Equipment Question

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Dive Right In Scuba

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Scuba Instructor
Divemaster
Messages
4,072
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Location
Plainfield, Illinois, United States
# of dives
500 - 999
Alright guys,

Im new to the forum but not new to diving. I recently opened a Scuba Store in IL and am working with local FDs and PDs to update their equipment, which is sometimes extremely overdue, and get them up on their certs. I was wondering what you guys recommend and/or are using for equipment and what your likes/dislikes about it are?? We give a good discount to our accounts so they are extremely excited with the amount of equipment they get, but Im just looking to see what others think as alot of them use different equipment for some things but most use the exacts same for other things ex: different dry suits, but most use the same com system......

Any thoughts, suggestions, or comments are greatly appreciated in advance

Mike
 
We use:
Sherwood Maximus regs
Zeagle Ranger and Tech BC’s
Cressi Frog fins
DUI, Whites but changing over to USIA dry suits

All the above has proven to be tough as nails over a lot of years of use and abuse.

Gary D.
 
Over the past 30 years that I have been on this team we have tested and used a lot of different brands and models of all our gear. What we use now is what works best for us.

In the 70’s we went from Farmer John wet suits to back entry Neoprene Dry suits if you wanted to call them dry. Later when the shell suits started to become more available we did some research and purchased several brands and models.

We had Viking, DUI, USIA, White’s, Joe Poo the Ragman and some other suits that weren’t worthy of storage in the gray matter.

It took a lot of dives to settle on the Vikings as the mainstay. It didn’t take long to realize that we are so busy and rotate so many people through the team we needed something not so size specific. That’s’ one of the reasons we went to DUI. But we still have Vikings as our second Haz-Mat suits. Those of us that fit in them have one on the shelf with two team member’s names on the bag.

DUI is working hard at pricing themselves out of the market. White’s is more on the line of the Viking as far as being more size specific.

USIA makes a very nice suit more to our specifications. It is not as liberal as the DUI but not as restrictive as the Viking or White’s.

A big advantage of the USIA is their rubber boots. They are just like rubber farmer boots with a good hard sole we can climb hillsides or over rocks in and they still fit in most fins.

The nice thing is that we are all operating on ever tightening budgets. We can buy three USIA suits, built to our specifications for the price of two off the shelf DUI’s and still have a few hundred bucks left over.

The bottom line is every team needs to get what works for them. There is no perfect set of gear. Uniformity is very important so that each member knows what the other one has and how to operate it. This is especially true with a Rescue team. Recovery teams can be a bit more liberal and have more of a mix but every team member has to know how all their gear operates. That get a bit more difficult when things go to crap.

We didn't even have BC's untill well into the 80's. It didn't take long to settle on Zeagle and it will take an act of congress to get us to change. :D

If you want to ride around in a sports car buy a sports car. If your doing a job you need a truck and Sherwood is a truck.

Gary D.
 
Dive Right In Scuba:
I was wondering what you guys recommend and/or are using for equipment and what your likes/dislikes about it are??
Mike

Mike:

Unfortunately, as a volunteer team, we violate the policy of all of the equipment should be the same for the team to promote familiarity in the event something goes haywire. On the equipment owned by the team, we have pretty much wound up going with US Divers equipment as they offer a discount to PSD Teams. The other main reason is our local shop represents US Divers as well. I believe that OMS does as well.

Team owned equipment:
- Regs - US Divers Legend
- BC's - US Divers
- Aluminum 80's (Luxfer I think)
- Aluminum 30's for pony (Luxfer as well)
- AGA full face with wireless communications
- USIA Drysuits

Most of the team members have their own fins and masks. I have 100% of my own equipment including AGA. I am not a small person and dive with OMS 112's, 19 cu ft Pony setup, Dacor Rig-Pro, IUSA drysuit, and a 25 year old US Divers Conshelf Supreme regulator (which still breaths like a dream when not using AGA), triple console w/ max depth.

My opinion (and yes everyone has one) is that quality equipment in the hands of properly trained divers will function well. Stay away from low end equipment. The main thing is for the divers to utilize the equipment and be familiar with it. As Gary once point out, working with all the equipment in a dark room is a tremendous method of building familiarity.

Dan
 
Hi Mike
Don't take this the wrong way but I'm a bit surprised by your question for 2 reasons.
These teams should already know what they want and exactly what training are the getting from a recreational dive store for PSD?

Anyway, I'll tell you what we're using
*zeagle 911 BCD - the worst POS BCD for any sort of diving. I'd never wish this entanglement trap on my worst enemy. My preference for a traditional BCD is the black diamond OR a BP harness with QR straps & oxycheq wing
*regs - almost any environmentally sealled reg will work well these days. They're all good but aqualung gives PSD's a deal
*fins - scubapro jetfins. Bullet proof with some neg weight may negate the use of ankle weights for most
*mask - aga with sartek breathing vents and blocks
*comms - OTS hardwire
*pony mount - tigergear is the toughest QR rig I've seen
*dry suit - see below
*dry glove - diving concept


Dive Right In Scuba:
Great stuff!!! Have you used the Viking line of dry suits? I have a Maximus and I love that reg!!!

Viking is the work horse for PSD and commercial diving. There is no "perfect" suit out there but this one is about as close as you can get for this kind of work. You loose some mobility to trilams but you gain in the best for:
easiest feild repair
easiest cleaning and maintenance
fastest drying (important for freezing temps)
best contaminants protection
better abrasion/physical damage resistance

I'm surprised at what Gary says about the fit. We have 3 sizes (2W, 3, 3W) and can fit our whole team in them; size ranging 5'8" - 6'2" - most fit in multiple suit sizes.

Most PSD dives are a contaminated dive - usually a body or a vehicle is involved. Much like we don't do mouth to mouth anymore (without a barrier) protection from contaminants should be a priority. We usually don't know what we're diving in and precautions are a good idea. Viking tests their suits for the widest range of nasties more completely than any other suit manufacturer; check their literature -- no I don't work for Viking...
 
IMHO, PSD divers should be using Viking Suits with Superlight neckdam and Superlight hats with polluted water wiskers. They should be using something like an AMRON surface control box and an umbillical with hard wire comms. No BC, use a proper commercial diving harness with a 40 ft or larger bailout bottle. This is the only equipment configuration that can assure complete protection from the water and permit proper disinfection upon return to the surface. AGAs are great if the water is not polluted and are so much easier that they should be an available option for the team.
 
bridgediver:
Hi Mike
Don't take this the wrong way but I'm a bit surprised by your question for 2 reasons.
These teams should already know what they want and exactly what training are the getting from a recreational dive store for PSD?


Great Questions!! Your right these teams do have equipment, but the previous store that sold them equipment didnt get them the right stuff. I already got them great new equipment, but was wondering what others use. As for the training for a rec store, I have 2 Padi Course Directors at my store, one that strictly does my PSD instruction. He has trained the majority of the instructors that are teaching at the other facilities in Chicagoland. So I promise they are getting trained by the best and not just another recreational dive store :14:

Thanks for the input on your equipment usuage. I just like to know what others are using so I can make more suggestions to them. The more educated I am, the better my advice can be:D
 
My team uses
Sherwood Blizzards
Gates dry suits
Recon, and Riptide BCDs

There are five other teams in the area and most use the same except dry suits. (most have Viking) All teams agree that this is the best equipment for our area.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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