PADI Sport Diver gear review

[Reg Braithwaite]

The PADI mag, like most others, is no more than a slick catalogue for gear, parroting the manufacturers' products with a few interesting side stories which might or might not be interesting to scuba divers. That's how they exist.

Back when stores carried computer magazines the size of telephone books, one such magazine was described thusly:

This magazine is packed with advertisements from cover to cover, some of which are labeled as such.

If I see a review for a product in a magazine that carries advertising for the manufacturer, I discount its praise heavily. I am far more impressed when someone reviews a product positively even though its manufacturer declines to advertise with them. It does happen that way from time to time.

 

[Gary D.]

I just threw that one in there, not sure if they have that--yet.

N

Doesn't that one require a buttie line?

Gary D.

 

[pt40fathoms]

If you ask a Chevy owner what Ford or Dodge trucks are like, you'd most likely get a less than flattering response. If that Chevy owner reads a review on a Ford truck in a magazine, they would be less inclined to take it seriously. We, the SCUBA community, are just as biased with our gear. It's not a bad thing, just a human thing. So when we see gear reviewed in a magazine, our reliance on the information will be in direct proportion to our experience level, the gear we already own, and the unique aspect of just what type of diving we participate in.

Nothing right or wrong in any of it, it just is.