Manufacturer Differences

Ok, this risks both flames and repeats, but I did do a search and didn't find what I was looking for.

I am daunted by the number of major brands out there. Aeris, Aqualung, Bare, Cressi, Mares, Scubapro, Tusa, and I'm just scratching the surface.

I'm not asking what the "best" brand is, I'd just like to get a feel for what each manufacturer has to offer.
Things like:
-Great equipment, but you pay a premium for the name
-Solid gear, but no bells and whistles
-Best overall value
-Decent, but not for extreme environments.
-etc.

Any help greatly appreciated,

xto

I had similar questions before buying. My conclusion, not fully understood when I bought, is that all the major manufacturers make quality gear. More bells and whistles or different materials cost more, but even the most basic gear (like mine) is really good and maybe even outstanding. There are some features that cost more and that you should get, depending on your diving goals/needs. I bought regs not intended for cold conditions, for example. These cost less than regs to be used in cold water. Find what suits your tastes by renting. Then buy after scouting out possible limiting features of the equipment you have identified. My 2 cents.

You forgot the most important things.

1 can you get it serviced localy.
2 How is the aftersales service of that brand.

Take a look at the Oceanic forum and see how they resolve things.

lmorin:

I had similar questions before buying. My conclusion, not fully understood when I bought, is that all the major manufacturers make quality gear. More bells and whistles or different materials cost more, but even the most basic gear (like mine) is really good and maybe even outstanding. There are some features that cost more and that you should get, depending on your diving goals/needs. I bought regs not intended for cold conditions, for example. These cost less than regs to be used in cold water. Find what suits your tastes by renting. Then buy after scouting out possible limiting features of the equipment you have identified. My 2 cents.

Click to expand...

There's the answer. This thread can be closed now.



Seriously.

Brand names in scuba are not necessarily as helpful as you might think. The company which makes the best bc for you might not make the best regulators or fins or mask for you. When you go with specialized equipment, the company may only make a few things. For example the company that makes my computer seems to only make computers and rebreathers.

Companies which make the entire line of good recreational gear and tend to have worldwide support include mares, oceanic, scubapro, aqualung, sherwood and tusa. Zeagle and Dive Rite have a complete line of gear but may not have support in south east asia for example. To me, this doesn't matter as I get my regulators checked before I go abroad. I have four zeagle envoy deluxe regs and have never had a problem.

As you progress in your diving you may find equipment from smaller manufacturers which fit your need where the big companies won't. For example, I am unaware of scubapro currently making a bc design for double tanks. Deep sea supply might be a good choice for a doubles bc configuration, but they don't make regulators or masks.

Hope these thoughts help.

I find that whilst certain brands provide all of the components required to scuba dive, they tend to excel only with specific things.

For instance, Cressi Masks are great, but their BCDs and fins suck (IMHO).
Scubapro regulators are great, but their wetsuits fall apart (IMHO).
Apeks regulators are excellent...their dive computer (Quantum) is terrible.
Mares fins (Quattro) is nice, but their BCD (H.U.B.) is an abomination

The question you need to be asking is this: I plan on doing "x" type of diving, what should I look for in my equipment??

For instance, if you are a tropical-only diver, you wouldn't necessarily need to worry about having sealed regulators or a drysuit. Define the conditions to which your equipment must perform under, then find the equipment that matches those conditions.

Brand names, no matter what you are looking to buy, matter little compared to the features you require your equipment to have, no matter what task you are using the equipment for; scuba diving, playing the guitar, or riding a motorcycle. Anyone can be a brand w**re, a smart person will have equipment that performs the way they need it to.

Peace,
Greg

Thanks for all the great help guys. I guess scuba brands really are mostly the same.

And kanonfodr, again, I wasnt asking what the "best" brand was, just the differences between them. For instance, Rolls Royce and Honda are both nice brands, but there are some major differences there regarding quality, price, and cost of name. Same goes for guitars and motorcylces. An HD is very different from a Suzuki, even though both are decent machines.

Anyway, thanks again,

xto

Beands are misleading, in many ways...you think your equipment is different from your buddy's because of a different brand name and therefore 'better' or 'worse'...but it's not necessarily the case. There's a lot of "incest" between brands, so you may have the same kit as other folks on the boat without even knowing it. For example, American Underwater Products owns both Aeris and Oceanic, so you can expect a great deal of similarities between products. (Try comparing Oceanic's VEO 250 computer with Aeris' XR-2...you'd be hard-pressed to spot the difference.) Oceanic and Hollis are also "one:" it's just that Hollis is marketed as Oceanic's "tech" line. You'll also see major similarities between Zeagle and Apeks regulators: until ~10 years ago, Zeagle was the US distributor for Apeks, with the regs sold under the Zeagle brand. When they went solo, Zeagle decided to add a few touches of their own to their regulators, but used the Apeks design as their foundation. That's why Zeagle and Apeks regs are pretty darn similar, even to this day. Aqualung now owns Apeks, to make things more confusing, which is why you'll see Apeks products advertised in Aqualung's brochures at your local dive shop.

Bottom line is: there's a lot of cross-over between brands. Oceanic makes great regulators, but if you buy an Aeris, you can rest assured it's still a great reg because it's part of the Oceanic family. A Zeagle reg is pretty much the same as an Apeks, and given tech. divers' fondness for Apeks, you can be sure that your Zeagle is top-notch, too! And so on, and so on...

I concur with DevonDiver's assertion that some brands are better than others for certain things. Cressi makes wonderful masks and freediving fins (generations of Mediterannean freediving yields beautiful results!), but I am not a fan of their regulators or electronics (computers and the like). I've never tried Scubapro's wetsuits, but their Jetfins and regulators are wonderful. I'm willing to bet your final gear configuration will be a mix and match of brands, as you find out what's best for you.