brand new to idea of scooters

[jomcclain]

Used scooters such as this are most beautiful

View attachment 693574

Most.

Is there a place where I could find one and be assured that the owner isn't ditching it because of it having a serious problem?

 

[jomcclain]

not going to happen. Anything that cheap is going to be something like an old Gavin which while a perfectly good DPV is far too heavy to ask to use on a boat. 5 years ago you could probably get away with asking for someone to help you with an 80lb scooter but with the Blacktips being less than 30lbs it's a bit of a hard sell.

Blacktip for $2k+batteries is going to be about as cheap as you can get for a "real" DPV.
Scubajet Neo will be about $2000 with a pro battery instead of a "spare" battery *you don't want to change them if you don't have to and it's the same amount of total power which is what matters anyway. The Scubajet is a bit more of a gimmick type DPV though is quite useful for blowing sand for teeth and for OW is probably perfectly suitable. I think @Dr. Doug Ebersole has both a Scubajet and a Blacktip so he may be able to comment about them, but either way you're at the $2k-$2500 range, not sub $1k.

I don't understand. Why would I have to ask someone to help me on the boat?

 

[jomcclain]

I know almost nothing about scooters but am considering getting one now for my husband. He is less able to kick well if he has to cross a current, which will close off a lot of potential dive sites for us unless we can find a solution, such as a scooter. He wouldn't need anything fancy, but I wouldn't want to get something that wouldn't do the job either. Can someone make recommendations and/or tell me what characteristics to look for? Also, are scooters allowed on most dive boats? I've never seen anyone with one, so that makes me wonder.

It seem that the consensus is that $2000 is more realistic than 1000. I find many scooters for sale online for less than 1000, such as the Yamaha Seascooter 220 Li and the Lefeet S1. Given that he would only need to use it for moments at a time, such as swimming perpendicular to a current, what would you expect to go wrong in his using scooters like these? He weights about 175lbs. He's not unable to kick, it's just that his kick is not as strong as it used to be. Also, someone said that they aren't allowed in SE Florida dive boats. Does anyone know about their being allowed, or not allowed, elsewhere? If they aren't allowed generally, the the question of which one to buy becomes moot.

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[Marie13]

I think that would be fine. He wouldn't be using it all the time, just if he had to go against or across a current momentarily. He's not unable to kick, his kick is just not as strong as it used to be.

I’ve never heard of anyone having a scooter on a dive and just using it for momentary bits. Everyone I know who has them uses them for the entire dive. Not saying you can’t use it for a bit, I’ve just never heard of it. And then you’ve got the scooter to deal with when you’re not using it on a dive.

 

[jomcclain]

you will be hard pressed to find anything decent for under 1k$, especially with a functioning battery etc..
you could look at getting a pair of blacktip travels, one each, get 4 battery packs for them and enjoy a lot more diving..decent entry scooter but new will set you back around 1.7k$ each+ a few hundred for batteries..

Why would I need a pair of them?

 

[jomcclain]

If I remember correctly, the OP’s husband has health issues that make him unable to swim against current. Someone in the minimal current dive sites thread suggested a scooter.

My question is what happens if the scooter dies in the middle of a dive? Is the OP’s husband going to be able to swim back to the boat hauling the scooter or is the OP going to have to do that?

I think that would be fine. He wouldn't be using it all the time, just if he had to go against or across a current momentarily. He's not unable to kick, his kick is just not as strong as it used to be.

 

[jomcclain]

I’ve never heard of anyone having a scooter on a dive and just using it for momentary bits. Everyone I know who has them uses them for the entire dive. Not saying you can’t use it for a bit, I’ve just never heard of it. And then you’ve got the scooter to deal with when you’re not using it on a dive.

I assume that they are neutrally bouyant (it would be stupid if they aren't!), so I don't know why it would be a problem to deal with on the dive when not using it, other than just having to hold on to it. Do you know of any reason why it would be a problem to tote along?

 

[Marie13]

I assume that they are neutrally bouyant (it would be stupid if they aren't!), so I don't know why it would be a problem to deal with on the dive when not using it, other than just having to hold on to it. Do you know of any reason why it would be a problem to tote along?

I’m waiting for the regular scooter users to chime in. A lot of people I know have them, but I refuse to get one at this point as it’s just more heavy crap to haul around.

 

[AJ]

I assume that they are neutrally bouyant (it would be stupid if they aren't!), so I don't know why it would be a problem to deal with on the dive when not using it, other than just having to hold on to it. Do you know of any reason why it would be a problem to tote along?

I suggest to try before you buy. A scooter is a lot of fun while scootering, but a pita when not using it. Drag, constantly in the way, occupies one hand all the time. It's not like a stage you tuck away. You will understand once you have tried it.

 

[tbone1004]

I don't understand. Why would I have to ask someone to help me on the boat?

Typically on a dive boat the DPV's are handed to the crew who will haul them up the ladder for you. The weight is an issue as well as the width on many of the boats if they have a tuna door.

Those Yamaha scooters you mentioned are woefully inadequate for scuba use. Admittedly the last Tahoe Benchmark was from 2011

http://www.tahoebenchmark.com/pdfs/2011/BinderTBM2011v30.pdf

but you can see the "toy" scooters with ~8lbs of thrust from Seadoo and Torpeedo pulling ~250w give or take and able to move a diver in a single tank at about 100fpm which is marginally faster than most people can kick. Anything less than 30lbs of thrust is considered a toy and these days it really needs to be about 40lbs to be considered useful for any real diving. The Scubajet is the only baby scooter that has that amount of thrust and what I would probably recommend for this application since you can't get yourself into nearly the amount of trouble that you could with a Blacktip and it is considerably less annoying in the water when you aren't using it. As stated above, DPV's are obnoxious when you aren't using them, especially any of the toy scooters since you can't push them back between your legs.

The 220Li from Yamaha has an 88.8wh battery and a run time quoted of "up to 60mins", so let's say it runs for 60mins which means it has a 89wh draw *not including 20% written off for BMS, all the other losses etc*, so basically it's pulling about 90w in the motor which means as a scuba diver it's probably not going to be able to move you at the same speed that you can kick, it's a toy, nothing more.
Lefeet claims 7kgf of thrust which is about 15lbs of thrust. Still only enough to "assist" a scuba diver while kicking and really not enough to tow one around, especially with only half an hour of use on high.