travel some where between 50~80 ft per minute. That's less than *1* mph.
The bladefish claims 3.75 mph. This is the basis of my criticism, it's simply not possible for the product to perform anywhere near it's inflated claims.
Tobin
Mattleycrue76
Contributor
Tobin put it well. The trashing is mainly of the scooters claims, not of the scooter in and of itself. To give you a comparison, even in 3rd out of five speeds on a Sierra attempting to kick will actually cause more drag and slow you down due to your body moving out of the most hydrodynamic position. Not to mention top gear or a cuda.
I'd like to see how it stacks up to the 300W $149 specials on Ebay. I bet it's pretty close.
If the manufacurer hadn't chosen to make such outlandish claims I'm sure the reactions would not have been so strong
I'd like to see how it stacks up to the 300W $149 specials on Ebay. I bet it's pretty close.
If the manufacurer hadn't chosen to make such outlandish claims I'm sure the reactions would not have been so strong
commanderscuba
Registered
cool_hardware52:
Thanks for telling us for the 20th time.
The below point from my original post was obviously missed.I used the Bladefish 5000 device multiple times over a week long mostly shore diving vacation in Grand Cayman. 7 of the nine dives with it were on Grand Cayman's main wall at max depth of 115 feet or below. More than half of the dives required a level of excursion that would have otherwise materially limited the dive's range, bottom time and accessibility.
And the thing weighs 11 pounds and takes only four hours to fully charge from an exhausted battery.
While the Bladefish 5000 can support a bigger person (i weigh 210 without any gear), weight does play a significant factor in speed. A 120 pounder with snorkeling gear goes much faster than a 210 pounder with full scuba gear. Some folks could get moving pretty swiftly with one of these.
Lastly, the battery lasts about 1:15 at high speed with near continuous use. On several of our dives we used it for the tow out to the dive site, to cruise arond at depth and then a tow back. On less accessible sites, we used it just for the tow out and back.
Worked like a charm.
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