rebreather for videographer

[BigJetDriver]

Kevin will also sell the HH as a kit for the user to install..

Unfortunately, he may "sell" them, but he won't send them. There are several people in this category.

There are also several people in the category of those who sent in units for work, and can't get them back.

Sorry, PSP, I like Kevin, but that's the truth. :bawling:

 

[padiscubapro]

Unfortunately, he may "sell" them, but he won't send them. There are several people in this category.

There are also several people in the category of those who sent in units for work, and can't get them back.

Sorry, PSP, I like Kevin, but that's the truth. :bawling:

I know kevin was way behind with repairs. He had an issue with the rev b boards which was finally resolved, plus he had a big commitment to dive rite to supply a specific number of units so testing can be done (although with more labor than he was supposed to do).

I do know he didn't have extra boards to do swap outs (I had an issue with one unit and he send me a loaner rev a unit) and that questionable boards had to go to the builder and be individually tested and repaired (which they took their sweat time).. He has had his tech working overtime (weekends) to try and get ahead..
New units are shipping with very short lead times, repairs ARE taking longer especially ones that require major changes like turning plugable units to hard plumbed.
All units now are going through extensive in-house testing (instead of trusting the board supplier like in the past) and a new calibration procedure which takes longer than the original, but it appears to be working, the inconsistency he saw earlier in the year appears to have stopped..

Mk 15 rebuilds take a long time, He generally only works on them himself (or one other gentleman who visits a few times a month).. A mk15 rebuild can take a few MONTHS.

I sent may handsets in for update and told him it wasn't a rush and I still got them back in about 3 weeks.. It seems he has finally gotten on track.. If you know of people that have waiting repairs they should contact him (by email and make sure the subject line is clear).. I have been to his shop several times and do know he has a pile of units waiting for specific features to be implemented before being sent back at the request of the owner (some still haven't been implemented).

He does handle repairs in how he perceives how urgent they are and the order they came in, someone who doesn't let him know it needs to be done by a certain time will be low priority.

as to "sell" them he takes a CC but doesn't charge it until the unit is going to be shipped...
I am not going to defend his long delays for repairs in the past (some should have been handled MUCH faster) but not all the delays you hear about are his doing.. several had specific requests that took longer to implement than anticipated (like the hard plumbing which requires new wrist units) and these post never pointed this out - for example Kevin P's posts.

 

[PeCeDiver]

as to the duty, its probably cheaper for you to fly to the US or Canada get trained and bring the unit home... I doubt that they would try and duty "personal" dive gear

I buy my diving gear for my company, so that makes VAT & Tax refundable. But the same goes for the 21% VAT on the Inspiration.

 

[PeCeDiver]

As a videographer I find myself regularly in odd positions (up-side down, on my back, ...). The Inspiration and the KISS use different designs for the counterlungs. In the KISS documentation I found the following statement: "If you roll on your back you expect a case of chipmunk cheeks". That got me worried a bit. Which of the two rebreathers will be the most forgiving for diving in "strange" positions?

BTW. I got a couple of e-mails from Kevin and he is shipping HH for the KISS.

Thanks guys. This thread was great so far. Keep it going.

 

[padiscubapro]

As a videographer I find myself regularly in odd positions (up-side down, on my back, ...). The Inspiration and the KISS use different designs for the counterlungs. In the KISS documentation I found the following statement: "If you roll on your back you expect a case of chipmunk cheeks". That got me worried a bit. Which of the two rebreathers will be the most forgiving for diving in "strange" positions?

BTW. I got a couple of e-mails from Kevin and he is shipping HH for the KISS.

Thanks guys. This thread was great so far. Keep it going.

On the KISS if you lay on your back you will get "chipmunk" cheeks but it really isn't that bad once you get the loop volume correct (on the sport KISS you adjust a restricting flap, on the original KISS you use differnet sized bags)

The Inspiration is more forgiving for this type of orientation.

 

[BigJetDriver]

I know Kevin was way behind with repairs. He had an issue with the rev b boards...

He does handle repairs in how he perceives how urgent they are and the order they came in. Someone who doesn't let him know it needs to be done by a certain time will be low priority.

As to "sell" them, he takes a CC but doesn't charge it until the unit is going to be shipped...

I am not going to defend his long delays for repairs in the past (some should have been handled MUCH faster).

PSP,

I believe that you believe what you have been told. Unfortunately, the truth is as stated below, as derived from what is ACTUALLY occurring in the field.

(1) There are obviously STILL some issues that have not been handled.

(2) Since he will not take telephone calls OR answer e-mails from some people, but will answer others, it does not surprise me that he arbitrarily assigns priority as to who gets their unit first. (...to paraphrase your post above...)

(3) I know of one particular case in which Kevin has taken money for an order for several units, and has not sent the units, nor has he returned the money (nor will he answer the man's phone calls or e-mails).

(4) I know of a case involving someone I work for who is now well over eight months waiting for his repair.

Again, I like Kevin, and truly wish that he was not behaving in this manner, but...he is!!! :bawling:

 

[padiscubapro]

(2) Since he will not take telephone calls OR answer e-mails from some people, but will answer others, it does not surprise me that he arbitrarily assigns priority as to who gets their unit first. (...to paraphrase your post above...)

Forget about getting him on his phone, Unless doesn't have something to do at the time, he just lets his voicemail take the messages.. I understand his reason (when he is on the phone he doesnt get anything accomplished), I don;t particularly agree with it but he is making progress.. I can honestly say he usually doesn't screen calls like you might think (I have been to his shop several times so I see what is going on- everyone gets the same treatment - the call goes to voicemail) The only time you migh be lucky to get him on the phone is when he is expecting a call..
I will tell you one thing his spam filters S*ck, lots of stuff ends up in the spam folder and takes time to answer (or maybe not at all).. Thats why I stated earlier to make sure the email subject is clear, although I wouldn't rule out him avoiding specific people.

(3) I know of one particular case in which Kevin has taken money for an order for several units, and has not sent the units, nor has he returned the money (nor will he answer the man's phone calls or e-mails).

That really surprises me, but I do agree he used to take money up front before it was built. I know I sent a few people his way and I was told he held onto their checks for a long time before cashing them..

(4) I know of a case involving someone I work for who is now well over eight months waiting for his repair.

Thats a really long time, I probably saw the unit with a tag on it last time I was there... What was the problem with the unit?? I'm curious, Kevin usually keeps me abreast of issues he has had, so I can add things to the manual as they arise.
if the "repair" was actually a hardware upgrade, I'll tell you the issue was he didn't have enough new wrist units (if it was for hard plumbing - don't know what the status is on them now) and had a problem (excess battery drain/wetswitch didnt always allow unit to shut off) with Rev B Boards (and didn't have a supply of spares) that has finally been fixed. In fact when I got the 4 new units for my expedition in May I insisted on Rev A electronics...
If it was truely a repair for a problem thats way too long, (even 8 months for an upgrade is too long and he should have at least contacted the person with a status)
I know I saw a few units that were there for a long time awaiting d/l capability - which still doesn't exist (and probably still a few months away)
I know a few people who sent in units over the last few months for various things, I'll email them and see how long their turn time was..

 

[BigJetDriver]

(1) That really surprises me, but I do agree he used to take money up front before it was built. I know I sent a few people his way and I was told he held onto their checks for a long time before cashing them..

(2) Thats a really long time, I probably saw the unit with a tag on it last time I was there...

(1) He did take the money in this case, by cashing the check, but he will not even communicate with the man.

(2) There are actually two different people whom I work for, one of whom told me he has waited one (1) year!! The other has waited less, but still, as you say, it's a really long time.

Again, I do like Kevin, but you would have to agree that this behaviour is not proper! :bawling:

 

[scubahubby]

As a videographer I find myself regularly in odd positions (up-side down, on my back, ...). The Inspiration and the KISS use different designs for the counterlungs. In the KISS documentation I found the following statement: "If you roll on your back you expect a case of chipmunk cheeks". That got me worried a bit. Which of the two rebreathers will be the most forgiving for diving in "strange" positions?

Every rebreather will have better and worse positions based on the location of the counterlungs. The "chipmunk cheeks" when on your back is a common feature of back mounted counterlungs and it does feel strange the first few times.

I do video and I dive the KISS. And I do not find the chipmunk cheeks a problem. It feels a bit strange but you just have to keep your lips firmly on the mouthpiece (if not using FFM) and exhale a bit harder. The only position I try to completely avoid is fully vertical orientation with head down and feet up. Rather than air being somewhat forced in the lungs (requiring harder exhale) as in the on the back position, its like breathing against a vacumn, inhale is very hard and exhale very easy. I find this a much more uncomfortable sensation and I avoid this position. IIRC this position is the worst position for all rebreathers.

Other than the fully head down position which I just dont do anymore (and I have used that alot shooting video on OC), the loss of the ability to use lung volumn to do fine control of buoyancy and make vertical changes in the water column (to an extent) while keeping both hands on the housing had the biggest impact on my videography. With practice you can do some trimming by varying the counterlung volumn but I have found the effective range to be greatly reduced (e.g. delta in depth I can rise/descent and come back to a complete stop just by changing lung volumn) on a CCR. Perhaps someone who has been doing video no CCR for a longer time may have a comment about this? I did not let myself take the video on KISS dives for the first 6 months I had the unit, and so have only 5 months experience shooting video on CCR.

- Ozzy

 

[caveseeker7]

IIRC this position is the worst position for all rebreathers.

I don't remember if the upside down position was the worst, it's somewhere in the testing data available at SMI's website.

But on a well breathing rig, even the 'worst' is not an issue.
Stefan