Is Dacor junk??

[The Chairman]

Originally posted by wheezy
(there is a post if you do a search that NO ONE replied to... thanks again guys)

Sometimes when a specific question gets asked about a particular piece of gear, the prudent will only answer IF they have used it. There is a question out there right now about a "semi-dry" suit. And while I *THINK* I know the answer, I would rather the question go unanswered than give a wrong reply. It is impossible to know about every gear configuration or piece of equipment out there. This is especially true when the gear is new or not main stream. So take heart... people were not trying to ignore you, they probably did not have anything to offer you.

 

[NJdiver85]

All manufacturers have good products and bad products. While I don't have any DACOR equipment currenlty, I just ordered a DACOR compact pressure guage (Supreme P). It is probably the smallest, thinnest all-brass pressure guage out there. They also make a console with pressure and depth guage that is also very small.

 

[MNScuba]

All I know is that Dacor makes up about 75% of the dive gear being sold on eBay... I have to filter it out to get to what I'm looking for. CORRECTION: THIS STATEMENT IS NOT TRUE, DO NOT BASE YOUR OPINION ON THIS PERCENTAGE.

There, with that said... read on: (you'll understand later)

Good or bad? I can't say anything other than they have a lot of recalls and they seem like a "Lets try this, it looks cool and if it doesn't work we'll pull it and try something else" kind of company.

 

[ScubyDoo]

Originally posted by bengalsmgtsucks
Yeah...It's pretty much junk like mares

If Mares is junk as you contend, then please explain a few things to me:

1. Why are Mares Avanti Quattro fins some of the best selling fins ever sold. I rarely ever go diving, or see a dive-related show on television where someone isnt wearing these fins.

2. Why does Rodales give Mares regulators such high marks. Sure there are better regulators out there, but not everyone drives a Lamborghini. There are several Mares regulators which have received Rodales "Testers Choice" recognition, including the one I dive...the Epos. I dont know much about Mares higher end regulators so I wont speak to those, but I do know that Mares in general is known and respected for its high quality regulators. Are there better ones out there?.....Sure there are, but that doesnt mean Mares is Junk.

Manufacturers seem to fade in and out of favor with the wind. Not because their products are bad, but most likely because of fancy marketing. Mares MR-12 Axis, while a very economical regulator, has been a tried and true workhorse of a regulator for years and years. Just because newer fancier more expensive regulators are out there doesnt revoke the quality of this little workhorse.

Just becasue Boeing now makes a 777 doesnt mean the 747 is any less viable. Same with Mares.

Why do so many people use the Quattro fins and Mares regulators.........because thier good quality AFFORDABLE products.

 

[The Chairman]

Originally posted by MNScuba
All I know is that Dacor makes up about 75% of the dive gear being sold on eBay... I have to filter it out to get to what I'm looking for.

I just went to E-Bay and typed in "SCUBA"... 2,827 entries
Then I typed in "SCUBA Dacor"... 192 entries

% of SCUBA gear on E-Bay that is actually Dacor??? 6.8 %

The next closest was USD/ US Divers/ Al/ Aqualung which was only 3.5%.

Then I thought about it and checked how many Vipers were in the mix... there were 36, but I saw the word "new" on almost every one, so I changed my search yet again. I typed in "SCUBA Dacor New"... 128 entries (mostly by shops trying to do retail through E-Bay). That only leaves 64 entries out of 2827 total in SCUBA for used Dacor (stuff that the consumer does not want) and that only comes to 2.3%! Somehow, I think this is a far cry form 75%, but that’s just my opinion, yours may vary!!!

Like I said earlier, it's easy to make assumptions and denigrate equipment just because we didn't buy it. It is far better to tell us why you bought what you did (features and benefits) than it is to go making claims that can not be substantiated. Dacor is not top shelf equipment, but for MOST divers, it is MORE than adequate. Just because YOU have the bug to go deeper and longer and push the envelope does not mean that the next diver will want to go that far. I would contend, with NO data to back me up whatsoever, that Dacor is GREAT for 95% of all divers diving in the World today. In fact, considering some of the rigs I have seen cobbled together, a Dacor reg would be a definite improvement for many, many divers.

 

[MNScuba]

I guess I should have known someone would have gone to the extreme and actually research the 75% factor which makes NO sense to do since auctions vary per second anyway... I guess all I meant was that Dacor is what I primarily see when I'm searching based on my search criteria. Besides, just because it's on eBay doesn't mean it's bad, I just don't want Dacor stuff.

Oh, and based on a 4:00pm search on your criteria, Dacor now makes up 10.341912 percent of the gear not including items that ARE Dacor but don't state so in the subject line.... So there!

 

[The Chairman]

How much of that is being sold as "new" by marketers and not used by a consumer. Apparently, Dacor is inexpensive enough and appealing enough for the E-SCUBA Shops to try and market them on E-Bay. No other brand is being offered as new nearly as much!!! AND, 10% (even though it includes new) is only 13% of your original value. I don’t think many would consider this as even a “close” approximation of reality. As for the time; it took me all of five minutes for my research, and I can support it.

You might have dove with a Dacor, I don't know. If you haven't then how do you know it's "junk". If you have only dove with one model, than you have a very small basis to make such a blanket stetement. I would rather hear about what you DO dive with and why you like it, rather than opinions that are not based on personal experience. There is too much mis-information out there now that so many take as truth. If I didn't challenge your E-Bay figure, how many would have just accepted it as true? Is mis-information from any source a good thing? Not from anyone (me included) and not just to prove a point. I am really not trying to single you out, because there are so MANY on here (this thread included) who form opinions on hearsay and broadcast them as fact! All I am suggesting is that we stick to specifics and that those with experience with the equipment tell us how it performs. Thats all. Aren't you glad I didn't do research on the "recalls" you alluded to?

 

[Lost Yooper]

My only point was that given a choice between a $350 Dacor reg and a $350 Apeks reg, the choice is obvious, IMO. The Dacor gear that I have been around and seen used up close is cheap and not well thought out. Dacor's primary concern regarding gear is appearance for the most part. The only decent Dacor regs I've seen are the old fashioned brass cased regs. They did fine for cold water diving. Otherwise, I have seen a lot of Dacor regs do quite poorly in cold water.

I agree with you, Pete, in that Dacor gear will allow divers to breath underwater so they see all the fishies. If that's all you want out of gear, then Dacor will fit your bill. Now, if you have any desire to make efficient gear purchases in quality gear that costs about the same and will give you greater enjoyment underwater, then Dacor isn't the brand of choice, IMO.

Mike

BTW, Dacor is certainly not the only manufacturer like this. The list is fairly long.

 

[MNScuba]

Whoa, hold on a minute....

1. I never said Dacor was junk.
2. Go ahead and research recalls on Dacor.
3. I just said I don't want Dacor stuff, is that so bad?
4. Your search criteria and mine are different, nuff said.

On the other hand....

1. As I already admitted, 75% was a far cry from 'reality', my fault... no dessert for me tonight.
2. I agree that many opinions are formed by misinformation. I corrected my original post (sort of).

 

[Divesherpa]

Dacor is still junk.
I dive Quattros, they are great fins. Some of Mares masks are wonderful for the type of diving that I do most frequently.
The scores a reg gets from Rodale's is directly proportional to the amount of money the company spends in advertising. S(score)=k(constant)*A(advertising)

Mares is better than Dacor, but I personally won't dive another Dacor reg or wear a Dacor BC.
cheers