BLADEFISH Sea Jets - A Completely Different Approach
- Thread starter PhilEllis
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Why no real world reviews of the Bladefish yet? Hasn't anyone gone out and tried them yet? I look forward to hearing about your experience.
Good diving, Craig
Good diving, Craig
deeper thoughts
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Ditto!!
IaDiverJ&L
Registered
Still no reports. It sounds good, but what do you if the battery goes bad after a few years. Send it in? 10 pounds, sounds like the ideal shore diveing scooter. We have the Seadoo VS. Had it (them) for 5 years now. 2 of them, and no problems. Same batterys and has not let us down at all. being 18 pounds, it works perfect for us rec divers, doing a shoredive.
Somebody had to try the BladeFish. Speak up.
Somebody had to try the BladeFish. Speak up.
Matt S.
Contributor
I'd be fine with sending it in for battery change service if it meant a more flood-free design.
GrandpaPat
Registered
I bought two of the 5000 Bladefish at Diver-Direct in Ft Lauderdale right before Christmas and used them on a dive off Eleuthera in the Bahamas. I did not do any technical testing for speed or battery endurance but I can tell you they performed great for about 40 minutes of use during a 55 minute dive in 20 feet on the medium speed setting and the battery status lights were still showing more than 75% remaining.
The max speed setting is fast but probably not 3.5 MPH for a 200lb scuba diver plus gear weight and drag. The fast setting would be great for transitting to and from your intended dive location from shore to a reef. The middle speed is ideal for cruising around and the slow speed for looking around.
They are well built. I am glad I got them, but my wife was not pleased that I got her one for Christmas! I think she was hoping for something shinier.
The max speed setting is fast but probably not 3.5 MPH for a 200lb scuba diver plus gear weight and drag. The fast setting would be great for transitting to and from your intended dive location from shore to a reef. The middle speed is ideal for cruising around and the slow speed for looking around.
They are well built. I am glad I got them, but my wife was not pleased that I got her one for Christmas! I think she was hoping for something shinier.
Matt S.
Contributor
Thanks very much for the review!
Out of curiosity, do you see a weak point for flooding? Someone else mentioned some kind of key or charging plug on the unit, which if forgotten and left off looked like a guaranteed flood. I'm wondering what kind of o-ring shenanigans you have to deal with the use the thing.
Out of curiosity, do you see a weak point for flooding? Someone else mentioned some kind of key or charging plug on the unit, which if forgotten and left off looked like a guaranteed flood. I'm wondering what kind of o-ring shenanigans you have to deal with the use the thing.
cool_hardware52
Contributor
Glad to hear you are having fun with your new scoot.
Keep in mind that with only 210 watt motor you are unlikely reach 100 fpm, or 1.14 mph.
3.5 mph requires ~1500-2000+ watts and will tear your mask off and free flow your reg.
Tobin
GrandpaPat
Registered
The plug referred to is to cover the charging port. It has two o-rings about a quarter inch apart to seal that small compartment that has four electrical contacts in the bottom of it. Two are for the electric charging connection and the other two appear to be some kind of energy management system referred to in the manual but are not marked. The manual and warning sticker on the unit definitely say to insert plug before going near the water. The plug has a little retaining clip that keeps it snug in the compartment and prevents accidental release. It is tight and can only fit in one way due to a slot on the unit and an alignment strip on the plug.
I have seen the math and the physics of energy required to pull at 3.5 mph from an earlier post. I cannot argue either. But I can state that I had to be going faster than 100 FPM because I swim that rate easily every day in the pool at the YMCA and this was much - much faster than that on the fast setting. Could the diameter or pitch of the blades be a deciding factor? The bladefish has a larger diameter than the typical rec scooters out there.
I have seen the math and the physics of energy required to pull at 3.5 mph from an earlier post. I cannot argue either. But I can state that I had to be going faster than 100 FPM because I swim that rate easily every day in the pool at the YMCA and this was much - much faster than that on the fast setting. Could the diameter or pitch of the blades be a deciding factor? The bladefish has a larger diameter than the typical rec scooters out there.
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