Huish buys AUP

[runsongas]

you sure you're not thinking of oceanic and aqualung with their DVT and ACD?

 

[RainPilot]

Rebreathers came before OC.

Just sayin'

 

[kelemvor]

Rebreathers came before OC.

Just sayin'

It doesn't matter, because both are just improvements on Aristotle's diving bell.

 

[Akimbo]

... If you wanted to take that line of thinking to extremes, even the rebreather was merely a refinement to open circuit apparatus...

Just a nit: Pure O2 rebreathers pre-dated open circuit demand regulators by decades. Open circuit was all continuous freeflow manually regulated with a valve before Émile Gagnan & Cousteau. The Electrolung was the first totally closed eCCR in 1968.

The acronym SCUBA was actually coined by Christian Lambertsen who developed the first rebreather for the US Navy. Italy, Germany, and the UK had pure O2 rebreathers for years before that.

 

[BoltSnap]

Rebreathers aren't going away- that is for sure.

What is going away is "recreational" SCUBA diving.

Real new student divers have been in decline for more than a decade.

People who wanted to learn to dive for an upcoming vacation, etc. have been
thoroughly put off by the "Tec diver" CCR pitch.

They just walk away.

Fewer new students results in fewer future students.

I have been diving for 45 years. I still love to dive. Open ocean, nice 3 day boat trip
off the Channel Islands, a weekend off the Northern California coast, a couple of days
in the Florida Keys, all good stuff.

I do not want a seven foot hose, a CCR, etc.

With a serious decline in new divers, over 50%, seems like we are heading in the wrong
direction.

I can't agree with you more!!! I have seen it happen since this "Technical Diving" rage started in public in the early 90's. The Technical divers and technical instructor snake oil salesmen with their grossly over-inflated egos, scary looking equipment and their talking down to recreational divers who just want to get into the water watch fish and have good time have scared away many people from taking up diving. I have seen it happen when I owned my dive center in NY and it has continued in the down direction since then. It has taken away the "family activity" image and made into an "iron maiden" image driving away what was the bread & butter for the dive business. BUT, if you don't use that seven foot hose, you are going to die!!!

 

[Johnoly]

... with their grossly over-inflated egos, scary looking equipment and their talking down to recreational divers who just want to get into the water watch fish and have good time have scared away many people from taking up diving. .....

So you've been to Europe hanging around the freedivers, ehh ??

 

[boulderjohn]

I just talked with an employee of a shop that was already selling both Oceanic/Hollis and Huish. He said they were assured that the inventory and delivery problems that had been plaguing Oceanic/Hollis would be cleared up within 60 days.

 

[BoltSnap]

So you've been to Europe hanging around the freedivers, ehh ??

Lol, they have the egos for sure but not the scary image with the equipment techies have

 

[Sevenrider860]

I just talked with an employee of a shop that was already selling both Oceanic/Hollis and Huish. He said they were assured that the inventory and delivery problems that had been plaguing Oceanic/Hollis would be cleared up within 60 days.

I am hoping that is the case. I have had a Hollis Katana back-ordered at Liesure Pro going on 3 months now.

 

[HowardE]

LavaCore and OceanPro? Huish already owns Sharkskin

Huish Outdoors does not own Sharkskin. Sharkskin is a company from Australia / New Zealand. Huish Outdoors is the North American distributor for Sharkskin.