Why is tech suddenly the in thing for new divers?

[ShakaZulu]

It's all about the money honey!

 

[danvolker]

Funny thing about recreational divers wearing stab jackets or other high priced non-DIR gear....they like to talk about how great their gear is, and how silly it is to have the long hoses, and what they think is a much more complicated backplate and wings system--they don't like the look, and they like to justify their own purchases and actions....
.......BUT, in every single person I have ever given a DIR demo to ( of single rigged Halcyon backplate and wing, plus long hose), they were blown away at how much better they felt underwater....and the typical reaction, is extreme annoyance with the shop our instructor that started them with traditional BC's. ***note***Myself, George Irvine and Bill Mee did a great many DIR demos in the early days of DIR on the Internet

I am not including my tech friends here, just recreational diving friends. They find how much cleaner and more streamlined they are on their 60 to 90 foot deep dives, how much more precision control they have, how much less drag, and they realize they can be even more at home in the water than before--even with hundreds or thousands of dives behind them.

The answer to the original poster is not anything we can say here....
The answer is, someone giving him/her a demo of a typical backplate and wing Halcyon set up, with a long hose and necklace. It means someone needs to spend the time to "fit" the harness optimally for the OP, and ideally, to dive with them, and make sure they actually use and appreciate everything on the demo....

I truly believe, if this became widespread, it would be the end of the traditional BC. Within a few years, Cressi, Scubapro, Mares, Sherwood, .....all the big BC names, would be offering only backplate and wings. The "traditional BC" really is inferior.

Without the diver to diver involvement, it allows traditional advertising and hype to drive the market, and for stores to keep selling whatever they have in their inventory.
Since few divers with the right skills and extra gear, are motivated to spend the time to do real demos for other divers, this is a question we will see for decades to come

 

[Waterpaw]

I read many of the posts on this subject of tech equipment for new OW divers with great interest. When I learned to dive, and got my OW, unfortunately the dive shop I was with was caught up in the $$$ too...wanted to outfit me in all the latest cool stuff, only top end merchandise, and even with promises of "oh, it won't be off-the-shelf...it'll be tailored just for you". Well, I found out the hard way, that such tactics were not the best way to go. After spending a few thousand bucks, I ended up selling most of the equipment that I had purchased from them, and worked on finding equipmen that FELT COMFORTABLE FOR ME!! Just because it's the latest cool equipment doesn't mean that it is going to work for you.

To me, being comfortable with your equipment is part of the foundation for your personal safety. If something doesn't feel right to you...then it's probably not for you. I'd recommend finding a dive shop that will let you try different rig setups and equipment before slammin' down your hard earned cash for your dive gear. Used equipment is great too (Craig's list, etc.), but just remember...BUYER BEWARE!! Whenever you get used equipment, I think it's best to immediately have it checked over by a professional before venturing out into the water with it.

 

[Nemrod]

You guys are going to have to come to terms with the FACT some people will never go to a BP/wing/long hose. The majority of people are not taught that way, do not dive that way, don't care about perceived advantages that are anecdotal with little hard fact, are heavy and impractical to transport (stainless plate).

As our new president has said, it is time to put aside the old arguments of is a BP/wing better than a poodle jacket and instead ask if the system you use works for you.

N

 

[diver 85]

I am new to diving - close to 100 dives, and I totally get the bp/w thingy. In fact, I now dive with a bp/w setup. However my shop heavily promotes tech/dir to new/first time divers. The shop is in an area where people have disposable income. I shake my head when newbies come in and the shop decks them with Halcyon doubles, HID lights, and dry suit and get them in a fundamental classs.

Is it me or is tech and diving doubles the new in thing?

Der's money in dem der hills.....(it's about George & Ben---nothing more/nothing less)

 

[FishOutUvH2O]

. . . it is time to put aside the old arguments of is a BP/wing better than a poodle jacket and instead ask if the system you use works for you.

N

I hope these arguments remain alive and well. As I've moved-up the employment food chain I've managed to gain a lot of free time during the work day (such as now). Some of which I like to spend reading posts by people who believe they've solved, what I've come to dub, "The Unified SCUBA Equipment Theory." This theory holds that there is only one proper and correct type, brand, and configuration for each piece of SCUBA equipment that applies to all divers at all times (I'm still refining the theory, feel free to add to it). Without those posts, I might have to actually find work to do.

 

[firstdive2005]

I hope these arguments remain alive and well. As I've moved-up the employment food chain I've managed to gain a lot of free time during the work day (such as now). Some of which I like to spend reading posts by people who believe they've solved, what I've come to dub, "The Unified SCUBA Equipment Theory." This theory holds that there is only one proper and correct type, brand, and configuration for each piece of SCUBA equipment that applies to all divers at all times (I'm still refining the theory, feel free to add to it). Without those posts, I might have to actually find work to do.

Nice theory Fish! As long as I can use my split fins when I want to I dont see an issue with it.

 

[Nemrod]

I hope these arguments remain alive and well. As I've moved-up the employment food chain I've managed to gain a lot of free time during the work day (such as now). Some of which I like to spend reading posts by people who believe they've solved, what I've come to dub, "The Unified SCUBA Equipment Theory." This theory holds that there is only one proper and correct type, brand, and configuration for each piece of SCUBA equipment that applies to all divers at all times (I'm still refining the theory, feel free to add to it). Without those posts, I might have to actually find work to do.

The "Unified SCUBA Equipment Theory" as advanced by the gurus of DIR I will predict will fail the hearts and minds of the masses as SCUBA Chaos and SCUBA Entropy are a force against agreement and consensus. I, however, remain unconcerned and above the fray because I never advanced the theory that there is only one way to do SCUBA. That is why I have 50 regulators, 10 different plates and BCs, a truck load of fins and and assorted other junk and I use them all and never in the same arrangement more than once. N

 

[fireflock]

The real profit the shop hopes for is in sales. Each student who certifies and then purchases their gear from the certifying LDS helps the LDS survive. New divers who continue to dive with the group and continue also to upgrade, or add to their equipment as their skills and techniques develope are the long term goal.

This is the backbone of the successful LDS.

It's also at the heart of the problems with the industry.

Look at other recreational sports where margins on gear don't pay for everything else. Those sports provide a real incentive for local shops to get beginners into a set of beginner gear and hook them on the sport. The scuba industry provides a strong incentive to sell newbies as much expensive gear as possible before they stumble into the wide world of diving that exists outside of the local shop.

Making a switch won't be easy. It will painful for a lot of retailers. It's still going to happen over time.

 

[battles2a5]

I think another negative side effect of this phenomenon is that more and more divers think technical diving has more to do w/ the equipment than with the mindset, the training and procedures, and the personal assumption of risk. I can't tell you how many times I've walked onto a boat or pulled up at the quarry to find someone gushing about their new "tech rig", but they haven't a clue as to what it is, what it does, or how to use it. You can tell from a mile away that this person has no need for the equipment and is ill-equipped to use it. Unfortuntately, other people see and hear them and want the same stuff. So there is a divide out there between the divers who need the gear to accomplish their goals and the ones that just want to look cool wearing it. We end up with a group of people without the knowledge or training to handle the gear safely swimming around with 260cf of gas on their backs and a huge window of opportunity to get themselves or somebody else into some real trouble. And everyone is getting in line to do the same.