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There are plenty of UN/ISO paintball tanks in the market today.

It's really getting down into the weeds but if you want to learn more check this document:

that doc is by somebody that makes money with ISO cylinders, and I disagree with many of the interpretations and assertions it makes. he conflates ISO and UN, which has overlap but is not the same. A look at the regs he cites shows that there are issues.

Anyhow, there is a TON to unpack then implement to make it actually legal. None of this is me asserting it is unsafe, I don't have enough information, nor any reason to believe it so.

I also, am curious of composition of the bag and potential issues with Nitrox, more so from durability issues thru oxidization which is much accelerated given a 3000psi fill of 36% has ~73.47 as the PPO2.

But all that said, it is actually really cool engineering and kudos for the out of box thinking.
 
I really think it will fizzle. Traditional scuba gear works fine and there is no impetus for change.

I am just relaying the reactions of people who know a lot more than me about the technical issues and who said they "answered all our questions."
 
Worn out record here on SB but I don’t see what’s wrong with my BP/W.
The issue is best fit for a given role. If you offer a concierge service to occasional vacation divers in benign conditions, and you want to make it as easy and intuitive as possible, something like this might have a role. The video says no weights and no BC. From the user's perspective, it sounds simple.

Many people like BP/W, but if we forego the 'you have to make a lot of decisions' discussion by assuming pre-configured rig.s for rental/excursion equipment, we also forego the optimization of getting it 'dialed in' personalized over time.

I'm picturing a sporadic vacation diver being shown two setup options; the first looks minimalist, easy to use and unencumbering, without even needing weights. The next looks like a parachute pack bonded to a metal plate with nylon straps, and the staff is telling him that bottom one is the 'crotch strap.'

Even if this thing finds a lasting niche in the market (and that's a big 'if'), I think it'll be a small one.

This reminds me of computer columnist John Dvorak many years ago relating a discussion with an engineer over Apple's iPod music player. The guy didn't get what the big deal was about it. Dvorak tried explaining how slick and intuitive it was to use, but the engineer still didn't get it. To him, with his intelligence and technical aptitude, the other digital music players on the market were probably 'intuitive' enough. But to Joe Average, the iPod was better suited.
 
Not to get into the weeds here and in no way, to me, does this look like a long term viable idea but be aware these same arguments existed for things like b/c’s, dive computers etc. sometimes we are so comfortable with gear that we fail to see an advantage, sometime group think is right, like split fins…


let me add, the pinnacle Tahoe is still something I’m waiting to hear about from a actual user.
 
Of course I bet all the horse and buggy owners were also skeptical about the first car :).

But, I too happen to like riding my traditional gear. Be it comfort level, habit, training, trust, reputation, … all that takes time to establish … and can only happen with some level of adoption. Definitely great to see and support innovation and advancement. I’m still hoping those guys with the ‘gills’ can make it work. Maybe a high pressure pump like this to run water through the oxygen extraction system ….

I am disappointed not to have looked at it more closely at the show. I saw folks walking around in the tanks but somehow missed the memo.
 
Of course I bet all the horse and buggy owners were also skeptical about the first car :).

But, I too happen to like riding my traditional gear. Be it comfort level, habit, training, trust, reputation, … all that takes time to establish … and can only happen with some level of adoption. Definitely great to see and support innovation and advancement. I’m still hoping those guys with the ‘gills’ can make it work. Maybe a high pressure pump like this to run water through the oxygen extraction system ….

I am disappointed not to have looked at it more closely at the show. I saw folks walking around in the tanks but somehow missed the memo.
Well the car had A LOT of advantages over the horse and buggy.

A closer analogy might be the introduction of the horse collar BC in the 1970s. We know a few die hards who still claim BCs are unnecessary.

The main benefit of this unit is that it has a bit less drag and is about 20lbs lighter than an equivalent rig (40lbs vs 60lbs -- not a big enough swing to justify the complexity IMO).

Just to clarify something that people may not grasp: this is not automated buoyancy control. The diver still has to add/release water to adjust their buoyancy. It's not a self driving BC.
 
This device may not be perfect... to me is useless. I'm an old-fart-get-off-my-lawn type of person, so I'm not part the target demographic.

But even if this device ends up dead before taking off, it could inspire a better one, and even if that 2nd item doesn't work either, it may pave the road for a 3rd or a 4th that becomes the next greatest piece of gear that every diver will love to use.

A solution to a problem that doesn't exist? maybe.
To continue on the car analogy, I don't need assistance to parallel parking but there it is on many new models, I don't even like cruise control but it's not even optional anymore, even my old standard transmission jeep has it.. talk about teats on a bull.

Some people love their split fins, others can't go without their spare air.... both things I consider ridiculous but having new things is never bad, even if it turns up to be crap, how else are we going to end with the flying cars I was promised when I was little, I'm still waiting.
 
my old standard transmission jeep has it.. talk about teats on a bull.


Your Jeep has "teats"?? I really got to find out where you park it and take it for a spin.
 
After giving this a bit of thought, here is my take as a buyer on attending the 2021 DEMA Show exhibit hall. Almost none of the major full line SCUBA equipment vendors were in attendance. Notably absent were most of the majors like Aqualung, Dive Rite, Huish Brands (Atomic, Bare, Hollis, Oceanic, Zeagle), Mares, Poseidon, ScubaPro, and XS Scuba. Almost none of the offshore OEM manufacturer representatives attended either; although most do not ever use exhibit booths for marketing directly to retailers, they are very important part of the business regardless. I had an impression that several of the equipment exhibitors that did attend had scaled back considerably, instead of a 20x10 or larger space, they had the smallest 10x10 space. For example, OMS, which previously had a large space of their own, just had a very small display inside the DUI booth. One of the most notable was Innovative Scuba, that in the past typically had a large space displaying practically their entire product line, literally had nothing but some signage and table with some printed catalogs but no visible product at all. There were also quite a few non-industry exhibitors selling vibrating chairs, cosmetics, aroma therapy, fashion accessories, etc. I'm not interested in the trips and travel exhibitors, but those spaces seemed to overwhelm the show floor, even if somewhat scaled back in size. The fact is, attending this years show was not justified in terms of the expense and had I not already had non-refundable air tickets purchased in May I would not have attended.

Overall, my impression is total floor space was about two thirds smaller or said in another way the show was roughly a third of its normal physical size. Even that is perhaps overly optimistic because the trend of trips and travel exhibitors representing an ever-increasing proportion of the show was very apparent this year. If netted out to just equipment, I think the reduction in exhibitors is even more substantial. If the attendance claimed by DEMA is to be believed, then attendance was over 70% lower than normal. I know some insiders who believe the attendance numbers for past shows have been inflated. One insider told me that this year’s pre-registrations were less than 1K and after the show another just laughed at the idea that prior year attendance was anywhere near the numbers claimed. There were a few success stories, and most of the exhibitors I spoke with did put the circumstances in the best light; saying while the total numbers were low there was a better proportion of "actual buyers" (as opposed to the entourage of non-buyer shop staff and family aimlessly wandering the exhibits). Although, with a longer discussion it seems the actual open-to-buys was not-so-much. Several exhibitors expressed some concern about the routine DEMA practice of requiring exhibitors to sign contracts now for next year’s show.

IMO, the DEMA Show faces far more headwind than just the global pandemic. The education and exhibit show business model has been less and less relevant for years, and all that the pandemic has done is accelerate the process. Historically for our industry, the business model was the retailer brought a team to attend vendor training clinics and product education, while their buyer spent significant time placing substantial "booking orders" with their major suppliers for deliveries during the upcoming season. But modern retail in the dive industry just really cannot function like that anymore. Add to that the radical changes in business travel due to the expense, the week of disruption to the industry that is operating as lean as possible, and the ever-increasing costs to exhibitors of transporting and setup for display booths. Finally, vendors have realized alternative methods of education perfected during the lockdown in most cases are working better for less expense than the traditional methods of seminars held at DEMA. The result is that DEMA will likely struggle to recover. That’s not to say DEMA itself doesn’t have a role in the dive industry, but the DEMA Show probably isn’t going to continue as a major source of income to support the DEMA mission. Like our dysfunctional industry itself, DEMA will survive, but only by virtue of substantial changes required to adapt to the future of retail.
 

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