Is there a CLIQUE ???

[boogeywoogey]

I notice a few names cropping up here and there in the ratings and comments....which is always good for divers looking to buy their first rig.

I harp on about Beuchat...I am not sorry that I do.

I have tried every set up you care to quiz me on.. The Beuchat VX 10 is heavy duty...anything around 34 f it comes into its own...try and make it free flow...you wont.

Go ice and then tell me about regs.

boogey

 

[Poseidon8118]

Beuchat has been a state of the art company for most likely 50 years or more. I don’t know why they don’t have a bigger following in the US. There’s a couple of dive shops in the Chicago area which swear by them…I would like to test a regulator or two of theirs one of these days…

 

[Nemrod]

I believe this is true in the USA of many things including diving equipment. Americans are much less willing to invest dollars into such thngs than our Europeon conterparts. A current thread, "is scuba a hobby or a sport" says it all I think. People take a sport serious and are willing to spend money to buy top notch equipment to support it and people are less likely to spend big dollars on a recreational hobby. Most of the diving equipment today is very clone-ish if not actually just rebadged and is of low quality and marketed to the "hobby" aspect of the market. Serious sporting divers have to do a little more digging to find suitable equipment. I have seen Beuchat equipment here and there but it is not a better known name here. It looks like it has the same first stage as several other well known brands and a similar plastic second stage. What makes it different---a serious question---not an argument? Don't just say it is gooder but tell me why it is gooder, numbers, reasons, design, durability, repairs etc.
There is is a trailer for one member who states the somethinganother regulator is the ultimate muscle regulator. I see a lot of such talk but no real reason why it should be taken serious. This is not to say it is not true but why is it true??
Most all of the regulators on the market today are conventioanl downstream secondstages with the "pie pan" design running off a diaphram first stage. yeah, some are pressure balanced or over balanced and blah blah but really they perform little different from a 1966 Calypso other than having much larger exhaust valves. Exhaust was found to be critical very early in reducing fatigue--other than the substitution of plastic for metal in modern regulators how are they more muscular than say a Voit MR12II from the early 70s or late 60s? How do they perform compared to a Tekna 2100 from 1978 or the follow on composite version the 2100B? This is not to start a flame war, just the facts, why buy one over another that looks exactly like the other? Does anyone actually know if these don't come out of the same factory/origin and just put a different decal on them?
Is there a clique, probably.
N

 

[boomx5]

I know people who've used the Beuchat's down to 400' and said they performed well. On the other hand, I've also "heard" that they are hard to get parts and service for in some places here in the States. I use Apeks and think they perform well at depth and in cold water (35 degrees).

 

[Vie]

Beuchat has been a state of the art company for most likely 50 years or more. I don’t know why they don’t have a bigger following in the US.

Beuchat is now distributed by Cochran Undersea Technology in the US (the relationship has been a long one as Cochran computers were sold under the Beuchat brand in Europe years ago). Hopefully Beuchat regs will be more widely available in the States.

 

[Vtdiver2]

I notice a few names cropping up here and there in the ratings and comments....which is always good for divers looking to buy their first rig.

I harp on about Beuchat...I am not sorry that I do.

I have tried every set up you care to quiz me on.. The Beuchat VX 10 is heavy duty...anything around 34 f it comes into its own...try and make it free flow...you wont.

Go ice and then tell me about regs.

boogey

You're right, and I can't tell you why Beuchat doesn't have a larger following here in the US. Perhaps they don't advertise enough in the magazines, or they've pissed off Rodales so they won't test their equipment. I dunno.
Bottomline is there are other manufacturers that have marketed their equipment well, and have equipment that will stand up to whatever test is thrown at it, just as Beuchat will. Therefore, people buy them over something from Europe they know little about, and have to send away to get serviced.
Personally, I've never tried the Beuchat, so my knowledge of them is based on 2nd hand info and what I've read. But, I have tried an Aqualung Legend at 80ft in 34 degree water and know it doesn't freeze up or freeflow. Therefore, that's what my next reg will be.
It's kind of like the old SONY vs JVC back in the 80's. Beta was a better format than VHS, but JVC marketed better and won the market.
My guess it Beuchat is happy with the European market and doesn't want to spend the millions it would take to break into the US market.
Just a guess,
C-Dawg

 

[bedmund]

I know people who've used the Beuchat's down to 400' and said they performed well. On the other hand, I've also "heard" that they are hard to get parts and service for in some places here in the States. I use Apeks and think they perform well at depth and in cold water (35 degrees).

Depending on who you talk to, Beuchat parts aren't just hard to come by, they're impossible to come by. There's a rumor that Beuchat isn't shipping high pressure seats to rebuild VX10's, V8's etc to the U.S. But you can still get them. Are they leftover rebuilds or newly shipped over kits? Depends on who's talking. I've got two VX10s and now I also have a source for the rebuild kits.

I'm one who says the Beuchats perform quite well. I like them. I also like my Apeks ATX50/DST.


-Bill

 

[JS1scuba]

Beuchat is now distributed by Cochran Undersea Technology in the US (the relationship has been a long one as Cochran computers were sold under the Beuchat brand in Europe years ago). Hopefully Beuchat regs will be more widely available in the States.

How many would you like ?

We have them and sell em all the time. Visit our website.

Regards,

 

[BigWhiteSquare]

I don’t know why they don’t have a bigger following in the US.

Maybe it's because everyone remembers what fine cars the French made. Y'know, Peugeot, Citroën, Renault. Nobody wants a "leCar" at 200fsw.

But then again, nobody wants a Chevette or Pinto at 200fsw either. :11:

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[Blitz]

Maybe it's because everyone remembers what fine cars the French made. Y'know, Peugeot, Citroën, Renault. Nobody wants a "leCar" at 200fsw.

But then again, nobody wants a Chevette or Pinto at 200fsw either. :11:

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You may want to rethink that. Renault won the Formula One world championship this year.