BLADEFISH Sea Jets - A Completely Different Approach

[commanderscuba]

Sounds like a roto rooter, has a high pitched sound very "Gear" related, almost like your tumbling small rocks in a rock tumbler/polisher.

Out of water the scooter's engine is loud. It doesn't sound as loud underwater by any means, but it's still noisy. Not quite as loud as a boat's propeller but close. Thus far I've only used mine in Grand Cayman. Prior to using it, I was concerned that the noise would disturb or scare off the sea life. I was a bit surprised when it had just the opposite effect. The fish, turtles and other sea life seemed actually interested and attracted to it at times but mostly they just ignored it. On a night dive, tarpon followed us throughout the entire dive using our lights to feed. The bladefish didn’t bother them at all.

A recommendation though. If you're going to bring them on a dive boat, make sure you make the dive operator aware of it prior to departing. When you get to the dive site, you should be prepared to dive apart from the group as you'll be able to cover a significantly larger range. Obviously you should have a dive buddy who also has one. If you instead choose to stay in the general vicinity of the other divers, the scooter's noise can be a bit annoying to them. The bladefish are great for extending bottom time and significantly increasing range by minimizing exertion and increasing speed. If you are diving a site such as a small wreck, you might as well leave the bladefish on the boat unless you plan on exploring other areas away from the wreck. The beauty of it is that the bladefish is so easy to transport and stow that you can bring it along and decide whether or not you want to use them when you get to the site.

Tomorrow my dive buddy and I are taking them out on our first cold water dive. We're most likely diving the Yukon, a sunken Canadian Destroyer that sits in ~100 ft. of water. Due to the sheer size of this wreck and its depth, it is very difficult to cover much ground. We plan on changing that tomorrow with the bladefish. I’ll be interested to see how the extra 14 pounds of weight and increased drag from the wetsuit effect the scooter’s performance.

 

[TheMadDane]

Commanderscuba,

Let us know how the wreck dive goes.

 

[commanderscuba]

According to Phil, though the claims are based on "an actual test," notice how careful the wording is in the claim: "I just had a conversation with Gary over at Innovative. The estimated speed data provided for Bladefish was based on a 60 pound snorkeler. This is how the speed was estimated." Not measured, not determined, but estimated. Maybe it's semantics, maybe not. But with the extreme nature of the claim, I wouldn't be surprised if it was some kind of CYA hedge against saying "we actually hit 3.75mph in reality."



To me, this sounds like Ford claiming a Pinto has a top speed of 400mph. Could you conceivably get the car going that fast? Maybe. Should you state that as the vehicle's top speed? Probably not.

On the box that it comes in, they have an asterisk next to the speed rating that says, "estimated". Sounds more like clever marketing than lying. The good news is that Divers who do purchase these devices as I did will be pleased with their purchase. After I purchased mine, I was reading this forum and I grew concerned that the device would not meet my expectations or recreational diving needs. But then I used it and it exceeded my expectations.

I have no interest in promoting this scooter. I'm not in the dive business, I don't work for the manufacturer or a distributor or retailer. The only reason I am adamantly supporting this device and speaking out about the folks that continue to repeat themselves over and over and over again on this thread about marketing claims is that I don't want other divers to be discouraged from getting one (like I was at first). In my opinion, this is one of the best scuba products available on the market for recreational divers who want to extend their range and bottom time. I've done multiple dives with it where the scooter made what would have been an arduous and limiting dive extremely possible and enjoyable.

In terms of the speed rating. I weigh 210 pounds (more with full gear on). My dive buddy's girlfriend weighs ~130 lbs. She took it for a spin with snorkeling gear alongside my dive buddy who weighs ~180 and she went quite a bit faster than he did. If they did test it with a 60 lb person using snorkel gear, I could see how it may be easy to come to a 3+ mph speed estimate. At the end of the day, if you're looking for a commercial scooter to be used with critical applications, this is not it. If you're like me and you're looking for an extremely light weight dpv for purely recreational purposes, then you've found it with the Bladefish 5000.

And for all the folks that can't sleep at night because of the marketing claims made by the manufacturer - give it a rest already. We don't care. We've read what you have to say and you just keep repeating yourself. When I was on my dive trip, every other diver and dive operator we encountered displayed an interest in them and most displayed envy. Plain and simple - this DPV marks a great innovation in the scuba industry and greatly extends the capabilities of recreational divers.

So while you're writing your reply to my post pointing out for the millionth time how the manufacturer's claims are grossly misleading and how they should be shunned for doing so - implying that nobody should do business with them because they gave themselves a generous speed estimate (which may be close for a 60lb'er), I’ll be out in the ocean off the coast of San Diego, effortlessly Bladefishing around at the outer reaches of a shore divers typical range searching for seven gill sharks. We were going to do the Yukon today, but it looks like that may have to wait for tomorrow.

 

[commanderscuba]

I thought I'd post another one of my dive experiences with the Bladefish 5000. This one nicely illustrates some of the general benefits a diver can expect from the dpv.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Babylon – North East side of the Island, shore dive

This moored dive site is typically accessed by boat and is a favorite amongst locals and adventurous divers who want to dive off the beaten path away from seven mile beach. At 8:00 am we picked our tanks up from Divers Supply on seven mile beach and followed our directions to the entry point. To get to this site from seven mile beach you head south and then cut across the island at Frank Sound and head south again (right) once you reach the other side. From there it’s just another couple minutes driving until you find the Queen’s monument which means you have driven too far. After pulling in and out of a couple natural beach access points on the side of the road, we came upon what we thought to be the dive site with two white mooring balls marking them. We parked, got our gear ready and entered the water with our fins and Bladefish 5000’s in hand at approximately 9:30 am.

We walked in about waste deep water until we got past the initial barrier reef and then we put our fins on and fired up the scooters. There was a current pushing from the west to the east and there was a dive boat already on site. We scootered through the current to the dive boat and confirmed with them that we were in fact at the famous Babylon site. They were a bit surprised to see us effortlessly access this dive site from the shore while their passengers had paid them $100 usd + for the lift. We dropped down on the main wall which began at about 65 feet and immediately we were awestruck by the coral formations and ridges. It looked like an underwater glacier with crevices abound and we immediately scootered through a swim through, around a massive pinnacle and popped out on the main wall. There are two moored dive sites next to each other and after we had thoroughly explored Babylon, we scootered east and explored the other site. On our way east, in the distance we spotted a large fish which we estimated to be five to six feet in length and 200+ pounds in weight. At first we thought it might be a goliath grouper, but the shape and color just didn’t seem right and according to local residents we spoke to, there are no grouper of that size on the island. The fish did not swim all that gracefully, was silver, had plenty of girth and didn’t seem interested in us at all. At 600 psi we decided to start our swim/scooter back. We quickly came upon shallower water and were able to complete our 15ft safety stop while in route. We made it back to the barrier reef and shortly on the other side my dive buddy’s scooter was out of juice. This was where we were walking anyways, so he took his fins off and walked back. My scooter pulled me right up to shore in 3 feet of water.

This was a very nice dive and required very little excursion on our end. Had we not had the scooters, the dive would have been much more work, our down time would have been minimal and we would have covered a small fraction of the reef compared to what we actually covered. Not to mention that the kick back in would have most likely had to be on the surface and would have been exhausting.

 

[roastbeef]

More junk on the market give your money to charity instead of pissing it away on this junk.

 

[deeper thoughts]

I thought I'd post another one of my dive experiences with the Bladefish 5000. This one nicely illustrates some of the general benefits a diver can expect from the dpv.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Babylon – North East side of the Island, shore dive

This moored dive site is typically accessed by boat and is a favorite amongst locals and adventurous divers who want to dive off the beaten path away from seven mile beach. At 8:00 am we picked our tanks up from Divers Supply on seven mile beach and followed our directions to the entry point. To get to this site from seven mile beach you head south and then cut across the island at Frank Sound and head south again (right) once you reach the other side. From there it’s just another couple minutes driving until you find the Queen’s monument which means you have driven too far. After pulling in and out of a couple natural beach access points on the side of the road, we came upon what we thought to be the dive site with two white mooring balls marking them. We parked, got our gear ready and entered the water with our fins and Bladefish 5000’s in hand at approximately 9:30 am.

We walked in about waste deep water until we got past the initial barrier reef and then we put our fins on and fired up the scooters. There was a current pushing from the west to the east and there was a dive boat already on site. We scootered through the current to the dive boat and confirmed with them that we were in fact at the famous Babylon site. They were a bit surprised to see us effortlessly access this dive site from the shore while their passengers had paid them $100 usd + for the lift. We dropped down on the main wall which began at about 65 feet and immediately we were awestruck by the coral formations and ridges. It looked like an underwater glacier with crevices abound and we immediately scootered through a swim through, around a massive pinnacle and popped out on the main wall. There are two moored dive sites next to each other and after we had thoroughly explored Babylon, we scootered east and explored the other site. On our way east, in the distance we spotted a large fish which we estimated to be five to six feet in length and 200+ pounds in weight. At first we thought it might be a goliath grouper, but the shape and color just didn’t seem right and according to local residents we spoke to, there are no grouper of that size on the island. The fish did not swim all that gracefully, was silver, had plenty of girth and didn’t seem interested in us at all. At 600 psi we decided to start our swim/scooter back. We quickly came upon shallower water and were able to complete our 15ft safety stop while in route. We made it back to the barrier reef and shortly on the other side my dive buddy’s scooter was out of juice. This was where we were walking anyways, so he took his fins off and walked back. My scooter pulled me right up to shore in 3 feet of water.

This was a very nice dive and required very little excursion on our end. Had we not had the scooters, the dive would have been much more work, our down time would have been minimal and we would have covered a small fraction of the reef compared to what we actually covered. Not to mention that the kick back in would have most likely had to be on the surface and would have been exhausting.

My wife and I each have one and it is the best money we have spent on gear in a while

 

[skottie]

ilot: The bf can pull a geared up diver with doubles and side mounts at 250ft/sec or 124 mph (terminal velocity) -drag, After leaving the plane. Upon impact to the water The diver will be at a speed in excess of 3mph. I thought false advertising was illegal because not only does it discredit quality, it makes people imagine things. As when someone says my bf goes 3+ mph when truth be told it goes >1mph. Each blade fish should come with a complementary bottle of snake oil. or how about red bull instead because it gives you wings. This thread is about the claims by the mfg! If you want to over pay for a rec dpv get a sea-bob, there about 20K

 

[mikes351]

ilot: The bf can pull a geared up diver with doubles and side mounts at 250ft/sec or 124 mph (terminal velocity) -drag, After leaving the plane. Upon impact to the water The diver will be at a speed in excess of 3mph. I thought false advertising was illegal because not only does it discredit quality, it makes people imagine things. As when someone says my bf goes 3+ mph when truth be told it goes >1mph. Each blade fish should come with a complementary bottle of snake oil. or how about red bull instead because it gives you wings. This thread is about the claims by the mfg! If you want to over pay for a rec dpv get a sea-bob, there about 20K

Seems like we are going to needs 'special' masks for that type of entry!

 

[ProfessorAronnax]

My wife and I each have one and it is the best money we have spent on gear in a while

I have a garage full of DPVs-and the Bladefish 5000 is now my scooter of choice mainly because it's so user friendly-it's a "grab and go" scooter. 1. Easy(your scuba mask requires more maintenance) 2. Incredibility light and portable-takes up no space in your vehicle-or garage-and is a breeze getting it to your shore entry point.

The BladeFish 5000 is a truly hassle free, fun scooter

 

[deeper thoughts]

I have a garage full of DPVs-and the Bladefish 5000 is now my scooter of choice mainly because it's so user friendly-it's a "grab and go" scooter. 1. Easy(your scuba mask requires more maintenance) 2. Incredibility light and portable-takes up no space in your vehicle-or garage-and is a breeze getting it to your shore entry point.

The BladeFish 5000 is a truly hassle free, fun scooter

You cant beat it.