Avid BC / Broken strap holder (lower)

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Hi,
Please send us a couple of pictures of the damage to mauriciomoreno@cramerdecker.com. If this is something we can we can work on, we may be able to help you, providing you have a Sherwood dealer ​in the USA we can work with as intermediary.

Sincerely,

Sherwood Team
my BC has aslo had the same defect is there a recall or replacement part I can buy ?
 
I have given up on Sherwood BCs due to this problem...it has happen to two BCs i have purchased new,,,i have change to the bp/w style
 
I am new to this forum to try and find a solution to my Sherwood BCD issue. Coincidentally i find this thread and i have the same sentiment at iamrushman. I give up. After trying to find the unlisted Sherwood number on the internet for several days, A local dive shop was nice enough to gave me the number. I called and left several messages for the tech at Sherwood to help me locate a fix or solution to these broken BC. Finally get a call back a few days later, only to be told that these are an older model and are not under warranty.
As a father of 3 and an active water family, i will not purchase another Sherwood product. I now end up having to immediately purchase 2 new BC to replace the broken ones, and need to be on standby for the other 3 as they will follow suit.
Not a way to do business. Disappointed.
 
yes...what Mario said.
 
This is a major problem and safety issue with Sherwood design in their BCD's. I have had 2 bcd's have the straps break off as well as had both of my friends break last week on a dive. Sherwood should recall all their BCD's with this tank holder design. When the plastic breaks the tank is released from the BCD. Unlike any other manufacturer the straps do not run inside the jacket. This poses a major safety issue to the diver as he is no longer in control of the tank and it can float away taking the regulator right out of the diver's mouth. I am surprised the company has not had a major liability lawsuit over someone drowning! Sherwood replaced my 2 bcd's no questions asked but want my friends to buy new discounted model BCD's. The problem is they still have the same design. I have heard of many people with Sherwood BCD's having the same problem so I am sure Sherwood is well aware of it and choses to do nothing to address this issue. Many SCUBA products have been recalled for much less serious design flaws. I have written Sherwood and expressed my concerns and as of this date gotten no response. This is an engineering design flaw that should be addressed . I intend to pursue this by filing a complaint with the Product Safety Commission to have these dangerous BCD's recalled. Shame on Sherwood for not addressing this problem! Other divers having had this problem need to let Sherwood know this is not acceptable.
 
I am new to this forum to try and find a solution to my Sherwood BCD issue. Coincidentally i find this thread and i have the same sentiment at iamrushman. I give up. After trying to find the unlisted Sherwood number on the internet for several days, A local dive shop was nice enough to gave me the number. I called and left several messages for the tech at Sherwood to help me locate a fix or solution to these broken BC. Finally get a call back a few days later, only to be told that these are an older model and are not under warranty.
As a father of 3 and an active water family, i will not purchase another Sherwood product. I now end up having to immediately purchase 2 new BC to replace the broken ones, and need to be on standby for the other 3 as they will follow suit.
Not a way to do business. Disappointed.
This is a major problem and safety issue with Sherwood design in their BCD's. I have had 2 bcd's have the straps break off as well as had both of my friends break last week on a dive. Sherwood should recall all their BCD's with this tank holder design. When the plastic breaks the tank is released from the BCD. Unlike any other manufacturer the straps do not run inside the jacket. This poses a major safety issue to the diver as he is no longer in control of the tank and it can float away taking the regulator right out of the diver's mouth. I am surprised the company has not had a major liability lawsuit over someone drowning! Sherwood replaced my 2 bcd's no questions asked but want my friends to buy new discounted model BCD's. The problem is they still have the same design. I have heard of many people with Sherwood BCD's having the same problem so I am sure Sherwood is well aware of it and choses to do nothing to address this issue. Many SCUBA products have been recalled for much less serious design flaws. I have written Sherwood and expressed my concerns and as of this date gotten no response. This is an engineering design flaw that should be addressed . I intend to pursue this by filing a complaint with the Product Safety Commission to have these dangerous BCD's recalled. Shame on Sherwood for not addressing this problem! Other divers having had this problem need to let Sherwood know this is not acceptable
 
I and my friend both have the same issue happening at nearly the same time.
No more Sherwood unless they come up with a solution.
 
I wrote the following letter to Undercurrent which was published in the Sept issue

Bill Watts (Coconut Creek, FL) wrote to us to say that he believed his Sherwood Avid BCD has a safety issue that the manufacturer is ignoring. The plastic holding the retaining straps for his tank broke, and since the camband apparently does not actually run through the fabric of the BCD, the tank was released. When the plastic breaks, there is nothing to hold the camband to the BCD.

When the same thing happened to his wife's new Sherwood Luna BCD, on jumping off a dive boat in Fiji, he was concerned this was a design fault and wrote to Sherwood about it. The company replaced both BCDs without question.

Recently he was diving with friends who had bought similar Sherwood BCDs on his recommendation. Both broke in the same way, the man's when he stood up ready-equipped to dive and hers when she hit the water, almost pulling her regulator from her mouth.



Sherwood, You Have a Camband Problem


"I was horrified to look over and at 70 feet [deep] see my buddy's tank floating away from her BC. I used a safety strap I have for my camera to tie it to the BC to get her to the surface. It could have been a very bad situation if she had not been cool and calm and had not been with such an experienced diver as myself."

There is no shortage of reports of this problem on the Internet. This was pulled from a Leisure Pro online product review, from an unnamed diver: "I am a pro diver. This [BCD] was sent to me as replacement of Luna BCD from Sherwood. When I received it, I was impressed with the new design. This was my third BCD from Sherwood. It looked good, but it is a horrible BCD. The backplate is of very fragile plastic, and it looks exactly same as the Luna BCD that broke after six months of use. I was very surprised that they continue using the same style, since many of my friends had the same problems with the backplate and stopped using their product."

Charlie Bush, president of Cramer Decker (Sherwood Scuba), told Undercurrent he was unaware that there was a safety issue with current models of the Avid and Luna. On checking with his technicians, he had been told that, bearing in mind there are twin tank cambands, for the tank to completely separate from the BC would require the simultaneous failure of four separate components, which is very unlikely. He said the few that have been returned with this fault have been several years old and that Sherwood had not heard of any failure happening while a diver was under water.

Well, we have told Sherwood of these cases and now they are aware. Clearly, if a BCD camband breaks away from its mounting point and allows a tank to become unstable, even wrenching a regulator from a diver's mouth as reported in one case, that could cause panic, despite the tank still hanging there. It's a serious defect. Let's see what they do about it.

Have you had problems with your Sherwood BCD? If so, write to us at BenDDavison@undercurrent.org
 
Thanks for the update and taking the initiative to write and make Sherwood aware of this major problem..(I'm sure they are very aware already).....i will continue to boycott Sherwood products because of their history of lack of interest and compassion for the everyday diver.
 
If Sherwood refuses to replace the broken BC's I would write a complaint to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Send them the old BC's and explain the danger and that Sherwood refuses to do anything about this clear product safety hazard!
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