You have GOT TO BE KIDDING!- New Aqualung BC

[Diver Dennis]

I do protest....

i soooooooo want a left pocket inflator with no corrugated hose, they just get in the way and for me personally are totally useless....

Doesn't have to be this one, but my next BC will definitely have one, even if i have to change brands from my beloved scubapro BC.

Actually Mike, I would buy one too. Much easier to take photos upside down.

And yes I have a BP/W...

 

[Otter]

Otter, do you really think divers are not bright enough to understand ascents and NOT adding air to go up? I could understand someone who has not been diving reading the ads and believing that but get real. If you have taught your students properly they will understand.

I was reading the text verbatim....and while I am not concerned about MY students adding air to 'surface', I can't speak to every student or diver who might try this BCD.

Have you seen this BC? The knife on the side would be just as much of an entanglement hazard, would it not? In fact it looks even more exposed than the lever.

The difference here is that if I entangle my knife, I get stuck temporarily. If I entangle the lever, then I unintentionally add/or dump air from my BCD which has the potential for a more significant problem than a simple entanglement.

Quite the opposite in fact. My point was that if there was a problem and it did not work, as I said, they would have to recall it like Halcyon did. How is this jumping on the bandwagon? Don't you think Aqualung saw that Halcyon had to recall those inflators? Do you think they did not learn from that mistake that cost Halcyon a lot of money? Do you think they would put out a product that had not been tested to the point they were satisfied the same thing would not happen to them?

I guess I misunderstood your terse comment....my apologies.

"I have not...and will not"? Are you that closed minded? So basically you are saying anything that may be hanging off of a BC, like a reel, is an entanglement hazard? How about a snorkel or a console? What about the knife? You think using this product id so risky that you would not try it?

Yes, anything hanging off of a BCD has the potential to become entangled in kelp. Heck, I see fins get entangled in kelp by divers frequently. When diving in kelp (unless I am teaching) I don't wear a snorkel to avoid entanglement and I wear wrist mounted gauges to minimize the chances of entanglement as well.

"No elevator rides to the surface" applies to regular hose inflators as well. Again, a diver should be smart enough to get by the up/down wording to understand what the company means.

Perhaps, but an equipment manufacturer should not explicitly state something that is incorrect or unsafe.

You know, I would not have brought this up unless you had first but I see you read the report I made on your post. I did this in private but you had to bring it out onto the board. Frankly, with all that has been going on lately, I would think that there would be an air of caution among the Moderators here regarding posts. "Bashing" has been a popular word here on SB the last week or two. Your post, bashing this BC without trying it or even seeing it for yourself is irresponsible in my opinion. Moderators are perceived to speak for the board. You said nothing about his post being your own opinion until I brought it up. As I said in my report, if I was a new diver coming here to find out about BCs and saw that a Moderator here was bashing it, I would listen. I have been reading that Moderators are supposed to do just that, moderate, not ridicule something without concrete facts. You failed to take off the Mod hat in your first post and would not have if I had not reported your post. You can't have it both ways...

I didn't mention your report, but thought you made a reasonable point that my post might be misconstrued to represent something other than my own view. I wanted any new readers to understand it was my personal view. I am not sure how that is having it both ways.

I don't know you from Adam. To the best of my knowledge, I have never moderated any of your threads, and I probably haven't moderated a thread -- other than to move spam to the trash -- in many many months. I 'feel' like you are just looking to pick a fight with me -- why, I dunno.

 

[rakkis]

CONVENIENT
Unlike a traditional inflator at the end of a floppy hose, the i3 never moves. It is stationary at the same location where your left hand normally rests. It is always in the right place at the right time.

This has merit. This alone might make me try one one just for giggles.

EASY
The i3 is simple and intuitive. Move the lever up to go up; down to go down.

I don't understand how I can possibly be misinterpreting this. It's pretty clear. And this is exactly what my beef with the advertisement is.

Sure that makes this BCD "simple and intuitive" for new divers. But solving this so-called problem can lead the new diver to take for granted the basic relationship between pressure and volume. This is a mistake that can really hurt someone.

Again... note that I'm refering to divers that either haven't been through a course or were unfortunate enough to go through a bad one.

 

[Diver Dennis]

Well, I had no problem understanding it.

My main point here is that unless someone has tried a product or at least seen it, how can you brand it as unsafe? Or an entanglement hazard? Are there reports of any incidents?

As I said, if you can use a computer or a regular inflator, you can use this product I would think.

 

[Diver Dennis]

I didn't mention your report, but thought you made a reasonable point that my post might be misconstrued to represent something other than my own view. I wanted any new readers to understand it was my personal view. I am not sure how that is having it both ways.

I don't know you from Adam. To the best of my knowledge, I have never moderated any of your threads, and I probably haven't moderated a thread -- other than to move spam to the trash -- in many many months. I 'feel' like you are just looking to pick a fight with me -- why, I dunno.

I PMed you regarding the report and having it both ways.

I don't know you from Adam either and I'm not trying to pick a fight. In fact, if I had bought that BC before reading your first post, I would have thought you were the one picking the fight by calling anyone who would even think of buying this BC or being the designer, whom you ridiculed, or someone who worked at AquaLung, which I don't, basically stupid.

Now that would be a justified opinion if you had some facts.

 

[Otter]

...snip... I would have thought you were the one picking the fight by calling anyone who would even think of buying this BC or being the designer, whom you ridiculed, or someone who worked at AquaLung, which I don't, basically stupid.

Now that would be a justified opinion if you had some facts.

You got all that out of

"What happened to buoyancy control??? And look at the design, does that handle look like an entanglement hazard looking to happen? Imagine some kelp getting wrapped around it and you shoot to the surface or sink to the floor. Did anyone with diving experience read the copy or think about the implications of this design?"

 

[pakman]

entanglement hazard??? easy on the coolaid! you're more likely to get your sawed off steak knife entangled than that lever. Seriously, two people who recently joined our local dive club use these BCD's. It's an interesting design and as Mike V said, I think there will be a market for it.

But as loosebits said, if you dive one of these new fangle BCD's, make sure to educate your insta-buddy. I had a double take as I was trying to figure out what the heck that loose oral inflator tube was sitting unconnected over the shoulder... But then again, this is no different from me having to explain to rec divers why I've got a silly 7' foot hose wrapped around my neck, a single dump valve, and how to get me out of the harness if needed.

edit: just read the advert... OK I agree on that part... elevator going up... LOL

 

[Diver Dennis]

Otter,

Hmmm. You are saying it is a bad design because it is an entanglement hazard and asking if anyone with dive experience read the copy. You also implied that no one with dive experience thought about the implications of making it dangerous. You portray it as a dangerous product or at least a product with a dangerous inflator control. Like I said, if you were a new diver looking for info on BCs and read your post, would you buy it? Or maybe that was an endorsement...

Yeah, I do...

 

[Otter]

entanglement hazard??? easy on the coolaid! you're more likely to get your sawed off steak knife entangled than that lever. ...snip...

Funny, I lost my sawed off steak knife because it got stuck in a crack while I was bug hunting a week or so ago. I felt a 'tug' then I was free, it wasn't until I got home that I realized it was missing. If that had been the lever, I would have know right then -- either air would have been added or subtracted from my BCD.

The point is not that its any MORE of an entanglement hazard than a knife, snorkel, or console. The point is the consequences of that entanglement are potentially more negative.

BTW, although I dive a BP/W and had a sawed off knife, I am not DIR. They won't even let me go on one of their DIR trips

 

[somewhereinla]

I am really surprised to see so many people criticizing if not mocking a product they have never tried or even seen.
How about being a little open minded??? Or at least giving those companies the benefit of the doubt. I think anyone should be praised
to create something new and different wether or not they end up being successful. When my dad learned to dive, BCD's did even exist.
I am sure, when BCD's came out, a few guys were laughing and making negative comments about them. And yet they probably all use
one by now... Some people work very hard to come up with new technologies, the least you guys can do is at least respect their work and
try their products before judging them.

cheers.