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Underwater SoCal. There's no place I'd rather be :)
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2011 Tahoe Benchmark testing is complete!
The 2011 Tahoe Benchmark was successfully completed on Friday July 29th at 5pm, as test diver Vic Erikson stepped out of the lake after the last test run.
The three test divers (Alan Studley, Vic Erikson, and me (Claudette Dorsey)) safely completed:
* 68 dives in Lake Tahoe
* over 4 days,
* at over 6,000 feet elevation,
* running 13 different scooters, (some of them prototypes,)
* for over 60 miles underwater.
Thank you to the incredible volunteers who made this third Tahoe Benchmark event possible. The Northern Nevada Dive Club members did thousands of tasks, donating time, energy and money to support this research project.
[all photos courtesy Ben McGeever]
Full daily photo, video, and written reports were filed daily.
Links by the day: Prep Day (Saturday) Day 0 (Sunday: Getting it together)) Day 1 (Monday: Static Thrust Testing in the Pool) Day 2 (Tuesday: In-water testing at Lake Tahoe begins) Day 3 (Wednesday: In-water testing continues) Day 4 (Thursday: In-water testing continues) Day 5 (Friday: Final in-water testing finishes with High-load doubles & stage rigs.)
We used a standardized testing protocol and data recorders to test each scooter for maximum speed over a 1/2 mile, maximum range at top speed, and range at Cruise speed (150fpm).
Each scooter was tested in single cylinder configuration (drysuit, bp/w, steel 72cf cylinder).
Tests were repeated in double cylinder configuration (double cylinders backmount, fully rigged al80 stage bottle on left side) to determine high-load impact on speed and range.
The full testing protocol is described in detail in the Tahoe Benchmark 2009 published report to be found at the website: TBM Home Page
Representatives from 5 manufacturers actively participated at the in-water testing in Lake Tahoe:
Hollis (Nick Hollis)
Logic Dive (John Nellis)
Silent Submerge (Rodney Nairne and John)
Deep Sea Supply (Tobin George)
Dive Xtras (Ben McGeever)
The full list of scooters tested this year (more information at TBM 2011 ):
Dr. James Flenner is the principal investigator, and estimates the full 2011 report will be ready for publication at the end of September:
From the Tahoe Benchmark Website:
Currently the data is in raw form from the data recorders. After extracting and normalizing the data, the paper will be authored and edited. After correction, it will be examined by the Oversight Committee, then, placed for peer review. After passing peer review, it is released to the participating manufacturers for 2 weeks prior to public release on this web site.
Estimated public release date is late September.
Thank you again to the incredible community of volunteers who made this possible.
Thanks to Dr. Flenner for the creation, direction, and inspiration of the Tahoe Benchmark.
I know the information gleaned and shared openly with participating manufacturers and the worldwide diving community is invaluable.
"...Of course, this assumes you know the true performance of your scooter! Finding out the real speeds and range was the reason we started the Tahoe Benchmark. We initially relied on manufacturer supplied numbers and usually ended up swimming back." --fdog.
Thank you all for doing this, this has been and I'm sure will continue to be a valuable source of information for all of us. My sincere appreciation to each and every person involved.
Has Zombie left eye ala Marilyn Manson, but for real (Corneal Hydrops).
Join Date
Jul 2005
Location
South Santa Monica Bay/Los Angeles California, USA, Planet Earth, a blue world 71% water & third planet from a G2 yellow dwarf star, in the Milky Way Galaxy two thirds of the way out from the center on the inner edge of the Orion–Cygnus arm.
A scooter is a tool for me to get on a deep tropical wreck, in full tech gear, against a raging current . . .not a plaything to be chasing after Sea Lions, Whalesharks, Manta Rays and basically scaring away all other big pelagics; or for doing silly underwater acrobatic --"look at me"-- photogenic tricks like they do on the divematrix board. I don't care about the latest, fastest, biggest, longest running advertising claims when it comes to DPV's.
The only features that matter to me are light weight for Airline Travel along with a TSA approved battery, easy to fix in the field and durability at a fair price. The only scooter that fits those requirements is a Sierra X-Scooter with a NiMH Battery, the same DPV I've had for the past five years. . .
"Luck is the residue of design."
Branch Rickey. "A Life is not important . . .except in the impact it has on other Lives."
Jackie Robinson. "Chance favors the prepared mind" --Louis Pasteur
A scooter is a tool for me to get on a deep tropical wreck, in full tech gear, against a raging current . . .not a plaything to be chasing after Sea Lions, Whalesharks, Manta Rays and basically scaring away all other big pelagics; or for doing silly underwater acrobatic --"look at me"-- photogenic tricks like they do on the divematrix board. I don't care about the latest, fastest, biggest, longest running advertising claims when it comes to DPV's.
The only features that matter to me are light weight for Airline Travel along with a TSA approved battery, easy to fix in the field and durability at a fair price. The only scooter that fits those requirements is a Sierra X-Scooter with a NiMH Battery, the same DPV I've had for the past five years. . .
To each his own. I think you're missing out on awesome fun, but I'm not about to tell you how you should dive.
I use my scooter to extend my shore diving range or reduce time to reach some of the wrecks (30min of swimming over muddy bottom isn't that much fun). I also use it to go upstream in strong currents, there isn't always rocks to pull on in the river. I do care very much about scooter speed, autonomy, weight, etc. So I'm very thankful for all the efforts put on by James and the other volunteers that work hard to gather the data. Can't wait for this year results.
For me I think this project has done a huge service by bring manufacterer claims in line with each other and in many cases down to earth. I have no need to go faster then 200 fpm myself, but it is nice to have actual data on range and performance to use as a starting point for planning my dives. And although we also use our scooters as tools, our group does not have a strick "no fun allowed" policy and also love to play on them. I guess to each their own and there is no single DPV for everyone.
Historically, it runs late. Ideally, it's just late as they run lots of data and it tkaes lots of time for the peopel involved to put it together in their spare time. In the worst case politics, controversy, conflicting claims/data and unhappy people slow the vetting and publication process down. I have not heard any rumors of the latter this year...
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Originally Posted by Kevrumbo
