Best Gear of 07

[Hank49]

There is always the chance that there is a little group think going on around here. I don't know. I happen to like some of my Mares gear and yes, I dive it quite a bit. Maybe I'm just easy to please.

People are always going to disagree with what is the best. But around here it seems like some stuff gets written off for no real reason at all.

Ah, it'd be the same if we were talking Ford/Chevy, Riffe/Wong, Aunt Jamima?Mrs Butterworth....gear is gear. Someone won't, and will like every single piece of gear you can mention on this board.
And it is all just sales hype. So what...now your ScubaPro reg you bought last year is a pos becuase of the new Atomic is "better"? Baahhhhh...

 

[CompuDude]

Every company makes some laughable stuff from time to time. I only mentioned Mares because another poster specifically mentioned their products saying they don't belong on the list.

I can't speak for the Icon as I've never dove one. Most likely though, from what I've read around here, it isn't liked by the SB Kool-Aid drinkers because it isn't a wing. I happen to like my "poodle jackets". Maybe one day I'll get myself a wing, I don't know. But I'm perfectly happy with the BC I have for now and I'm certainly not going to dismiss a product simply because it isn't the style of BC I prefer.

The Abyss? Why shouldn't it be on the list? I'm yet to hear anything bad about the Abyss.

I'll also go on record saying I love AL 80s. There, I said it.

The rest of the stuff, I don't really know. Though I will say that while I would never buy a data mask myself you have to admit there is something very cool about it in a James Bond/Mission Impossible kind of way. And for that alone it belongs on the list if you ask me.

Perhaps you should re-read MY post...

Although as far as Al.80s are concerned... you must not dive in cold water locations.

 

[Nick_W]

Perhaps you should re-read MY post...

Although as far as Al.80s are concerned... you must not dive in cold water locations.

Yeah, I wasn't talking about your post. Your's seemed to be one of the few voices of reason I've seen around here.

As for cold water, not any more. I had my fill of that when I didn't have any choice as to where I was getting in the water. But now that I'm doing this for fun I perfer to stay nice and warm.

 

[Hoeser]

I have no beefs with the AL80 either, but that doesn't mean it should be _#1_ on the list. Shouldn't the list of top products of 2007 be products that came out in 2007? Spare Air has been useless for more than a few years now.

 

[Aspendiver]

I have no beefs with the AL80 either, but that doesn't mean it should be _#1_ on the list. Shouldn't the list of top products of 2007 be products that came out in 2007? Spare Air has been useless for more than a few years now.

Wow. The conclusions people jump to...(Hoeser, I'm not picking on you- many other posters made the same assumption.)

Nowhere in that article are they saying an Alu 80 is the best gear of 2007---
Whomever did the magazine layout decided it would be cool to use THAT picture, and it could have been of any tank, to illustrate what other gear you need/can buy. They didn't even test tanks in 2007. The magazine layout is probably done by people that have nothing to do with the testing. Sometimes you have to read the article, and not just look at the pictures.
The magazine ( I like it, I read it, I don't take it as gospel) is slightly vague, I think, about the difference between gear they've tested in ScubaLab reviews (are you guys going to argue with hard numbers from machine testing?) and opinions generated from product overviews, but at least they say those items are THEIR favorites, from the gear they've actually had in their hands. In other words, their opinion. Last I heard, it was okay to have one, and lucky them! They get paid for expressing theirs.

 

[Hoeser]

Wow. The conclusions people jump to...(Hoeser, I'm not picking on you- many other posters made the same assumption.)

Nowhere in that article are they saying an Alu 80 is the best gear of 2007---

Well I'm just going by the O/P message... I didn't read the article.

 

[CompuDude]

Wow. The conclusions people jump to...(Hoeser, I'm not picking on you- many other posters made the same assumption.)

Nowhere in that article are they saying an Alu 80 is the best gear of 2007---
Whomever did the magazine layout decided it would be cool to use THAT picture, and it could have been of any tank, to illustrate what other gear you need/can buy. They didn't even test tanks in 2007. The magazine layout is probably done by people that have nothing to do with the testing. Sometimes you have to read the article, and not just look at the pictures.
The magazine ( I like it, I read it, I don't take it as gospel) is slightly vague, I think, about the difference between gear they've tested in ScubaLab reviews (are you guys going to argue with hard numbers from machine testing?) and opinions generated from product overviews, but at least they say those items are THEIR favorites, from the gear they've actually had in their hands. In other words, their opinion. Last I heard, it was okay to have one, and lucky them! They get paid for expressing theirs.

Good point. I finally got my hands on the actual article last night, and while I barely skimmed it, it looked like it was just a big collection of items the editors really liked. It wasn't even a numbered list, for that matter, and the Al.80 was, as you noted, just a cover shot, not part of the actual list of great stuff. There was a bunch of stuff that didn't make the list written up in post 1, also.

Re-read Nemrod's post (#1), actually. He wasn't claiming much of what has been imputed in this thread, although I still disagree with some of the points he took the time to list in an effort to show it was not a good list.

 

[Nemrod]

I am sorry I misunderstood the aluminum 80 was a prop, it looked as if it was pictured like the other "Best Of" gear.

The Mares Abyss, I have specifically stated some of the gear on the Best Of list was quite decent gear---but is it the best--the BEST? The Abyss is a good regulator if you can get parts and service (lol) but it is not the best, it is not ground breaking, it is an evolution of the MR12 which has been around since the 70s and it is not best by any real measure and certainly not new for 07--so since it was mentioned, what makes it better than a Legend which was not pictured or a Titan or any of a dozen other regulators. It is a good regulator--best--hardly.

Where is the cyclic testing to mean time failure, function and durability data, service history and serviceability tests and data and actual long term field test data and availability of service and parts and trained technicians--nah---just get some editors together and ask them what is best--sorry--not good enough. The artical was crasse commercialism at it's worst.

N

 

[Stu S.]

IThe artical was crasse commercialism at it's worst.

N

Yes. Scuba Diving magazine supports their gear and resort advertisers. They must also keep dive shops happy, as they sell magazines. They won't have an article about repairing your own gear, or where to camp and dive. No mail order gear is advertised. Their business is the diving marketplace rather than the diving world.

It is not published as a public service for guys like me. Look at the Rolex on the back cover and get the idea of the intended readership.

Sometimes it has some reading. I somehow get it free.

 

[Nick_W]

I am sorry I misunderstood the aluminum 80 was a prop, it looked as if it was pictured like the other "Best Of" gear.

The Mares Abyss, I have specifically stated some of the gear on the Best Of list was quite decent gear---but is it the best--the BEST? The Abyss is a good regulator if you can get parts and service (lol) but it is not the best, it is not ground breaking, it is an evolution of the MR12 which has been around since the 70s and it is not best by any real measure and certainly not new for 07--so since it was mentioned, what makes it better than a Legend which was not pictured or a Titan or any of a dozen other regulators. It is a good regulator--best--hardly.

Where is the cyclic testing to mean time failure, function and durability data, service history and serviceability tests and data and actual long term field test data and availability of service and parts and trained technicians--nah---just get some editors together and ask them what is best--sorry--not good enough. The artical was crasse commercialism at it's worst.

N

Well, find me your average diver who even knows what the hell cyclic testing to mean time failure is. You have to think about the target audience here.

For your average diver the criteria for picking a good reg is this:

1. Does it look cool?
2. Is it somewhat reasonable in price?
3. Does it look cool?
4. Does it breathe easy?
5. No, really, does it look cool?
6. Will everyone who sees it think it looks cool?
7. How cool does it look?


Now, the Mares Abyss, whether you like the actual reg or not, is pretty cool looking. And shiny too! Seriously though, for your average diver I can easily see where the Mares Abyss would be listed among the best.

But as has been pointed out, we're starting to get into Ford/Chevy, my dad can beat up your dad territory here.