STEPdive, I commend you for creating a product and wish you the best.
So here's the way I see it. The first thing people read is this.
The step between snorkeling and SCUBA. Experience open water from the 1st day! Portable & easy to use. For friends, partners, or kids!
Right below it you state: "Fun - Together from day 1" and "For beginners and advanced users alike."
Now, I didn't find any mention of what training is provided from you, but as you know, SNUBA/Hookah does not require any training yet it comes with the same risks as scuba diving. In fact, that IMO, is the biggest problem. None of these risks are mentioned. The impression I got from your campaign is this is geared toward people without experience and who don't want to take scuba training. The idea that a certified scuba diver would buy this is silly. No certified diver wants be tethered to their air supply on the surface. And why would a certified diver buy it for their kids? They would just get their kids certified. So again, to me it appears you are marketing to people not willing to get certified or they are simply ignorant about diving.
It reminds me of the recent crowdfunding campaign for the bogus Triton. While your product is obviously not bunk science like theirs, one of the glaring issues was how it was marketed as "No training/Anyone can do it." In reality, there's a lot of people that have no business breathing compressed air under water. Especially without a medical clearance and training.
I did see the mention of "backer
SHOULD be a certified diver", but I'd be willing to bet most of your public sales will be to uncertified people. They'll go to rent a tank and find out how difficult it is to get a fill and the dive shop will say, you have to get certified. Then your customer will say, why the hell did I buy this? But of course if there's a will, there's a way. So like teens asking adults to buy them cigarettes and alcohol some will find a shop or a friend that will fill a tank without proper training. Thus bypassing any training. The most common complaint I've read from resorts, etc. that offer SNUBA/Hookah is they will often tell their clients how to equalize their ears and don't hold your breath. But they never explain why they shouldn't hold their breath. I guess telling people they could die would be bad for business.
Finally, regarding the Q&A...
Here's my thoughts. When getting certified were taught to plan our dive. Begin to understand our air consumption and check our SPG often. It is also strongly recommended to have at a minimum a timing device and depth guage or a computer. Getting a "good feeling" for your air consumption is ridiculous without a way to time your dive. Despite proper training and equipment the number one non medical cause of dive injuries or fatalities is running out of gas. It's so easy to get consumed with the underwater experience people forget to check their air. Having your pressure guage 5-6 meters away doesn't help. Without a timing device you are flying blind. And I would argue the way I interpreted your reply is, "your only 5-6 meters from the surface so it's not a big deal." Yet we know if someone goes OOG, they will likely panic and hold their breath upon accent. Well, now we have a problem.
It just seems to me a lot of people want to be divers, yet they think scuba gear is too heavy to manage and don't want to do the training. Yet the reality is scuba equipment doesn't need to be heavy. You can buy or rent small tanks for women and children. Scuba equipment should not be thought of as a negative. It's a persons life support. And the same goes for training. Why anyone would want to avoid training is beyond me.
Also, your marketing this as a training tool to go from snorkeling to scuba, yet it doesn't address the hardest thing for a new diver to master, buoyancy control. In the marketing video, the child is skulling like a dog. That's a bad habit instructors try to break right away in OW. Will your customers start to develop bad habits? Defeating the purpose of training to take the "step" from snorkeling to scuba.
I understand marketing this product to hull scrapers and resorts. The latter would have professionals overseeing these inexperienced divers. I hope you sell a ton to the right customers. But for the general public, I think it's a bad idea and I would not market to them.
