I have to ask...

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I second nereas's description of the advantages of the X-scooter. Light weight was a big selling point for me. But the X also has brushless motors, which means you can use a compass near the motor (mine is mounted on the optional handle mount) which makes navigating with the scooter a snap. They also have a very good reliability record.
 
OK, I like the look and feel of your product (I have yet to test one though), but I have two questions for you.

1) Why did you start Dive Xtras? What niche did you fill?

2) What separates your scooter from all the others? Why should I buy it over another?

A lot of other people have chimed in with a bunch of good points, but I will add some more :)

A1) Originally Dive Xtras was started in 2004 to sell the diving "Xtras" developed by Andrew Georgitsis, namely the Wet Note Covers and X Shorts, with the intention that we would develop new similar products.
However we quickly discovered that good ideas that are easy to copy (wet note covers) don’t make much sense unless you have the distribution to back them up, just look at how many companies now sell wet note covers.
So we decided to focus on niche products that suited the skill sets in the company. Since I had already produced 2-3 scooters this was an ideal product to start with.
Also the market at the time was crying out for something new, technology doesn’t stop advancing but everyone active in the high end scooter market were still basing designs on the Tekna which was introduced 1984?
We introduced the Echo and Frisco Scooters which had many unique features at the time:
a) The core feature of the scooter is lightweight but powerful, most high end scooters at the time were in the 70 lbs range, we came in with the comparable thrust and burn time for 35lbs. This was made possible by using a brushless motor, NiMh batteries and significant design time optimizing.
b) Only 2 penetrations (places where the scooter can leak) most scooters have 4 penetrations for nose cones, motors etc. The X-scooter with only 2 has a significantly lower risk of flooding
c) Modular design allows you to swap bodies, keeping the batteries and tail the same, to get a scooter with a burn time that suits the dive.
d) Waterproof battery to protect the expensive NiMh cells, unique at the time.
e) Electronic clutch makes the scooter safer to handle in an emergency
f) 600ft depth rating

A2) Since the original scooters our competitors have started to catch up, but I believe we still have the lightest most powerful scooter with a lot of unique features already described in the other posts, namely.
a) Lightweight, you can get the scooter in a travel case at 50 lbs.
b) Trigger shift on the fly, allows you to rapidly change speed to suit buddies or zoom after that Manta.
c) Modular design
d) Comes ready to dive with video owner’s manual and spares kit.
e) Great options, compass and gauge mounts, camera mounts, CSI scooter, Liion battery, travel case

I could keep jabering on, but you can get most of it on the website Dive Xtras - Makers of the X-Scooter (underwater scuba scooter DPV) - info@dive-xtras.com - 425 493 9600 - Home
 
The things that the salesmen might not tell you is that the carrying case has a flimsy handle that might break under heavy use.

Have you tried to break it? I have, its significatly stronger than it looks.
 
Manufacturing costs could be reduced, but they are fabricated in the USA. Equipment, materials, overhead and labor costs drive the price.

There is not a huge margin and as a dealer for the X, I can say that mark up is less than most gear. As I tell my wife and accountant, it's a tool, not a toy.

Volume plays a larger role in this than location. We still dont sell scooter like the X in volumes that justify going overseas.

Also, as you say, our margins are lower than typical in the dive Industry, Im sure if we did manage to lower the cost we would get pressure to put the difference in the dealers hands, not the customers :(
 
The most important reason is this: if a scooter is too large fit in your car, too heavy to schlep, too cumbersome to take on every dive, it will sit and home. And if your scooter sits at home, its no fun.

The X is light - I do close to 200 dives a year with my Scooter, nearly all of them through the SoCal surf, and nearly all of those while also schlepping the deathstar (my Camera rig.) If my scooter was too heavy to toss over my shoulder while I scramble down the stairs, ramp or rocks while in full gear while carrying the DS, I'd leave it. The thing is, its no thing. I can make it all on one trip.


The X is rugged - I beat my scoot. Sand, rocks, parking lots, steps, driveways - my scooter gets worked. It has never one time leaked or failed to turn over. I've knocked it off the tailgate, I've kicked it over, I've dropped it a zillion times. No worries. Dive X-tras has done a great job in making parts available and posting all service and repair information on their site. When I ran over my X with my truck in October (don't ask) and thought it was a goner, it took me all of 3 days (and 3 or 4 calls and eMails to Ben) to get it back together. I dive that same scooter today (I've named it "Laz")



The X is small - it fits in the back of my Land Cruiser with 6 tanks, 2 sets of gear, a K bottle of O2 and another scoot, the deathstar and associated clothes and camping gear. If the scoot was huge, I'd leave it.


The X is simple - its a simple, solid design that is completely field strippable and field repairable. Plus, its easy to dive. I'm in the water with a can light, the deathstar, a dry suit and my scooter. That's a lot to manage, and the best part about the X is it stays out of the way. I zoom to where I want to go, clip off the X, deploy the DS to get the shots, stow DS, re-reploy the X and move on to the next subject. I do this 10 to 25 times a dive. Its a no brainer now. I've taken many, MANY divers out on my scoots, and I haven't had one yet that didn't get it dialed in enough in a few minutes to have a fun dive.


With the X, you'll expand what's possible - there are dive sites here in SoCal that we dive more than once or twice a year now because we have the X. These sites require such a kick that we'd either get very little time on them because we burn too much gas to get there, or the surface kick is just prohibitively long. With an X, getting there is a no brainer, and we dive them more often. Same with your local sites. It used to take us 10 - 12 minutes to get to 110 FSW at one of our local sites. It now takes us about 4 to 5 minutes. That gives us more time there, and we use less gas to get there and come back now. I do longer dives with the X for the same reason.


The X is fun. The bottom line is this: The X is fun. There has been no single piece of gear I've added to my diving that has increased the fun of every dive more than my X scooter. It makes a great dive unforgettable, and makes a bad dive tolerable. It upgrades every dive I take it on, and I take it on nearly all of them.


Be warned: All of your favorite and familiar dive sites become very small when you have a scooter. I don't know who goes in a shrinks 'em down, but somebody is.

Becoming a scooter diver is one of the best things I've ever done. I bought two so I have a buddy scoot. One by one, most of my team members have secured X scooters as well. There is nothing like a skilled team on X scooters, in formation, zooming over the dive site. I love it.


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Ken































































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Do you take two chargers when you travel?

When I travel by car, yes, I will take both chargers and both batteries with me.

When I travel by plane, I will only bring one battery and only one charger.

You know how the airlines are with their weight restrictions.

If you are going cave diving in sunny Florida, then you will want to get the extended nose cone and two batteries, with two chargers. Remember, "two of everything for cave diving"? It is always nice to have a backup in case of failure, even out of the water. This cave diving expression goes back many decades, and it is appropo for many of life's situations.

The first charger and first battery comes as part of a package price. The second battery, second charger, and second battery carrying case you will need to order separately.
 
On boats, we always take two chargers and two batts.

On car roadies, we always take two chargers and two batts (inverter in my truck.)

When we flew to Seattle, we UPS'd the scoots up. And we packed two chargers and two batteries.

In fact, I can't thing of the time or place over the last 9 months and 150+ dives on the scoots where, if I had a plug and planned on doing more than one dive, I only brought one batt and one charger.

That said, I have only ONE time run a batt dry on a dive. The type of diving I do doesn't call for me to splash, mash, dash and crash the batt. I nearly always get two dives out of a batt on an hour+ dive. There's too much to see and photograph to just zoom zoom. That said, the longest runs on any dive are usually at the beginning to get some place, and at the end as we are doing our stops. Nothing beats seeing the lemmings stacked 4 deep on the anchor line at 15-ish feet like a sting of beads and we're just zooming all around them for 4 or 5 minutes.

We've pimped out a crate for each scoot. Makes it super easy to transport and change batts, etc. We use the crate in the truck as well as on most of the boats around here. I also have moved to the dual gauge instrument cluster, and I LOVE IT.

We also made a multi tool - the CKFK-001. Its a surf diving fin keeper, battery puller, buddy tow rope, bottomless camera leash. Its the ultimate scooter tool - we never scoot anyplace without it. Version CKFK-001 had the suicide clip for speed in the surf, and although it proved to be faster to fasten in foam, its slower to deploy - so version CKFK-002 has two bolt snaps.

DEMA has it all wrong. You want diver retention? Marketing campaigns aren't the thing. Scooters are the thing. You will enjoy diving a lot more with one.


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Ken








































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I own one of their DPVs, Pete, and it's uniqueness stems from (1) light weight out of the water.....

I agree they are quite lightweight indeed.... :D

Picture_057_Large_.jpg


I agree with Ken that the X-scooter blows old dive sites wide open... make the old new again... "bugs in your teeth" fun :)
 
I weighted mine to be neutrally buoyant, not to float, however!
and so what happens to a neutrally buoyant object gets puts into water?

Google it...
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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