Why don't more dive shops display more (any?) BP/Ws?

[Web Monkey]

First, I'd like to say that I don't much care what anybody dives with, as long as it doesn't stand a good chance of killing them (velcro weight pockets are one of my "pet peeves").

Aside from that, I've been in a ton of dive shops, and rarely see a real BP/W. There are all sorts of back-inflates that might have a plate tucked away in the folds of fabric, but nothing with an identifiable metal plate and simple harness.

I've also never received a straight answer from a dive shop owner as to "why?"

I own both a SP Classic+ and a DSS SS plate, and although they're both nice and I like them both, neither really stands out as being clearly superior to the other, just different, and I can't seem to figure out why a shop wouldn't have both styles available on the display floor.

Are there any dive shop owners that are wiling to speak up?

I have heard that it's too "techie", however that doesn't really make any sense from a retail standpoint, since as long as the buyer is willing to fork over money, why would the shop care if it's "techie" or not?

Thanks!

Terry

 

[newmanl]

Hi Terry,

I don't own, operate or work in a dive shop, but I'd like to offer a comment.

In the Vancouver area here in BC there are at least four shops that are regulars at the local dive sites and they actively run technical diving courses - the students of which in plain view of the diving public. Obviously, they also stock and sell BP/W setups. In our area, I've noticed what seems to be a growing trend among recreational divers to use some of the gear historically reserved for tech divers. We see a lot of BP/W users as well as opposite side octos, clipped SPG's and the like.

I think what is happening, ever so slowly, is that the recreational divers are seeing, and talking to, tech divers and realizing that they don't get all geared up just to look cool, that there are actually some good reasons to use a BP/W, for example.

I think in a few years the majority of divers will be in a BP/W, however, at the moment there are still a lot of divers being taught, and diving with, conventional BC's. It's an education process and attitude change, and those take time.

Your right, from a retail perspective, I would guess the margin on a BP/W would be at least as good as on a full meal deal BC.

Lee

 

[fisheater]

I asked a LDS manager the same question.

She explained that the manufacturers demanded too much in the way of inventory to be stocked for dealer status and that, in their experience, whenever they did become a dealer from Brand X, the divers who came in and expressed interest in BP/W gear usually wanted Brand Y or Z. So, they dumped the whole thing and stuck with the usual LDS brands of rec gear.

 

[Web Monkey]

I asked a LDS manager the same question.

She explained that the manufacturers demanded too much in the way of inventory to be stocked for dealer status and that, in their experience, whenever they did become a dealer from Brand X, the divers who came in and expressed interest in BP/W gear usually wanted Brand Y or Z. So, they dumped the whole thing and stuck with the usual LDS brands of rec gear.

That sounds reasonable (not a good reason, but one that would make sense to the shop owner).

Thanks!

Terry

 

[Teamcasa]

I just answered this here:

Sure, a jacket BC, designed for the single tank, recreational diver is not going to work very well for strapping on a set of doubles or going deep inside some cave but for cruising the reef, drifting by some nice wall or visiting the exterior of a nice warm water wreck, it will work just fine. And, since most of the divers around the world dive in the later situations it's no surprise they make up the lion's share of BC sales.

Here is SoCal, we have a dive shops all over the place. Very few sell (from stock) a steel backplate and wing setup. Why? It's simple. The market drives inventory and sales. Since the vast majority of divers are recreational and or vacation divers, they see or have little need for a BP/W setup.

Here on ScubaBoard, we have a large number of divers that not only dive year round but also dive where a BP/W makes sense for them and hence the disproportionate number of BP/W advocates.

 

[LiteWeight]

I did see a BP/W setup in a dive shop (not my local one) when I was working out of state. When I started asking questions about it I was told it's "for tech divers only". My newbness must have really been apparent, as he immediately pegged me as "no way this clown's a tech diver"!

 

[TSandM]

I think shop owners think they look horrible. After all, who would want to strap a flat metal plate onto their back? (I've heard people make essentially that comment, when looking at my gear on boats, so it isn't hypothetical.)

 

[Peter_C]

I asked a LDS manager the same question.

She explained that the manufacturers demanded too much in the way of inventory to be stocked for dealer status and that, in their experience, whenever they did become a dealer from Brand X, the divers who came in and expressed interest in BP/W gear usually wanted Brand Y or Z. So, they dumped the whole thing and stuck with the usual LDS brands of rec gear.

I am gonna call BS to a point. We have a local guy who hand makes custom plates. He asked all the local dive shops to stock BP/W's and only one shop did so. There was no requirement for the shop to have a bunch in stock. Now the wings might be another story since Oxycheq does require bulk purchases to obtain a deeper discount. So every shop in the area was asked and only one of them was willing to put it on the self on consignment non the less.

One of the biggest reasons I could see is an LDS's profit margin is probably lower with a BP/W rig than their regular BC's.

 

[boulderjohn]

I think it is a combination of points that have been made.

The shop with which I used to be associated with used to carry none, nor any real tech equipment. In our geographical area, you could only get it at one other shop, and it was a niche business at best. When our shop decided it needed a tech supplier for all equipment, it went with Salvo. Soon the shop was selling Salvo BP/Ws and other equipment, making sales to a small contingent of interested divers, like me.

Then Salvo went out of business, and the shop had to find a new supplier. The problem is, as was mentioned earlier, the main suppliers all demand an extremely high initial investment in inventory. The fear is that the potential market is not strong enough to support that investment, and it would result in financial loss--perhaps a significant financial loss. At this time the shop has yet to identify a new supplier to replace Salvo.

In the meantime, as was mentioned, divers are going off on vacations all over the world. If they rent equipment at any of the sites before buying their own, they will almost certainly (I am sure it rounds off to 100%) use a jacket style BCD. When they look at the other vacationers on the boat, they will see maybe 90% jacket style BCDs. If they see a BP/W, it will be something close to a miracle. I have dived in vacation resort areas all over the world, and I don't think I have see much more than 15 BP/Ws combined. Of those 15, I would guess that 80% were worn by people I had contacted ahead of time through ScubaBoard. If I had not made those contacts, I would not have seen them.

So the impression in the diving world is that jacket style BCDs are the way to go, and BP/Ws are what you need if you want to get into technical diving. If you don't want to get into technical diving--and only a tiny percentage of the population does--then you will not be interested.

 

[cool_hardware52]

It's a chicken and the egg issue.

If shops stocked BP&W's and their staff were well versed in the fitting and function of a BP&W they would sell.

We have dealers that do exactly that, and they order weekly.

For a Dive shop to succeed they have to be able to offer "First Tier" regulators, not some rebranded me too commodity reg.

To secure the rights to sell Big Brand Name regs the shop are forced to carry most or all of the goods the Regulator maker offers.

BIG opening orders and Big minimum annual reorders are required by the Big Brand Name Reg Makers.

Most shops struggle to meet the reorder requirments, and they view the sale of any BC / BP&W other than the ones offered by their Big Brand Name Reg maker not as an opportunity, but as a problem.

I predict that this coercive business model is entering it's last inning, as there is too many regulators chasing too few divers. The power will shift to dealers and consumers and away from the BIG BRAND NAMES.

Tobin