Review Diving the Avelo System

[jadairiii]

Even D.A.N are labelling it as safer than traditional diving

Any chance of referencing/link to this statement?

 

[scubadada]

...Even D.A.N are labelling it as safer than traditional diving...

Any chance of referencing/link to this statement?

@jakeluther may be alluding to the webinar with Dan Orr, the former CEO of DAN. This is a personal opinion and not an endorsement by DAN. The webinar is linked at the bottom of the Technology page of the Avelo website

Avelo - Technology

diveavelo.com

 

[tekkydiver]

@jakeluther may be alluding to the webinar with Dan Orr, the former CEO of DAN. This is a personal opinion and not an endorsement by DAN. The webinar is linked at the bottom of the Technology page of the Avelo website

Avelo - Technology

diveavelo.com

For me the safety has more to do with the diver than the choice of equipment

 

[scubadada]

The Shearwater Teric Avelo Mode manual is available on the Shearwater website

AVELO SUPPORT

Here you will find the manual and FAQ for Avelo Mode on Shearwater dive computers.

shearwater.com

Cloud support is included in version 2.11.7
Teric support is available in firmware V30

 

[SouthernSharktoothDiver]

All I can say to everyone is TRY IT. It will answer most of your questions and comments. I love it, will it replace traditional scuba gear, No.. But its an innovation and a progression of whats possible. Will I use it wherever it's available? most definitely.

I did my RAD at Abyss Scuba in Sydney with Rachael, and she was brilliant through the whole thing. A lot of the guys there that have over 1500 dives under their belt are using the system every chance they get as they love it also.

At $700 for the cert*, and $4K for just the jet pack, the problem must be huge. From my perspective, it’s just not that big of a deal. I have no desire to try it. With a new product, the burden is on the manufacturer to convince the consumer to part with their money in exchange for the product. From this consumer’s perspective they’ve failed. What I’ve read from their own marketing does not convince me that this is necessary. The numbers they use for a standard scuba system seem drastically inflated. Now, others may see different. Time will tell. I’ve never been annoyed with having to make minor adjustments to my buoyancy throughout a dive.

* $700 was taken from the OP. This actually includes additional dives after cert. So cert pricing is less as identified below.

This to me illustrates the fundamental issue. @EdMcNeill09 and others have repeatedly said that Avelo must be tried to be believed, and that upon trying it is superlatively better. This may be true, but then why are you gonna charge me $700 to find out? In my mind, for Avelo to succeed, they need to lower the cost of the initial try. Avelo claims their product is worth 4 grand, that it is simply better scuba, that I'll know it when I try it, then surely they should be willing to let me try their product at minimal cost, knowing that I'll come back for more. Charging me $700 for the initial use of the product seems at best like a turn off and at worst like a con centered around overhyping a product and overcharging on the usage. After all, if I try it and hate it, Avelo has already gotten between 450 and 700 dollars from me, and that's quite a lot.

 

[Belzelbub]

and others have repeatedly said that Avelo must be tried to be believed, and that upon trying it is superlatively better. This may be true, but then why are you gonna charge me $700 to find out? In my mind, for Avelo to succeed, they need to lower the cost of the initial try.

Exactly. I don't doubt at all that this system works and does what it's intended to. I don't doubt that I'd probably enjoy diving with it. However, I don't have enough of an issue with buoyancy to even think that I need it. My total weight numbers are probably really close to the weight numbers of the Avelo system, so I don't see a huge gain there. I also don't need to fiddle a lot with my buoyancy. Therefore, I have no desire to shell out $450 to try it out. Their Marketing is not working for me. There is also a strong possibility that I'm not their target market.

If it helps new/occasional divers, then that may be what they are looking for. At the costs quoted, though, I don't expect that I'll start seeing them everywhere.

 

[Wibble]

This to me illustrates the fundamental issue. @EdMcNeill09 and others have repeatedly said that Avelo must be tried to be believed, and that upon trying it is superlatively better. This may be true, but then why are you gonna charge me $700 to find out?

But what would that achieve? Buoyancy and trim is a non issue for competent divers. The ups and downs of a reef isn't an issue if you're correctly weighted.

It's quite disconcerting that there's no other buoyancy other than the meagre buoyancy in the cylinder. Arrive on the surface, or even if you drift away/get lost/whatever, you need additional buoyancy to keep your head above the water. Any air-driven BCD will give you 13kg/30lbs positive. Does an Avelo float on its own, for example de-kitting in the water to climb onto a RIB without a ladder?

 

[SouthernSharktoothDiver]

But what would that achieve? Buoyancy and trim is a non issue for competent divers. The ups and downs of a reef isn't an issue if you're correctly weighted.

It's quite disconcerting that there's no other buoyancy other than the meagre buoyancy in the cylinder. Arrive on the surface, or even if you drift away/get lost/whatever, you need additional buoyancy to keep your head above the water. Any air-driven BCD will give you 13kg/30lbs positive. Does an Avelo float on its own, for example de-kitting in the water to climb onto a RIB without a ladder?

I’m honestly not the best person to ask about this one. Most of my diving is in dark, fast moving water where “neutral” and “buoyant” are generally not something you want to be. On my rare sightseeing dives in warmer waters, I can appreciate the idea of easy, perfectly stable buoyancy, but I’m skeptical enough that I’d definitely need to try it to believe it, and at $450 I’m not likely to do so anytime soon.

As for the limited buoyancy concerns, I agree and have actually contact Avelo to ask their response to this issue. In general, I’m definitely not gonna say Avelo won’t work when I haven’t tried it, but I can confidently say it is very ill-suited to most of the diving I do, and needs to drop the entry cost significantly before I’d consider trying it on my rare vacation dive.

 

[scubadada]

I’m honestly not the best person to ask about this one...

You are correct on several fronts. However, that did not temper your enthusiasm to post.

 

[scubadada]

The Shearwater Teric Avelo Mode manual is available on the Shearwater website

AVELO SUPPORT

Here you will find the manual and FAQ for Avelo Mode on Shearwater dive computers.

shearwater.com

Cloud support is included in version 2.11.7
Teric support is available in firmware V30

The Cloud graph includes buoyancy (+/- lbs or kg) and workload=RMV (cu ft/min or l/min). Summary stats include average buoyancy and range and average workload and range