OP
I'm not a fan of that handle strap.
Just ordered a BlackTip Tech
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Boarderguy
Chief Narctopus Wrangler
When you drop it don't take it in the water. We looked and didn't see any issues. I got in first and was fooling around in the shallows and noticed my buddy taking forever. I swam over and when I rolled the scooter I could see gray smoke coming out from under the buckle. Having the vacuum nose cone would have prevented the $550 factory repair/replacement and needing to replace the batteries via warranty.
OP
I purchased the vacuum bulkhead, so I should experience a drop in pressure if that's the case.
I ditched that POS and made a Suex-style soft handle very similar to what @laikabear did and showed in this post:
New Blacktip setup...
So I ordered a Blacktip Tech. I am trying to figure out what else do I need. Right now it will be used for open water dives, I don't think I am an experienced enough cave diver to use it in the caves just yet (and probably won't be for a long while). What spares have you all needed or...
A big hose clamp, some 2" webbing, and you get fancy and use some webbing sheath material over the clamp if you want.
Tools: Scissors, a lighter, a slotted screwdriver or nut driver for the hose clamp, and a soldering iron to burn a couple of slots in the webbing for the hose clamp to pass through, are all you need.
I posted pictures of my version at some point, but now I can't find the post.
OP
OP
Some guy on Facebook. He's kinda expensive, $150 plus $40 shipping.
OP
DPV assembled on Friday, and I took it out for the maiden voyage the very next day. I went out with a buddy who has a nice boat for diving. Usually, the divers on his boat arrive with the Tusa Evo 3, which is a popular model when spearfishing. For whatever reason, this day, we had 5 BlackTips on the boat, 4 tech and 1 travel. Everyone thought I had the Exploration model because of the extra length from the vacuum bulkhead.
Again, I have the DeWalt 12ah batteries, which I bought from Amazon. They are dated 2022 which is a little disappointing. Someone in this thread had suggested that ordering through Amazon might result in newer batteries, but I didn't win that lottery.
I'm new to DPV, yesterday was literally the first time I've ever used one. I've been reading thread after thread and watching video after video to prepare myself for how to use it. My biggest struggle was getting the Tow Cord adjusted. I never got it perfect, but it was close enough that I could play with the tension using my left hand to get the DPV to react how I wanted. Today I removed the cord and reattached the bolt so that it isn't tethered in place. I noticed 3 of the other BT's on the boat were this way.
To be clear, I was lobster hunting and not using the DPV 100% of the time.
First dive, I spent a few moments at depth adjusting and feeling it out. I cruised around on speed 3, brought down to 2, up to 4, and spent most of the time on 3. It was fun, but my hand and arm were getting tired. I realized I wasn't letting the tow cord do the work. 35 minutes at depth.
The diver with the BT travel was saying how he runs it in higher gears.
Second dive, I made another adjustment to the tow cord. I cruised around on 3 the entire dive. I ended the dive with it showing full battery power. 40 minutes at depth.
The diver with the BT travel had dead batteries after dive 2. I was hoping he could spear some fish for me if I towed him. I thought it would be fun to try.
Third dive, I motor up to the spearo and he grabs one ankle. Speed 3 wasn't going to cut it, so I cranked it up to 6 and we were moving. I saw some lobster and he let me go. I picked him back up before seeing some area to the side to look at for lobster, so I ditched him again, but I was still zooming around on speeds 5 and 6. I lost the spearo and decided to keep looking for lobsters. Half way into the dive, my batteries died. I noticed the d-ring on my crotch strap was pulling apart, so I clipped the nose to my shoulder and kept diving. I already have a replacement crotch strap, so I'll be replacing that this week. At some point, the BT turned back on and I motored around a little, but it started making a whining noise, so I stopped. 40 minutes at depth.
That night when sleeping, I was dreaming that I was holding on to the handle and zooming around underwater. That to me is an indicator of how much fun I had using the DPV.
Again, I have the DeWalt 12ah batteries, which I bought from Amazon. They are dated 2022 which is a little disappointing. Someone in this thread had suggested that ordering through Amazon might result in newer batteries, but I didn't win that lottery.
I'm new to DPV, yesterday was literally the first time I've ever used one. I've been reading thread after thread and watching video after video to prepare myself for how to use it. My biggest struggle was getting the Tow Cord adjusted. I never got it perfect, but it was close enough that I could play with the tension using my left hand to get the DPV to react how I wanted. Today I removed the cord and reattached the bolt so that it isn't tethered in place. I noticed 3 of the other BT's on the boat were this way.
To be clear, I was lobster hunting and not using the DPV 100% of the time.
First dive, I spent a few moments at depth adjusting and feeling it out. I cruised around on speed 3, brought down to 2, up to 4, and spent most of the time on 3. It was fun, but my hand and arm were getting tired. I realized I wasn't letting the tow cord do the work. 35 minutes at depth.
The diver with the BT travel was saying how he runs it in higher gears.
Second dive, I made another adjustment to the tow cord. I cruised around on 3 the entire dive. I ended the dive with it showing full battery power. 40 minutes at depth.
The diver with the BT travel had dead batteries after dive 2. I was hoping he could spear some fish for me if I towed him. I thought it would be fun to try.
Third dive, I motor up to the spearo and he grabs one ankle. Speed 3 wasn't going to cut it, so I cranked it up to 6 and we were moving. I saw some lobster and he let me go. I picked him back up before seeing some area to the side to look at for lobster, so I ditched him again, but I was still zooming around on speeds 5 and 6. I lost the spearo and decided to keep looking for lobsters. Half way into the dive, my batteries died. I noticed the d-ring on my crotch strap was pulling apart, so I clipped the nose to my shoulder and kept diving. I already have a replacement crotch strap, so I'll be replacing that this week. At some point, the BT turned back on and I motored around a little, but it started making a whining noise, so I stopped. 40 minutes at depth.
That night when sleeping, I was dreaming that I was holding on to the handle and zooming around underwater. That to me is an indicator of how much fun I had using the DPV.
OP
Out of the box with the vacuum bulkhead and leaving it under 5lbs of pressure, the DPV was slightly negative (comfortably so) and nose heavy. This didn't appear to affect my ability to use it at all. I think I liked it being nose heavy so that it would keep the tail up in the water column and out of the sand when I was catching lobster.
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