The Kraken is Garbage by Divers Ready

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Have to agree with the sentiment here. I don't own a kraken, but I do own several other pieces of gear from VDH. I was concerned recently VDH might have been going away, but it seems that concern was unfounded. The quality of the stuff I do own from them is absolutely top notch. Everything I've bought from them has been perfect in function, appearance, and longevity (so far, nothing broken yet).

The only thing I didn't like about the kraken was the price tag. It wasn't out of line, just more than I wanted to spend :).
 
I haven't had the luxury of putting hands on a Kraken myself, but I've bought numerous parts from VDH and they've been nothing short of outstanding. On the rare occasion that something wasn't right, Bryan made things right promptly when it was brought to his attention (and generally above and beyond). Divers Ready showed me all I need to to know about them as a business by their off hand dismissal of all things DH (I don't use it, it must suck), their dismissal of the question that was asked (never even answered about other DH options or resources), and his willingness to publicly trash a company based on suspect second hand information (claiming to "know someone" whose Kraken "fell apart in their hands").
The only garbage I saw in that segment is that individual's attitude and ego.
I don't normally get this fired up, but that ticked me off... and I may have went to his website and sent a (respectful) message explaining my view on it.
Sorry, the unwarranted attack on VDH was a step too far.

Respectfully,

James
I would be interested in hearing a summary of his response.
 
I would be interested in hearing a summary of his response.
Provided he responds, I'll share what hear (so long as doing so doesn't put me in the position of unnecessary bashing!). I did make it clear in my message to him that his off hand dismissals would cause me to question any teaching he might be able to provide... so I suspect he may feel that I'm not worth responding to (already a guaranteed non customer).
 
I have the 21st production Kraken ever made which I received in 2014. It is an AMAZING breather and I believe it breathes as well as, or better than, my Atomic Aquatics B2. It is my "daily diver." I'll probably overhaul it at the 10 year mark just because. :)
 
I would be interested in hearing a summary of his response.
Well, he did respond... And I have some clarifications. Apparently a couple years ago he tried a Kraken with someone else on a boat dive. He says the other individuals "first stage", "made of plastic," exploded on hitting the water (sounds to me like a cracked can gave way). So my impression that he had no first hand knowledge was not correct (curious if I'm the only one who got the impression of second hand info).
Beyond that, I don't want to say much more without his OK to share it in public... I don't think it shows him in the best light. We do, however, agree on the fact that I will never be a student of his! Lol.
 
Well, he did respond... And I have some clarifications. Apparently a couple years ago he tried a Kraken with someone else on a boat dive. He says the other individuals "first stage", "made of plastic," exploded on hitting the water (sounds to me like a cracked can gave way). So my impression that he had no first hand knowledge was not correct (curious if I'm the only one who got the impression of second hand info).
Beyond that, I don't want to say much more without his OK to share it in public... I don't think it shows him in the best light. We do, however, agree on the fact that I will never be a student of his! Lol.
Since mine survived a 3 foot fall with 100 lbs backing it up and worked fine afterward I have my doubts, enough to call total BS on this guy, enough so that I couldn’t give him any credibility, that’s just me and I won’t give him the clicks he desires by listening to any of his BS.
 
James is very knowledgeable about a lot of things but like the rest of us he doesn't know everything. Maybe someone who owns one should let him try it and change his opinion. At least once his ear heals.

This is a great idea. Hopefully someone in southern Florida reaches out to him and offers to let him dive their Kraken and give it a real review. James has one of the biggest scuba diving YouTube channels, so he really shouldn't be taking one person's experience and reporting it in his videos. He has often said that he will not release an equipment review until he has dove it a number of times. Unfortunately, he didn't give the Kraken that level of consideration.

I knew when I watched that video last week, it was going to eventually cause a kerfuffle here on SB. I like James but he really stepped in it with that comment. Like others here, I have a Kraken and it works great. Alec Peirce has very positively reviewed the Kraken and he is extremely knowledgeable about double-hose regulators.
 
This is a great idea. Hopefully someone in southern Florida reaches out to him and offers to let him dive their Kraken and give it a real review.

Seeing his video personality, he has gone a path he wants, and cannot change his opinion, or it would tarnish his reputation (a.k.a. - ego)...
 
I have always tried to go above and beyond for VDH customers. If there is a problem I do my best to solve it. Inevitably some customers are not going to be happy no matter what you do.....That's just how it goes in business and life in my opinion.
I'm not saying this is the case here as I have no FACTS about it but often I find that despite all the information, pictures, guides, advice etc we post on VDH about taking time to learn how to properly uses and dive a double hose regulator the new customer simply forgets or ignores it and goes off without doing their homework first.
A particular instance comes to mind over a call I got from a diver on a beach in Jupiter Florida. He was ranting and raving how no air was coming out of the hoses and all he could do was get air to come out of the mouthpiece when he exhaled and basically called me everything under the sun........When he stopped to take a breath I said, I think the DSV mouthpiece is rotated to the closed position. Again he went back into a rant about what the hell was I talking about etc etc....Once he finally rotated the DSV to open the problem magically disappeared. He hung up on me but as far as I know he has had no other challenges.

Life it tough enough for most of us right now and getting upset over comments on the innerweb is not something I do anymore. If you have a problem, let me know about it and I'll do everything I can to solve it for you.
 
He s
He says the other individuals "first stage", "made of plastic," exploded on hitting the water
Sounds to me like it exploded when hitting the water - where the boat propeller was still going, - but he is hoping to score a free replacement.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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