OEM for known brands

[vaguscnx]

We know that except for a few US brands of scuba equipments that make their own products in-house, most outsource to well-known factories in China and Taiwan.

A few of our US brands outsource their "Made in USA" products to factories here in the US.

Does anyone know the names of those OEM manufacturers/factories (in the shadow) here in the US that make those wings, harnesses, and other products for brands like Oxycheq, United Team Diving?

(DEMA is not a helpful resource)

Thank you.
Paul

 

[tbone1004]

most of the US brands outsource, XS Scuba actually owns quite a few of the OEMs now. Highland Millworks made most of the backplates, and they are now owned by XS. Dive Rite has been buying their plates from them for years and years.

I believe UTD buys from the same wing supplier as Dive Rite, but I'm not sure, they very well may be making them in house. Halcyon and Deep Sea Supply make theirs in house. Oxycheq I believe does as well. Either way there is no way to justify buying something from Halcyon or UTD unless you have some affiliation to JJ or AG. They are nice, but not nice enough to justify the increased price over the other ones with similar or better warranties.

Almost all of the webbing is made here, cheaper to make here than offshore. I think Hollis gets theirs from the far east but most of the rest get theirs domestically.

So much of it is product dependent as well. Dive Rite has all of their soft goods made in the US except the Drysuit which is from Finland. Their hardware, plates, and STA's are also made here, but the regulators are made by ODS in Taiwan, same as Hollis, and Hog. Halcyon makes their stuff in house, but their regs come from Tusa in Japan. Hog was buying their wings from the same supplier as Dive Rite, but have since moved to two suppliers in Taiwan and Vietnam. Would help if you had specific manufacturers or products.

 

[cerich]

Yes, some people know.

Quite a bit of the assertions in the post above are correct and quite a few are incorrect.

But what do I know?

 

[tbone1004]

more than most of us. I only know what some of the oem's have told me directly or from working directly with the source up in NY. Care to correct since you were in the industry doing sourcing for quite a few years?

 

[cerich]

Sure...My rate is $1200 a day, $3500 a week or $9000 a month. Travel and incidentals are extra, I could do 2 months at most in 2015, I'm pretty solid booked.

 

[tbone1004]

sorry, just reread the last bit of his post. What I get for skimming. I thought he was asking for the ODS's and Tabata's of the world, or Highland Millworks etc. I.e. XS rebranding Worthington cylinders as exclusive distributors, or Dive Rite selling plates made by Highland Millworks, not the really behind the scenes guys where the Scuba stuff they do is pretty small compared to their larger business.

I agree with Chris, yes some of us do know who the behind the scenes guys are, and some of us are friends with the guys that run them, but unless you are doing enough volume, they won't want to work with you. Too much money in prototyping unfortunately. They are set up to run volume, not do one offs. Not worth divulging who the sources are to bog them down unless you have a very specific need for something. You can find them if you look hard enough.

 

[vaguscnx]

Thank you tbone1004 and cerich for your replies.
Yes, by looking hard enough one can eventually find out who the players are (big and small) in the industry; I am, little by little. For info, Oxycheq and UTD do not make their wings in-house.

 

[decompression]

Thank you tbone1004 and cerich for your replies.
Yes, by looking hard enough one can eventually find out who the players are (big and small) in the industry; I am, little by little. For info, Oxycheq and UTD do not make their wings in-house.

True, UTD do not make their wings in house, but locally USA made.


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