Why name brands?

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

There is at least one thread here where the discussion is about which branded gear bag is best. I'll agree that branded gear bags will have padded compartments more or less the right size for computers an reg sets but I can buy a generic gear bag and lots of bubble wrap. and still come out money ahead. I also get the benefit of not having a brand name on the bag in big letters advertising EXPENSIVE STUFF INSIDE.

I now mostly dive warm tropical waters, Why cares about the exposure protection of the wet suit? I dive in cargo shorts/board shorts and a long sleeved rashie top. I am nice and warm. Haven't worn a wet suit for the last 60 dives.

But if a unbranded wet suit lasts say 100 dives where is the cost effectiveness on a suit that costs 4 times as much .and lasts 200 dives. Or what about if one of them snags on something and rips, Sure the branded one might not rip as easy but a rip is still rip.

If I even go back to diving cold fresh water, I will dig my dry suit out of storage and use it but if I don't need the performance of the branded stuff, I am simply not going to pay for it.

I also have an aversion to being a walking, swimming, unpaid, bill board for what ever company happened to manufacturing my stuff.
 
I am definitely a proponent of buying the right gear.

For me that means buying the most effective gear for the best price (so I can buy more gear).

I will pay a premium for some things but others I will buy a cheaper version:
1) Regs - I will buy a well known brand that I know I can get serviced/repaired for a decent price. I don't believe hype about a lot of the "extra features" are needed for most divers or that most people can feel the difference in breathing
2) Drysuit/wetsuit - will buy a known brand with a reputation for quality. Drysuit in particular is a lot of money and I want one that I KNOW will not leak (I could have paid half the cost of mine but gotten a teabag). I will pay for a good quality wetsuit for diving here however I will buy cheap for a warm water suit ( I know I don't need the same level of protection/ longevity from it - if it lasts a trip or two it has done what was needed).
3) Lights - Do I need a couple of lightsabers with incredible lumen outputs for looking in cracks/ exploring UK dive sites? Nope so I will save some money buying lights @£50 instead of lights that are more than twice the price.
4) BCD/BP&W - do not need to buy one BP&W set up that carries a premium price tag (such as the big H) so have bought different parts from a number of sources and saved a few hundred £.
5) Clips/bolt snaps etc - worth paying for good ones. No point having them if they malfunction underwater. For a few £ extra, I can get good quality SS.
and so on.

Look at what you are buying and have your eyes open as to what is available, what you need it for and what your budget is. Do your homework, ask divers (we love to talk gear) and look for reviews (esp independent ones). The information is out there (just remember that shops often push particular lines for commercial reasons not because it is the best thing for you).
 
^^^^^ forgot to add look for gently used gear. I got my big H backplate wing that had 2 dives on half original cost because the original owners wife saw the sales reciept.
 
Barrel clips, in good grade stainless are less than half the price at a hardware store as a a dive shop.


I am willing to support the local dive shops because there can be value added in their services, but buying stuff costing multiples of the price of what be just as serviceable simply does not make sense to me.

Stowing our scooters for deco I watched my buddy clip his $7,000 scooter off to his butt d-ring with his cheap SS gate clip. And then watched it slowly drift away without him realizing it, I snagged it and clipped it off to me. Laughed at him on the surface when i gave his scooter back to him.
 
@Rickk
couple specific comments and I'm sure have been said, but to reiterate.

Most hardware from hardware stores is not proper stainless. They usually have non-stainless springs and will get rusted and fail. We learned that one the hard way. There are cheaper sources though that are not branded gear, but I wouldn't walk into Lowes or Home Depot and buy clips. Marine stores, yes, but not general hardware stores.
Cheap wetsuits are in fact cheap for a reason. Neoprene is not the same and most of the cheap suits do not have the same high quality seams and are usually a much higher percentage of air than many of the diving suits. This makes them more comfortable and stretchy, but it also makes them much less resistant to compression at depth. They are meant for surface use only, not depth.

Many of the other things I do tend to agree with shopping around though. My booties are from NRS and are meant for paddle sports, I use cheap gloves in general for warm ish water diving, but I do use "real" gloves when it gets cold. I build my own service kits with o-rings from industrial suppliers, etc. Most of the knick knack type stuff was originally sourced from other industries though, and I have no issue with continuing to use that vs. scuba branded stuff
 
When I was teaching for at my University our local Costco had a huge supply of BodyGlove wetsuits for a good price. Most all who were instructing bought one. The next week we were all wearing our spiffy matching suits. Of course we all laugh at each other. We did not care the suits were for surfing, we needed a suit to trash in pool so to save our good suits for the open water.
 
Anything that is metal, buy it purpose made for boating or scuba. The nice marine brass clip bought mail order might not have a stainless steel spring (just buy the real deal for the $2 extra at a dive shop). I don’t buy top grade everything, I am willing to trust a no-name Aluminium dive light from Asia that cost $25 because when it fails, I will turn on another light and keep on diving.

A friend bought a light that was out of her budget and it flooded on the first dive from her LDS. Lesson? Don’t bring stuff into the water that you aren’t okay with losing. I use cheap chinese video cameras. The nylon accessories look just like the GoPro pieces, but the nylon is much cheaper and less reliable, good enough for a $70 camera, but I wouldn’t secure a $200 video light with it.

If you want to spend $20 to save $60 buying regular cargo pants, go ahead. They may work, they may not. I used to buy my kids $20 wetsuits for snorkeling, because they use them for a season and then they wouldn’t fit. If you aren’t sure diving is going to be a 40 dives a season sport and you are not planning on going much beyond 40-50’ the cheap suit might be fine, you can always spend more money later on when you know better what you like.

Just keep in mind, something that looks like a bargain may not turn out to be such a bargain later on.
 
Diving in Canada I have a brand name 7mm suit I bought at a dive store. I also have a 2mm shorty that I purchase from MEC (probably intended for kayaking) that I wear when in the Caribbean. I only wear the 2mm because I didn't like loose t-shirt and shorts. The context is important here. The OP is in the Philippines. I can fully understand buying a cheap wetsuit if it is not intended for warmth. I also buy 5mm gloves and boots at Sail. Ergo Super Zip Boots The boots are Aqua Lung. They are probably not intended for scuba but they work great for me. I have been in 45 F water with them in a 7mm wetsuit and was fine. Only my hands were cold and I was wearing diveshop 5mm gloves. Anything colder and I would want a drysuit anyway. You can save money if you tailor your purchases to your needs and I think that was the main point the OP was trying to make.
 
Anything that is metal, buy it purpose made for boating or scuba. The nice marine brass clip bought mail order might not have a stainless steel spring (just buy the real deal for the $2 extra at a dive shop). I don’t buy top grade everything, I am willing to trust a no-name Aluminium dive light from Asia that cost $25 because when it fails, I will turn on another light and keep on diving.

A friend bought a light that was out of her budget and it flooded on the first dive from her LDS. Lesson? Don’t bring stuff into the water that you aren’t okay with losing. I use cheap chinese video cameras. The nylon accessories look just like the GoPro pieces, but the nylon is much cheaper and less reliable, good enough for a $70 camera, but I wouldn’t secure a $200 video light with it.

If you want to spend $20 to save $60 buying regular cargo pants, go ahead. They may work, they may not. I used to buy my kids $20 wetsuits for snorkeling, because they use them for a season and then they wouldn’t fit. If you aren’t sure diving is going to be a 40 dives a season sport and you are not planning on going much beyond 40-50’ the cheap suit might be fine, you can always spend more money later on when you know better what you like.

Just keep in mind, something that looks like a bargain may not turn out to be such a bargain later on.


Werd. Sound advice, indeed.

-K
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

Back
Top Bottom