Brand Quality?

[Dr Neil]

I would stick to companies who back their gear.

But when it come to buying your gear, test drive as much as you can before you buy it.

For example, I recently purchased a new back-up mask. I tried on every mask in the store. After narrowing down to a couple of masks, I took them in the pool and tested them. The mask I purchased would not have been even considered if I merely went by what is popular.

Remember, you have to live with what you buy so make wise choices.

 

[mike_s]

T

I will confess that I am looking at some Aeris gear (I can get a great price on some right now), but I am very concerned about their lack of response in the manufacturer's Q and A forum. It seems that a number of their customers have had great difficulty in getting them to reply.

Their presence here is purely optional. With the economy hitting hard on dive equipment manufacturers, they have less employees to help keep the company running...

some manufacturers specify a person to answer questions here, some don't, and some just have an employee/manager who likes Scubaboard that takes on the role "as they have time".

Nevertheless, I had viewed brands like Sherwood, Genesis, etc. as the "Wal-Mart" of the diving world. That may be an unfair an inaccurate description, but that is what I am currently trying to determine.
.

Sherwood and Genesis are the same company, just different brands. Akona is also in the same group.....

I wouldn't rank them as low as "Walmart of the diving world" though. The Sherwood equipment I've used I've had no complaints about.


However, I would like to point out something that I learned last week, which was that Sherwood doesn't consider all of it's regulators to be "nitrox ready" out of the box. You have to buy an upgrade kit that runs $150 installed as quoted by one recent post on the board.

to me, this is something that is "included as standard" with any new regulator you buy from most any other manufacturer. so why should I have to go pay $150 extra to have the regulator "cleaned" and have better o2 quality o-rings installed just so I can use nitrox "up to 40%".

I would much rather take that $150 and spend it on something else.... just my opinion.

 

[damage]

To avoid the "can of worms" I will give you my opinion based on equipment that I own or used:

Scubapro: very reliable, a bit expensive, but never have a problem with my bcd or regulators, the brand of choice for me
Sherwood: I used my instructor's regulator for a while, and like the brand, but very hard to find here, so is hard to get the anual mantainence.
Mares: Mixed opinions, I really like the designs, in the wet suits, my mask is mares, and is the best that I've ever have, very confortable, my fins are volo, feel a little dissapointed regarding the quality, I've been using only for a year,and are showing some flaws. The regulators, are top notch or very bad, my bad experiences are from the rental ones, so I can't blame the mark.
Bare: very nice wet suit, true to size, and very good value.
Tusa: Sturdy mark, have a mask and a mesh bag, really liked, a frien has a bcd and fins and is very happy with them.
Dive Rite: I have a few months with my BP/W but seems that It will last forever.
Ikelite and Pelican: I 've using for more thant a year this lamps and never have an issue with them.


Recently I bought an xs scuba bag and some weights, so far so good and some things are cheaper than the more popular brands, but I've never used a regulator or a bcd.

Hope this helps