new equipment reviews

[The Chairman]

Again... make sure it fits comfortably. You don't want to be fighting your gear while you dive.

 

[buddhasummer]

Atomic are very nice regs. A friend of mines wife has the Zuma and to me it looked a little flimsy, but she seems to like it. Not big on consoles myself but many like them, I like important info on my wrist. Not a fan at all of those Octos, I had an Apeks equivalent many years ago and found it breathed terribly. I'd probably pass on that deal, but if you like it and can afford it...

 

[BoltSnap]

You indicated that you 'tested' them. If you tested them, then work of breathing wouldn't be hard to come up with and would be a nice fact.

It isn't my job or my partners job or obligation to share whatever specific information we have with you on SB. Just like EVERYONE else on this board who is sharing their experiences and feedback and impression of various equipment related to diving, I do the same. I don't understand why out of the blue you focus on my feedback here and insist on my supplying test data and technical reports with my feedback. How much does Cressi or their dealers spend on SB?

FWIW, I'm sorry your feathers got ruffled here. Your opinion was soooooo strong, that I would expect some actual substantiation. You either don't have it or don't want to give it, so that's the end of it. As of this point, we knoooooow you don't like Cressi, but we still really don't know why. Don't get mad at me for your inability to convey this kind of information. FWIW, (#2) I also like overly positive opinions to be supported as well. I just find strong opinions to be more emotional than empirical. You've supported that impression. Good job.

I don't understand why are you are so focused and huffy about reports other than what I have told you about how I come up with my opinion above, based on experience with their equipment in our dive school in comparison with other brands and how unreliable and under-performing Cressi's stuff is compared with others. Do you want to see service request slips or equipment repair tags and reports here?

I am not the "ruffled" here at all, you are the one who is huffy and puffy here and coming out with requirements out of the blue.You also see to ignore the fact that practically everyone else here has the same low opinion of Cressi's scuba dive equipment and not just me.


They you read and understand this part of my comment above:

My opinion is based on my own experience and my staff's opinion and our students opinion. It is also strongly shaped by our experience with failures and frequency of need for repair.

Note: It isn't just performance, but it is also about reliability and down time with equipment.

It has gotten so bad with Cressi that we are indeed phasing their equipment out of our training fleet.

 

[BoltSnap]

found atomic Z2, aqualung guage console I300 (+ puck computer), aqualung abs octo and aqualung zuma bcd.
all for just under $1K

opinions on this? seems like a decent set-up

Atomic Z2 (and all Atomic regulators) is the top performer and most reliable regulator we have had in our dive school. Only Scubapro regulators come a close second. We are trying to phase out the others (primarily Cressi and Mares) and standardize on Atomic Z2 (sealed) and Scubapro's Mk25/s600 and MK17/s560 regulators as budget allows. We haven't had any issues with Atomic regulators at all for years now except for the infrequent mouthpiece replacement. Same for the Scubapros. I'd buy the Z2 octo to go with the Z2 regulator over the other options you bring out btw. This way, you will have as "bullet-proof" regulator as can be and can go for years without needing servicing (we go 3 - 5 years in between servicing but with 6 month checks to assure that we have no issues and no need for service). I'd make sure that I get the sealed first stage Z2. If you live in Europe, on the sealed versions of Atomic regulators are available anyways as I was told by their branch in Germany.

The AL console with the i300 is a good choice and it is one of the choices we are considering for our dive school training fleet along with the equivalent offering from oceanic.

In regards to the BC, it will depend on what type of diving you will be doing, where and how much travel you are going to be doing and what thermal protection you will be wearing, etc.

 

[The Chairman]

Just like EVERYONE else on this board who is sharing their experiences and feedback

Experiences would be great. You didn't share any which prompted my question. You just said they were bad without any reasons or justification.

And no... I'm not being huffy. I simply asked if you had dove the product in question and you went berserk and got all defensive like I attacked you with a knife. BTW, you still haven't directly answered my question. You've claimed to have "tested" it, but have provided no empirical data on that testing. Consequently, your opinion seems to be based more on emotion than anything else. That's all. It's OK to have emotions. As I pointed out earlier: I suspect that most overly strong opinions are based more on emotions than anything else and you've helped to prove that point when you got all defensive. Personally, I don't care that you like or dislike a product as much as I care about why you do so. You don't seem to want to tell us why except in vague aspersions, so again: that's the end of it.

ScubaBoard is a discussion forum. Users are not only allowed to ask questions: they are encouraged to do so. If an opinion seems overly harsh or supportive, it's OK to ask questions to find out why. People with valid reasons won't go off on you, but in the spirit of open discussion will explain themselves. You've chosen to be defensive rather than to clarify your position. It's obvious to me that you feel threatened by such an exchange, so I'll be sure to never ever engage you again. Have a great day.

 

[BoltSnap]

Experiences would be great. You didn't share any which prompted my question. You just said they were bad without any reasons or justification.

And no... I'm not being huffy. I simply asked if you had dove the product in question and you went berserk and got all defensive like I attacked you with a knife. BTW, you still haven't directly answered my question. You've claimed to have "tested" it, but have provided no empirical data on that testing. Consequently, your opinion seems to be based more on emotion than anything else. That's all. It's OK to have emotions. As I pointed out earlier: I suspect that most overly strong opinions are based more on emotions than anything else and you've helped to prove that point when you got all defensive. Personally, I don't care that you like or dislike a product as much as I care about why you do so. You don't seem to want to tell us why except in vague aspersions, so again: that's the end of it.

ScubaBoard is a discussion forum. Users are not only allowed to ask questions: they are encouraged to do so. If an opinion seems overly harsh or supportive, it's OK to ask questions to find out why. People with valid reasons won't go off on you, but in the spirit of open discussion will explain themselves. You've chosen to be defensive rather than to clarify your position. It's obvious to me that you feel threatened by such an exchange, so I'll be sure to never ever engage you again. Have a great day.

You are the one rambling on and throwing accusations right and left and making up stuff defending the brand for some reason. I have told you SEVERAL times why we in the dive school and personally don't like Cressi's regulators, BC's and even computers because of their poor performance, reliability issues and their tendencies to require repairs much more frequently than all other brands we have. As I said also above, we have several models of their regulators and they all have issues of one type of another. One of the local police rescue teams has totally replaced their Cressi regulators with AL regulators because of the issues they have with them. They go out of tune, they have higher chance of free flowing, their ss cases get scratch up very easily, IP issues in addition to their breathing characteristics are lower than the other big names, Atomic, SP and AL.

I'd like to see you insist to see reports and specifics from all others on SB whenever they express an opinion on SB concerning equipment or anything else now.

BTW, when it is in our school's rental/training equipment fleet, it means I have dove it, tried it, played with it, adjusted, and dove with it again when it exhibits any issues all in addition to comparing its performance to other regulators while breathing from them underwater (pool and openwater). In short, I not only dove with them myself, but also had compared breathing from them and other brands underwater on the same dive and switching back and forth between the regulators.

 

[The Chairman]

throwing accusations

What accusations? Please be specific. I asked a question.

making up stuff

What did I make up? Please be specific.

defending the brand for some reason.

I dove them last summer as I noted and they seemed fine. Not much of a "defense". But I actually formed my opinion by diving them.

I have told you SEVERAL times

Negative. You just now told us all this.

I'd like to see you insist to see reports and specifics from all others on SB whenever they express an opinion on SB

You did more than that: you posted that you had tested them. I'm just asking for the results. Part of any competent regulator test would be stats such as work of breathing. Perhaps by "testing", you meant you dove them for an extended period. It's not a test, but that is good information. When someone asks you for results, don't get your panties in a wad and get defensive. Rather, just explain that this wasn't a formal test. That would clear that up pretty damn quick. Instead, you've taken my question and treated it as an assault on your integrity. Unfortunately in the process, you've damaged your integrity and I no longer can rely on your opinion.

Now, BM brings up an interesting phenomenon I've noticed. For the most part, rental equipment gets abused. No, it's not that the shop is incompetent, but the gear simply gets hammered during normal operation. A friend has Atomic Regs in his rental fleet. No, he's not that busy of a shop, but I've heard him complain about how much he has to tinker with his rental gear. I have had set of Atomics for over 12 years and I think I've rebuilt them only twice. They probably get used more than this guy's rental fleet, but I take care of them... well sort of. Breathe off my regs and despite the dents and scratches and you'll swear that they are new. So people with a fleet of a certain gear might not have the same experience with them that a person who uses them only personally.

 

[uncfnp]

found atomic Z2, aqualung guage console I300 (+ puck computer), aqualung abs octo and aqualung zuma bcd.
all for just under $1K

opinions on this? seems like a decent set-up

I don't have this specific gear but it looks like a solid travel set for warm water diving. And just the regulator set and BCD would run near 1K bought separately at retail price.

As for the ABS octo, I agree with buddhasummer, its not ideal. But if she sticks with diving, it will be simple enough to replace.

The Zuma is specifically for warm water travel. As such it is very light weight and packs easily but gives up some resilience to damage in the process. many female posters on SB seem to like the fit.

 

[uncfnp]

Here is the same package with the AL Mikron which I do have and love. It might be easier to get world wide service for aqualung vs atomic?

Aqua Lung Travel Package

 

[BoltSnap]

How much does Cressi or their dealers spend on SB?

You did more than that: you posted that you had tested them. I'm just asking for the results. Part of any competent regulator test would be stats such as work of breathing. Perhaps by "testing", you meant you dove them for an extended period. It's not a test, but that is good information. When someone asks you for results, don't get your panties in a wad and get defensive. Rather, just explain that this wasn't a formal test. That would clear that up pretty damn quick. Instead, you've taken my question and treated it as an assault on your integrity. Unfortunately in the process, you've damaged your integrity and I no longer can rely on your opinion.

No, you are attacking me because you are trying to defend the brand for some reason, you still haven't answered the question how much Cressi or its dealers are spending here or paying you.

And yes, we tested the equipment in SEVERAL ways in our dive school in addition to other organizations to evaluate their performance, reliability and suitability for purpose. In ALL cases, they were out of consideration. Testing them include diving them and using them in addition to machine testing and follow up on the reports periodically to assure validity of conclusions. TOP of the pack are the Atomic and Scubapro regulators with AL in somewhat distant but respectable third. Cressi's regulators go out of tune frequently and need service much more than the others.

I don't know how much more specific I can be here.