Lightmonkey Support?

[Toadie]

I have to say I'm quite torn over the responses emotions aside and no I'm not emotional. I want to be very clear though.

1. I'm not suggesting that I don't need training or that I know it all, at the same time while the question may be basic to you, I'm asking out of curiosity on something that I have seen, experienced, and done. The thing that was odd is that I have never seen it permanently fixed but... I would propose two other possibilities because like it or not, the time it takes to write an answer would have been the same...

A. Hey Toadie, we permanently affix it for staging...
or
B. Hey Toadie, you technically can use it like that but it's there for this reason... and for legality sake we don't recommend using it like that.

What bothers me about the answers in this post honestly is some of the answers. Shouldn't we be helping each other.

I get it, you think my question is stupid.. some of you also didn't seek to understand anything. For example, when sidemounting with a giant stride entry, you do hook a boltsnap to the stage ring and you don't bungee the cylinder until you get in to the water... so yeah, it is a thing. Once again, not saying I know everything but the point that some seem to think is stupid is me asking why it would be in a fixed setup.

On the customer side of things, customer service is customer service and I agree with the posts above. You want my money but you want to flame me for buying your product. Ok.. you win. Light Monkey from what I hear has great canister lights... $1200 bucks. They probably don't care but it's $1200 they won't be getting from me... and knowing me, I probably would have gone one level up.. but I would have had questions so I guess I saved us all some aggravation lol.

I guess in closing I have to ask... are we here to help each other or not? Yeah, I'm new to tech, I'm starting in caverns and working up to caving... shouldn't that be encouraged? I have over 600 open water divers, walls, wrecks, reefs, etc and yesterday I helped a new diver pick out a mask.... priorities. Never forget that when you started you asked dumb questions.

 

[Tracy]

I have to say I'm quite torn over the responses emotions aside and no I'm not emotional. I want to be very clear though.

1. I'm not suggesting that I don't need training or that I know it all, at the same time while the question may be basic to you, I'm asking out of curiosity on something that I have seen, experienced, and done. The thing that was odd is that I have never seen it permanently fixed but... I would propose two other possibilities because like it or not, the time it takes to write an answer would have been the same...

A. Hey Toadie, we permanently affix it for staging...
or
B. Hey Toadie, you technically can use it like that but it's there for this reason... and for legality sake we don't recommend using it like that.

What bothers me about the answers in this post honestly is some of the answers. Shouldn't we be helping each other.

I get it, you think my question is stupid.. some of you also didn't seek to understand anything. For example, when sidemounting with a giant stride entry, you do hook a boltsnap to the stage ring and you don't bungee the cylinder until you get in to the water... so yeah, it is a thing. Once again, not saying I know everything but the point that some seem to think is stupid is me asking why it would be in a fixed setup.

On the customer side of things, customer service is customer service and I agree with the posts above. You want my money but you want to flame me for buying your product. Ok.. you win. Light Monkey from what I hear has great canister lights... $1200 bucks. They probably don't care but it's $1200 they won't be getting from me... and knowing me, I probably would have gone one level up.. but I would have had questions so I guess I saved us all some aggravation lol.

I guess in closing I have to ask... are we here to help each other or not? Yeah, I'm new to tech, I'm starting in caverns and working up to caving... shouldn't that be encouraged? I have over 600 open water divers, walls, wrecks, reefs, etc and yesterday I helped a new diver pick out a mask.... priorities. Never forget that when you started you asked dumb questions.

In your $1200 light analogy, the same holds true. Lightmonkey is a manufacturer. They sell to dealers. Dealers are there to deal with your 100s of questions about the light. Where did you buy the rigging? That would be the first place to ask why something is different than you expected.
When you have an issue with your car, you go to the dealer, you don't call the manufacturer on the phone with questions.

 

[Jack Hammer]

I have to say I'm quite torn over the responses emotions aside and no I'm not emotional. I want to be very clear though.

1. I'm not suggesting that I don't need training or that I know it all, at the same time while the question may be basic to you, I'm asking out of curiosity on something that I have seen, experienced, and done. The thing that was odd is that I have never seen it permanently fixed but... I would propose two other possibilities because like it or not, the time it takes to write an answer would have been the same...

A. Hey Toadie, we permanently affix it for staging...
or
B. Hey Toadie, you technically can use it like that but it's there for this reason... and for legality sake we don't recommend using it like that.

What bothers me about the answers in this post honestly is some of the answers. Shouldn't we be helping each other.

I get it, you think my question is stupid.. some of you also didn't seek to understand anything. For example, when sidemounting with a giant stride entry, you do hook a boltsnap to the stage ring and you don't bungee the cylinder until you get in to the water... so yeah, it is a thing. Once again, not saying I know everything but the point that some seem to think is stupid is me asking why it would be in a fixed setup.

On the customer side of things, customer service is customer service and I agree with the posts above. You want my money but you want to flame me for buying your product. Ok.. you win. Light Monkey from what I hear has great canister lights... $1200 bucks. They probably don't care but it's $1200 they won't be getting from me... and knowing me, I probably would have gone one level up.. but I would have had questions so I guess I saved us all some aggravation lol.

I guess in closing I have to ask... are we here to help each other or not? Yeah, I'm new to tech, I'm starting in caverns and working up to caving... shouldn't that be encouraged? I have over 600 open water divers, walls, wrecks, reefs, etc and yesterday I helped a new diver pick out a mask.... priorities. Never forget that when you started you asked dumb questions.

@Toadie, try not to get too butthurt over the responses. I truly believe had your post been something along the lines of, "I'm getting into tech, how do I attach stage rigging?", you would have recieved simple and helpful directions from everyone posting in this thread, myself included. That's not what you posted. You didnt ask for help or advice. You complained that you were unhappy with the response from a manufacturer of a very basic and simple item and that they essentially didn't supply the training you need. Now you are doubling down and further bad mouthing them instead of laughing it off as a newbie mistake and moving on. The choice is yours on how you want to proceed.

 

[rddvet]

What bothers me about the answers in this post honestly is some of the answers. Shouldn't we be helping each other.

My motto is if you don't want to get your ass ripped apart, snide comments, comments you don't like, or comments you never expected.......then don't post anywhere on the internet.

Yes this a place for learning and all of us who have commented have been happy to help people out. The issue is your questions and "the things you've seen" are not even close to showing that you have any basic understanding of how a stage works. Maybe you had an awful mentor that teaches weird stuff. But honestly it comes off as if you have zero knowledge. You will see time and time again on here that if someone is asking questions that should be taught in a basic tech class or by your instructor, that's the recommendation you're going to get: ask your instgructor. There are people out there (not saying you) that ask questions in order to avoid taking a class. Hell, the guy that died on Christmas day here in Florida taking his kid cave diving had zero cave certifications. He learned on the internet I assume. None of us want to contribute to that.

 

[Marie13]

So I'm new to side mount and the general world of tech diving. Experienced diver just going down a new path. I've put in a lot of time learning and I purchased the LM Staging Kit. Looks great, quality is great but when I was building my tanks I was a bit confused. Headed to the website, and no real instructions on setup etc. All in all I got it all configured but I noticed a bolt snap on the safety ring around the top of the tank. I'm guessing that it's for clipping the cylinder on for a walk in entry but decided to ask. Here was my response:

Thank you for the inquiry. I would recommend seeking out training from a
certified, qualified instructor in the area of Stage and/or Sidemount
diving. From there you will learn how to utilize stage rigging, and
learn how to dress stage and/or sidemount bottles.

Seriously? You can't even tell me why you put the bolt snap there?

What made you choose a stage kit for rigging SM tanks?

 

[Lorenzoid]

In your $1200 light analogy, the same holds true. Lightmonkey is a manufacturer. They sell to dealers. Dealers are there to deal with your 100s of questions about the light. Where did you buy the rigging? That would be the first place to ask why something is different than you expected.
When you have an issue with your car, you go to the dealer, you don't call the manufacturer on the phone with questions.

This. There are a number of dive gear manufacturers who sell directly to the public, but we should all keep in mind they are still manufacturers, not dealers. Some of them go above and beyond the call of duty by putting on their dealer hat when a customer has a question of the type traditionally asked to dealers, but I don't expect that of them.

 

[Toadie]

Lol do you seriously listen to yourself?

My motto is if you don't want to get your ass ripped apart, snide comments, comments you don't like, or comments you never expected.......then don't post anywhere on the internet.

In a year I’ll be fully trained, know more than I do today, and have a decent amount of experience that I can use to help people. You sir… will still be you with that motto. You win

I learned a lot today, I’m out.

 

[rddvet]

Lol do you seriously listen to yourself?



In a year I’ll be fully trained, know more than I do today, and have a decent amount of experience that I can use to help people. You sir… will still be you with that motto. You win

I learned a lot today, I’m out.

point is I don’t understand people that post on the internet and can’t handle the heat that comes with it.

 

[rjack321]

point is I don’t understand people that post on the internet and can’t handle the heat that comes with it.

especially if you are going to rant against one of the most reliable manufacturers

 

[CptTightPants21]

I have to say I'm quite torn over the responses emotions aside and no I'm not emotional. I want to be very clear though.

1. I'm not suggesting that I don't need training or that I know it all, at the same time while the question may be basic to you, I'm asking out of curiosity on something that I have seen, experienced, and done. The thing that was odd is that I have never seen it permanently fixed but... I would propose two other possibilities because like it or not, the time it takes to write an answer would have been the same...

A. Hey Toadie, we permanently affix it for staging...
or
B. Hey Toadie, you technically can use it like that but it's there for this reason... and for legality sake we don't recommend using it like that.

What bothers me about the answers in this post honestly is some of the answers. Shouldn't we be helping each other.

I get it, you think my question is stupid.. some of you also didn't seek to understand anything. For example, when sidemounting with a giant stride entry, you do hook a boltsnap to the stage ring and you don't bungee the cylinder until you get in to the water... so yeah, it is a thing. Once again, not saying I know everything but the point that some seem to think is stupid is me asking why it would be in a fixed setup.

On the customer side of things, customer service is customer service and I agree with the posts above. You want my money but you want to flame me for buying your product. Ok.. you win. Light Monkey from what I hear has great canister lights... $1200 bucks. They probably don't care but it's $1200 they won't be getting from me... and knowing me, I probably would have gone one level up.. but I would have had questions so I guess I saved us all some aggravation lol.

I guess in closing I have to ask... are we here to help each other or not? Yeah, I'm new to tech, I'm starting in caverns and working up to caving... shouldn't that be encouraged? I have over 600 open water divers, walls, wrecks, reefs, etc and yesterday I helped a new diver pick out a mask.... priorities. Never forget that when you started you asked dumb questions.

Light Monkey's response was tactful and correct, the stage rigging you purchased has absolutely nothing to do with sidemounting tanks. Your question was the equivalent of an OW diver saying they want to take Nitrox so they can go 'deeper'. You aren't the first person to ask a dumb question and you won't be the last, but your question wasn't just "How do I set up this stage rigging?"; your question revealed a fundamental lack of understanding of sidemount and stage diving. Quite frankly, the degree of understanding revealed (or lack there of) requires hands-on instruction, not an email

You have enough dives, I am sure you have heard of lots of scuba fatalities caused by divers forcing scuba equipment into tasks for which it was not designed--that is what you are doing.

LM should actually receive some praise with their response. It would have been very easy just to do a generic copy and paste, this is how you set up stage rigging or here is a video; instead they took the time to read your question, understand what it implied, and provide you with a bespoke and correct response.