Phantom Hoses are made in China.

[Cian]

I recently replaced my hoses with Phantom Hoses by innovative concepts at my local dive shop. When I got home I noticed teh safety warning label on the HP was in very bad china-engrish so I emailed innovative concepts as to the country on manufacture, especially as their is no CE mark (legitimate or otherwise) (I once had a contract manufacturer justify the mark saying it was "China Export").

Response :

On 6/6/2012 5:00 PM, Anna wrote:
Hello Cian,
If the hose you have is a Phantom hose, (flexible) then it is made in China. If the hose you have is a black rubber hose it is made in the U.S.A.

--
Best regards,
Anna M. Wood
Innovative Scuba Concepts
Customer Service Manager

I have manufactured video lighting gear in china, and travelled there. I also read the news. If a german made product gets recalled I would be very nervous about a Chinese one.

But Scuba gear is life support equipment, I'm throwing the new hoses in the trash right away.

Don't bother check their website for specs, theres nothing there but a phone number and a brochure you need a dealer password to see. Not exactly confidence inspiring.

 

[JamesK]

Or you could just send them to me and I can dispose of them properly. Not everything from China is bad.

 

[Cian]

Of course it isn't. I make plenty of stuff there. But in the case of something like a hose for scuba gear - something Chinese firms would look at as a low tech production, yet something that I bet my life on, I would not go with China. I'm sure plenty of great regs are contract made there, but big brands would watch over QC closely. This is a company whose website has nbo public information at all (as of today)

At an absolute minimum I'd need to see a CE mark on a china hose, with the required certificate of complaince (you can't legally put a CE mark on something with out that).

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Careless to clean hose inside and transfer breathing gas too fast might cause personal wound or hose burst / burn

Show of hands, who cleans the inside of hoses?

High pressure breathing gas transfer too fast might invite liquid vaporize and high heat will burst / burn the hose immediately.

I wonder is it oxygen clean / safe (lol)..... (or air safe for that matter).

 

[gurnie]

They are a well made hose, I don't think you have anything to worry about. I swapped some of my xs scuba hoses with Phantoms and have been happy with them.

 

[Cian]

Already tossed them I'm afraid.

They should have dropped the 1 to 3 grand (that number isn't a guess, I've had it done for lighting gear over there) for basic independent testing and CE certification then though? The lack of a CE is a red flag, as it is neither especially exacting nor expensive (unlike some UL labs).

---------- Post added ----------

They are a well made hose, I don't think you have anything to worry about. I swapped some of my xs scuba hoses with Phantoms and have been happy with them.

Any minor leaks on the LP stuff at all for you? seems to be a few - no complaints that I can find over the HP. (It's the HP that worries me anyway).

 

[JamesK]

I have 3 regs that are outfitted with the Phantom hose, both HP and LP. No problems at all. I would have paid you to ship them to me instead of tossing them though.

 

[scubamarketing]

Do people really still fear stuff just because it says "Made in China"? My Chinese-made iPhone is a heckuvalot more reliable than my Finish-made Suunto dive computer.

 

[TSandM]

What's the worst thing that can happen to an HP hose? You're not breathing through it, so there's no worry about contaminants. If it blows, it takes a LONG time to empty a tank.

If you want to worry about hoses, worry about the LP ones; but of course, they're put under much less stress.

 

[buddhasummer]

I replaced my Italian Miflex HP with a Chinese Phantom HP well over a hundred dives on it, Im still alive. If I binned all of my dive gear that was made in China Id not have much left. Its an HP hose even if it did burst it's not going to drain your tank in seconds, as TS&M has said Id be way more concerned about an LP hose blowing they will drain your tank pretty darn quick. Miflex which are not chinese but Italian made and do meet EN250 criteria etc have had a very high failure rate, so high in fact they have had a recall, not so with the Chinese Phantom hoses.

Do you have first hand knowledge that would indicate that they are inferior or dangerous as compared to any other hoses currently on the market, other than the fact that they are made in China and English is not their first language, if so I'd be very interested. Cheers.

 

[mikeynl]

I think you're all overreaction. Just because it's from China doesn't make it bad. It tends to make it cheap tho, cos Chinese workers earn much less. But for example everything that Apple makes (iPhones, Macs, iPods) is made in China. Apple pays them very little and sells it for a lot of money making a hugs profit. It's actually the same Chinese company (Voxconn) that builds the PlayStation, the XBox, Amazon's Kindle, and produces stuff for Motorola, Nolaia, Intel, Acer, etc. Many Amaeican and European countries have loads of other stuff made in China, and have it constructed to high western standards. No need to worry about something just because it's made in China. I think that's just scare politics of westerners.