Seacraft DPV's?

[WantSomeScuba?]

Anybody here have personal experience with Seacraft DPV's, specifically the Future 1000?

I realize this is going to probably be more pertinent for our European dive buddies, seeing as Seacraft has next-to-no North American market penetration (yes, I know Edd is distributor), but what are your thoughts?

Similarly, considering the Future 1000 smashes a Suex XK (on paper), why aren't they more hyped? I'm guessing it has to do with being a European brand and relatively new, but I'm an idiot, so I figured I'd poll the room.

Thanks gang.

 

[Superlyte27]

I hear you. The Genesis beats the XK any way you measure it, but those things are super popular.

 

[rddvet]

Similarly, considering the Future 1000 smashes a Suex XK (on paper), why aren't they more hyped?
Thanks gang.

I think market penetration will be difficult. People are just starting to dump Silent Submersion over the past 3 years it seems, but their scooters have been years behind other scooters. Hell, you can't even find any current info on their website. Suex has a big following in the US because we have a very good US distributor and service center in Florida, and he did a good job marketing them. As for the Genesis, I think the fact that it would have to be shipped to California if there's a problem is a factor, the issue they had with their speed control, and just the fact that it's a small mom and pop shop without massive marketing are the issues.

 

[Jon Nellis]

Marketing is a big factor in what is "popular" and dealer margins is the other main factor. Dealers tend to sell whatever they can make the biggest profit from, not necessarily what is the best performing.

The Genesis never had an issue with speed control and after 8 years is still the only DPV with single hand full variable speed control. The issue was with the original ON/OFF trigger in 2012/13, that could get packed with sand or mud and some people could not figure out how to clear it underwater. That was redesigned in 2014 to the undermount bypass trigger, which eliminated the issue 5 years ago.

The week after DEMA we will be down at Key West with Seacraft and Suex for a military demo/testing event. Stay tuned for big news on the Genesis following that.

Cheers,
Jon

 

[victorzamora]

Anybody here have personal experience with Seacraft DPV's, specifically the Future 1000

I've ridden one on a couple of dives. There were some annoyances that you can supposedly program-out, but I didn't get to try that.

Specifically: It resets to speed zero far too quickly and it takes WAY too long to get to speed once you hit the trigger. Like, I get soft starts but it's offensively slow to start. Like I said, those can supposedly be programmed to be better...but I don't know if they can be programmed completely to my liking. Maybe that's also less of an issue in OW as opposed to in a cave.

My other feelings:

• This thing is very fast - more than fast enough, imo. I don't know how it compares to the XK1/Genesis but it's at least as fast as the Bonex/Magnus/Valkyrie tier scooters.
• It handles VERY smoothly, and might have the least torque I've ever dealth with on a scooter that fast.
• It's very light, but really long. Overall, carrying it to the water is pretty easy. It's ~33lbs, so in that Genesis 600/Bonex weight range.
• The screen is bright and clear. The buttons interface is simple enough to use.
• The reverse feature seems useless to me, but I'm not going to knock them for it. It doesn't hurt to have.

Overall, I like it. I don't think I like it enough to pay for it. I'd need to run it to death to figure out what its true range is so I can compare it across the board to the other DPVs on the market. The range should be pretty good, but I learned long ago to not trust marketing material. The speed, screen, reverse, buttons, and nose handle do nothing for me. The on/off switch, external charging, and ride quality are very nice.

 

[njdiverjoe]

Anybody here have personal experience with Seacraft DPV's, specifically the Future 1000?

I realize this is going to probably be more pertinent for our European dive buddies, seeing as Seacraft has next-to-no North American market penetration (yes, I know Edd is distributor), but what are your thoughts?

Similarly, considering the Future 1000 smashes a Suex XK (on paper), why aren't they more hyped? I'm guessing it has to do with being a European brand and relatively new, but I'm an idiot, so I figured I'd poll the room.

Thanks gang.

A couple months ago I spent about 30 minutes on the trigger of a friends Future.

In that short time one can only glean so much -- you'll undoubtedly get a much better answer from someone that owns one... My impression was that it was of high quality and very well built, no complaints with the performance in the water. It's expensive though and was too much scooter for my uses so I didn't spent a lot of time with it.

 

[WantSomeScuba?]

Marketing is a big factor in what is "popular" and dealer margins is the other main factor. Dealers tend to sell whatever they can make the biggest profit from, not necessarily what is the best performing.

The Genesis never had an issue with speed control and after 8 years is still the only DPV with single hand full variable speed control. The issue was with the original ON/OFF trigger in 2012/13, that could get packed with sand or mud and some people could not figure out how to clear it underwater. That was redesigned in 2014 to the undermount bypass trigger, which eliminated the issue 5 years ago.

The week after DEMA we will be down at Key West with Seacraft and Suex for a military demo/testing event. Stay tuned for big news on the Genesis following that.

Cheers,
Jon

Jon,

I'd love to hear the results of that, if you're in a place to disclose them after the fact (no idea if you're under NDAs, etc). I really appreciate your responsiveness last time I reached out, and would love to hear how everyone stacks up. Without a doubt, you make a helluva technical DPV.

As a dealer, margin matters, but support, service, and flexibility is way, way more important. We all know we're not making money on a DPV sale. We just want to make that pass-through transaction easy for our shops and our divers.

Appreciate the input and info. Looking forward to the results of that demo event (and hope you guys crush it).

Cheers man, and safe diving!

Ron

 

[WantSomeScuba?]

I've ridden one on a couple of dives. There were some annoyances that you can supposedly program-out, but I didn't get to try that.

Specifically: It resets to speed zero far too quickly and it takes WAY too long to get to speed once you hit the trigger. Like, I get soft starts but it's offensively slow to start. Like I said, those can supposedly be programmed to be better...but I don't know if they can be programmed completely to my liking. Maybe that's also less of an issue in OW as opposed to in a cave.

My other feelings:

• This thing is very fast - more than fast enough, imo. I don't know how it compares to the XK1/Genesis but it's at least as fast as the Bonex/Magnus/Valkyrie tier scooters.
• It handles VERY smoothly, and might have the least torque I've ever dealth with on a scooter that fast.
• It's very light, but really long. Overall, carrying it to the water is pretty easy. It's ~33lbs, so in that Genesis 600/Bonex weight range.
• The screen is bright and clear. The buttons interface is simple enough to use.
• The reverse feature seems useless to me, but I'm not going to knock them for it. It doesn't hurt to have.

Overall, I like it. I don't think I like it enough to pay for it. I'd need to run it to death to figure out what its true range is so I can compare it across the board to the other DPVs on the market. The range should be pretty good, but I learned long ago to not trust marketing material. The speed, screen, reverse, buttons, and nose handle do nothing for me. The on/off switch, external charging, and ride quality are very nice.

Thanks for the feedback!

If you had a "perfect" DPV, what would it be, and how would you rate the Future compared to it?

(Obviously, we're disregarding runtime and pushing it's limits in this scenario)

 

[Dusty123]

I have one and it is slow to get up to speed it’s like a soft start, which I assume helps to get some flow going over the stator without causing a lot of torque on the handle before it does ramp up to the set point. Once up and running torque is not noticeable. One interesting thing it’s got a made in Vermont sticker on the motor on the inside so maybe parts aren’t the issue some have been concerned about?

 

[WantSomeScuba?]

I have one and it is slow to get up to speed it’s like a soft start, which I assume helps to get some flow going over the stator without causing a lot of torque on the handle before it does ramp up to the set point. Once up and running torque is not noticeable. One interesting thing it’s got a made in Vermont sticker on the motor on the inside so maybe parts aren’t the issue some have been concerned about?

Components of the scooters (specifically the battery) are made in the US, and they have a US distributor, which probably explains that.