DPV's

[onohunter]

I'm currently looking to purchase a couple DPV's as a means to get to shallower depths during long decos. there seems to be several on the market under $500.
some models include the Sea Doos, scubapro sea glider and sea dawg models.
thanks

BTW, already read this thread, very informative, Nemrod knows his scooters!
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/dive-propulsion-vehicles/130676-any-one-try-one-these-dpvs.html

 

[NorthWoodsDiver]

I dont understand what you mean by "get to shallower depths during deco". a scooter should never be used to change depth (within a few feet or so). doing so could cause terrible health risks.

besides that there are no good scooters below $500 or really nothing much below $1000 unless you can find a slick deal on a used one.

Look for X-scooters, Silent Submersions, mako, farallon, and similar brands for depth tested quality products.

 

[rjack321]

I dont understand what you mean by "get to shallower depths during deco". a scooter should never be used to change depth (within a few feet or so). doing so could cause terrible health risks.

We come up slope on the trigger all the time. Decoing as we go, stopping when the ascent time is too short (cause the slope is too steep)

Otherwise the rest of your post is spot on. Don't waste money on a $500 scooter, esp if you are doing deco dives. At a minimum you want a upgraded Mako which can handle ~180ft.

 

[Blackwood]

I dont understand what you mean by "get to shallower depths during deco". a scooter should never be used to change depth (within a few feet or so). doing so could cause terrible health risks.

I highly doubt he's suggesting scootering up (i.e. vertical).

Some places it takes a long time to swim out to depth. Based on some recent profiles at Vet's Park here in Redondo, once I hit the slope I travel about 4 vertical feet per minute while swimming at a leisurely pace (SAC of 0.55CFM). The slope starts at about 65 feet, so if I want to hit 200, that's a 34 minute swim at an average depth of 130. Start thinking about the deco and gas requirements of merely swimming there and back, and a scooter makes a lot of sense.

 

[rjack321]

Most of the scooters the OP mentioned have a depth limit of ~4ata (100ft).

 

[Meng_Tze]

The seadoo type of scooters are fun but have some depth, performance and time limitations. If you want to have better performance, time and depth capabilities you need to look at the X-Scooter, the Silent Submerge, the Gavin, the Salvo Mojo. The price range here is around $4,000

But not matter what you use, pls know how to use one and what to do when having issues. They can put a diver in serious trouble very easily.

 

[ScubaAndDreams]

He could always walk into IDH and rent an X-Scooter for the day...they only have like 6 of them sitting in their shop

All the scooters you mentioned are severely depth limited....

 

[FISHMAN7]

you may also want to check out Torpedo Dpv's 170' rating
Granted they are not a DPV id take in a cave dive but for open water Rec dives they are not bad at all
Divers supply has them for Sub 750.00 for the 2000 model aprox 2mph
i just got 2 one arrived yesterday and one will be here next week so no first hand report yet but they do look very well built for the application better than the Sea-Doo crap

 

[ScubaAndDreams]

any chance you could try them with a set of doubles....would love to see a first hand report...

 

[nadwidny]

you may also want to check out Torpedo Dpv's 170' rating
Granted they are not a DPV id take in a cave dive but for open water Rec dives they are not bad at all
Divers supply has them for Sub 750.00 for the 2000 model aprox 2mph
i just got 2 one arrived yesterday and one will be here next week so no first hand report yet but they do look very well built for the application better than the Sea-Doo crap

The Torpedo line is only a slightly better piece of crap than the Seadoos. They should not in any way, shape, form, or ability to be thought of as a suitable DPV for technical divers.