ams511
Contributor
Why is it rude? I think your comment is way off base. Your advice is based on the less than 1% of scuba divers that actually go into tech diving. Therefore all divers should forget about bcd's, and Aqua Lung is stupid for having the i3 because you someday might go into tech?
Good one.
When I learned how to dive in 1992 probably 99% of all BCs were jacket style except for "Tec BCs" which were back inflate. Now 20 years latter back inflate BCs seems to be the majority while the old stab jackets are the minority. Why is that?
A few years back Aqualung in their infinite wisdom marketed something called a "status" first stage. The thing was supposed to light up if the IP was bad. They no longer market it why? After all if it was a good idea back then it should be a good idea today.
Also if Aqualung is so smart Mares must be really dumb because they had a similar product for years called "air trim" and from a quick look at at their website they no longer sell it. I wonder why is that?
The "air trim" or "I3" is designed for divers that have difficulty mastering basic buoyancy probably because of poor training or rusty skills. Aqualung is not stupid for selling an I3 because they can con some divers into buying it. If this is the future of diving then why don't all their BCs have I3? You must either work at a dive store or have money to burn because I don't understand why someone would buy a piece of equipment that limits what kind of diving he or she can do. Especially when you are paying more to be limited.
Also the gear is non-standard so if you use it you better explain it well to your buddy because if something happens he/she may not know what to do with it. Also it is overly complex so what happens when something breaks? Can it be fixed quickly? Anyone can swap out a power inflator but if the I3 breaks how is it repaired? I really don't see any advantages to the system and it does carry a number of disadvantages.
---------- Post Merged at 02:03 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 01:45 PM ----------
My smart ass comment was aimed along the lines of "the cheap power inflator works fine, why replace what works." IE, a slide rule worked fine as well, but those folks have embraced advances in technology and are now using computers. And before the argument that technological developments in diving aren't quite the same, I am sure the old heads discussed the single hose vs double hose second stages, horse collar vs BC, etc. Again, it was meant to be funny.
Your analogy is not correct. Slide rules were replaced by calculators (not computers) when calculators could do more than a slide rule could do at an affordable price. I fail to see what an I3 can do that a conventional power inflator cannot. Also the idea is not new, Mares had it for years and it never really caught on. If you are traveling somewhere and your power inflator dies any dive shop will have a replacement. If you are on a boat someone may have a spare one, I know I do. But if your i3 dies then you are SOL, you are going to need someone to fix it preferably trained in how to fix it.
---------- Post Merged at 02:35 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 01:45 PM ----------
Any tips on how you did that? I was thinking of adding a crotch strap to my Dimension, and my wife wanted to do so to her Lotus.
Crotch straps usually come with a pre-made loop in the front and back is plain webbing that you make a loop with using a tri-glide. If you are able to get at the webbing in the back of the bc you can just loop it around the webbing and use the tri-glide to hold it in place. Alternatively if there is a slot in the backplate you can use that.