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Manufacturers: Help this program out!

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willo

Contributor
Messages
90
Reaction score
22
Location
Colorado
# of dives
50 - 99
There's a NAUI advanced open water class at the University of Missouri in Columbia.
I'm a former student, and I like to help out when I can get away from work.
The class is just hurting for functional equipment and could use some help.

The teacher is retired now, but he's been teaching the diving class there since 1964 when they built the pool. He'll probably keep teaching it until he keels over. Back in the day, he ran all the programs there, so it was easier for him to get funding for the class. These days they barely give him enough money to keep the regs serviced. We are still using old scubapro balanced adjustables. He managed to buy a few sets of new regs in the last few years, and some b**t*rd stole one of them.

This really is the best scuba program I've ever run across. Especially in Missouri, where diving is more of a travel buisness.

Coach Busch has put alot into diving. He gets a little bit for the weekly lecture, but he doesn't get anything for all the time he spends at the pool. The navy actually used to fly him out and have him teach the SEAL teams diving. I'm not kidding, if you've ever watched the SEAL diving training, it's just like a short version of Coach Busch's class, black out masks and all.

I'd really like to see him get some support back from the diving industry. He's cranked out *so* many skilled divers... I'd dive with anyone who passed his class, anywhere, anytime.

Is there any way the diving industry could help out? I'm pretty sure you could even write off gear donations, since the university is non-profit. Just some decent gear discounts would really help.

Masks, full foot fins, snorkels, BCs and regulators and are all needed right now. Anything would help, 85% is suffering from years of pool chlorine. Class size is starting to get limited because of equiment shortage.

Seriously, when a student uses a good piece of equiment in class, that's usually the brand they go out and buy after class. This will only help grow new customers and get confident skilled divers in the water.
 
willo:
There's a NAUI advanced open water class at the University of Missouri in Columbia.
I'm a former student, and I like to help out when I can get away from work.
The class is just hurting for functional equipment and could use some help.

The teacher is retired now, but he's been teaching the diving class there since 1964 when they built the pool. He'll probably keep teaching it until he keels over. Back in the day, he ran all the programs there, so it was easier for him to get funding for the class. These days they barely give him enough money to keep the regs serviced. We are still using old scubapro balanced adjustables. He managed to buy a few sets of new regs in the last few years, and some b**t*rd stole one of them.

This really is the best scuba program I've ever run across. Especially in Missouri, where diving is more of a travel buisness.

Coach Busch has put alot into diving. He gets a little bit for the weekly lecture, but he doesn't get anything for all the time he spends at the pool. The navy actually used to fly him out and have him teach the SEAL teams diving. I'm not kidding, if you've ever watched the SEAL diving training, it's just like a short version of Coach Busch's class, black out masks and all.

I'd really like to see him get some support back from the diving industry. He's cranked out *so* many skilled divers... I'd dive with anyone who passed his class, anywhere, anytime.

Is there any way the diving industry could help out? I'm pretty sure you could even write off gear donations, since the university is non-profit. Just some decent gear discounts would really help.

Masks, full foot fins, snorkels, BCs and regulators and are all needed right now. Anything would help, 85% is suffering from years of pool chlorine. Class size is starting to get limited because of equiment shortage.

Seriously, when a student uses a good piece of equiment in class, that's usually the brand they go out and buy after class. This will only help grow new customers and get confident skilled divers in the water.
I would be nice to see a manufacturers donate to schools or Y.M.C.A. that have training classes. The more trained equals more sales, more sales equals a higher profit margin. Prime Example my entire class (18 people) that got our certs all bought aqualung and sea quest products right before our check out dives. I bought two set of gear myself and my fiancé, why? that’s what we were trained with and the comfort level and trust with those particular brands and models was built. In an industry like this, I highly doubt it, I would love to be proven wrong. Why not send this to other manufactures instead of just this board, as far as I can see Scott Z from Zeagle is the only person from a manufacturer that hangs on this board, I seriously doubt again that Sea Quest/Aqualung or the other high profile companies would even care. Good luck with your quest.
 
Like i told Will in a PM, we get literally dozens of these type of requests. If we donated stuff to all of them (and they all probably deserve it) we would be out of business.

However, during the off season, we would be happy to look at some sort of special discount for qualified programs...

It would be nice for many manufacturers to be active on ScubaBoard, but it honestly takes a good amount of time to deal with it properly!!! I often scan the board before work, while I am on phone calls (on "hold"), and a couple of times during the evening.

My family lives Zeagle, so my wife just accepts it as a never ending job! :wink:
 
ScottZeagle:
Like i told Will in a PM, we get literally dozens of these type of requests. If we donated stuff to all of them (and they all probably deserve it) we would be out of business.

However, during the off season, we would be happy to look at some sort of special discount for qualified programs...

It would be nice for many manufacturers to be active on ScubaBoard, but it honestly takes a good amount of time to deal with it properly!!! I often scan the board before work, while I am on phone calls (on "hold"), and a couple of times during the evening.

My family lives Zeagle, so my wife just accepts it as a never ending job! :wink:

And we on the Board appreciate your efforts--and one of the reasons I will be schlepping my brand new Zeagle Brigade BC to Maui on July 30th. If only I had a Zeagle t-shirt....:wink:
 
Your right I can understand, I will not even attempt to imagine how many calls manufactures get about donations and so on. My point about the manufacturers being on this board is null and void except you (Scott Z) trying to make my point that really none of the company’s really care what anyone has to say about their gear or answer question/concerns a user may have. You on the other hand seem to care and try and get issues taken care of and IMHO that means a whole hell of a lot to users. No doubt that being on this board takes a lot of your time up and even after hours you are still inundated with question and “work related issues”, and I can pretty much say that to mean even though I don’t own zeagle gear I can appreciate it. If I had really known all the places that I could go and ask questions about gear on SB and actually talk to a zeagle rep, I most likely could have saved some serious money, being I had to buy two of ever thing. Aqualung and Sea quest and Suunto kind of left a bad taste in my mouth with the whole online garbage, price and lose of guarantee if anything is bought online or below mat pricing. As much as I like my LDS I don’t like how they down play a lot of other brands, nothing against Zeagle but the LDS kept throwing in my face “Zeagle is a small business are they going to be around long enough for you to get out of your gear what you put into it, or how much you paid?” Sea quest/Aqualung have been around for years and have made regs for other companies yada yada yada they will be around longer then us. Another thing and Scott if you would answer this with all seriousness and I ask this with no malicious intent but all the LDS, Divers Two, Dossels, Jersey scuba, and a couple of other stores around me all said and I quote “ go to other LDS around and look for Zeagle, scuba pro products, no stores in the jersey area really sells that stuff, it doesn’t hold up and for what divers need when they dive in jersey. If only two shops in jersey sell those brands doesn’t that tell you something? I’m not really trying to flame or start a problem but I had to drive a good distance to one shop and even they tried to push other brands. Here I am getting ready to buy a pony & reg and I really don’t want to spend a butt load of money for a pony set up and a lot of people love Zeagle regs will they hold up to “jersey water” I mean really I coddle my gear handle it with “kid gloves” even so what really is the diffrance in a zeagle zx 50D as apposed to my Titan LX besides the 110.00 or my Black Diamond to the Ranger? Besides the $115.00 all from Larry? Besides I love in Monmouth county and no dealers are really close for to get service?
 

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