Eric Sedletzky
Contributor
I think Scubapro and their products are very good, top of the line. However I also think they are hyped beyond what they really are and there are other brands that can meet their performance levels at a more competitive price point.
I'm and old Scubapro gear fan. My first set up was Scubapro, and like I said the older classic gear is superb. I don't think they have really gotten any better though. There might be a few tweaks and a few improvements here and there, but nothing huge.
I'm not a fan of Scubapro politics. I got caught up in some of their retoric some years ago about parts I needed. It's a long story, but in the end they failed me and so did their authorized dealer so I got what I needed on the internet.
I think the MK5/metal second stages are about as good as they got, the 60's throught the 80's maybe 90's. I think that was Scubapro's hey day. That was before Atomic and many other newer competitive brands. I don't know when they shipped everytbing offshore exactly but I'll bet that was about when they went flat and had more trouble with quality control. That always seems to be when you noticed a drop in finish quality, when companies send away work and no longer are able to keep track of quality control like when it was all in house here in the states. Yeah I know about Chinese computerized machining and how precise that can be, but what about materials and assembly? I used some other Chinese made items that really sucked, absolutely terrible! if regs were made that poorly we'd be in real trouble. That kind of turned me off to Chinese made regs. There will always be that doubt when I'm 100 feet down drawing off a Chinese regulator wondering if some freak thing will happen to it and kill me.
Unfortunately all of the companies have to ship stuff away now, that's just the reality of what we as consumers have allowed to happen. I know in the case of Scubapro, assembly is primarily in Italy, but they have stuff made all over. Nobody really seems to know exactly where or what Scubapro does these days.
I'm not saying Scubapro is bad, I'm saying that they seemed to stagnate and probably went through some internal problems, turmoil with the whole grey market scandal, increased competition, a drop on market share, etc. and their two top designers split to form Atomic. As a result I do think they found it imperative to over hype their goods to stay relevant. The internet and freedom of information did them more harm than good I think, which can be the case when you base your sales/business model on your past success and not your current situation. In other words, they rested on their laurels too long and lost their competitive edge. It's kind of obvious what's going on when you have a company with such premium prices when other brands are just as good and do the same thing for less money.
I'm and old Scubapro gear fan. My first set up was Scubapro, and like I said the older classic gear is superb. I don't think they have really gotten any better though. There might be a few tweaks and a few improvements here and there, but nothing huge.
I'm not a fan of Scubapro politics. I got caught up in some of their retoric some years ago about parts I needed. It's a long story, but in the end they failed me and so did their authorized dealer so I got what I needed on the internet.
I think the MK5/metal second stages are about as good as they got, the 60's throught the 80's maybe 90's. I think that was Scubapro's hey day. That was before Atomic and many other newer competitive brands. I don't know when they shipped everytbing offshore exactly but I'll bet that was about when they went flat and had more trouble with quality control. That always seems to be when you noticed a drop in finish quality, when companies send away work and no longer are able to keep track of quality control like when it was all in house here in the states. Yeah I know about Chinese computerized machining and how precise that can be, but what about materials and assembly? I used some other Chinese made items that really sucked, absolutely terrible! if regs were made that poorly we'd be in real trouble. That kind of turned me off to Chinese made regs. There will always be that doubt when I'm 100 feet down drawing off a Chinese regulator wondering if some freak thing will happen to it and kill me.
Unfortunately all of the companies have to ship stuff away now, that's just the reality of what we as consumers have allowed to happen. I know in the case of Scubapro, assembly is primarily in Italy, but they have stuff made all over. Nobody really seems to know exactly where or what Scubapro does these days.
I'm not saying Scubapro is bad, I'm saying that they seemed to stagnate and probably went through some internal problems, turmoil with the whole grey market scandal, increased competition, a drop on market share, etc. and their two top designers split to form Atomic. As a result I do think they found it imperative to over hype their goods to stay relevant. The internet and freedom of information did them more harm than good I think, which can be the case when you base your sales/business model on your past success and not your current situation. In other words, they rested on their laurels too long and lost their competitive edge. It's kind of obvious what's going on when you have a company with such premium prices when other brands are just as good and do the same thing for less money.
