A Question of LDS Purchasing Etiquette

[ScubaSteve]

Lastly, yes, as with most young boys growing up in Canada, I played street hockey on most days in front of my house, and occasionally we had to move the nets for traffic to get through.

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I cannot imagine buying something with the sole purpose of testing the loyalty of your LDS. I do see that as tempting fate however I do not think that was necessarily the point of your post. So, GAME ON!!

 

[Diver0001]

I'm new to scuba (just got OW certified a week ago) and I love it. I love it so much I'm saying to heck with it and getting my own rig. Well, everything but the tank. All of my gear, except a dive knife and a wetsuit, have been purchased from my LDS, and I have to say I have a great LDS. The prices I've paid for almost everything have been at or below online prices for the exact same equipment. But now I've come to a bit of a problem. My LDS doesn't carry the dive computer I would like to purchase (after extensive research and factoring in my training and diving plans for the next year). Sure, they have a couple that are good and would give me 90% of what I want, but I want 100% of what I'm looking for. So my question is this. Is it considered in poor taste to get something other than at your LDS and then give it to them to install? This one has the wireless sensors which go into the first stage, so I would rather the professionals install it. I've already spent around $2K there in the last month between training and equipment, so it's not like I'm not into supporting my LDS, and they are a great bunch of guys, it's just they don't carry what I want. Any advice on how to handle the situation as to not offend anyone?

Buy what you want to have. Explain that you would have bought it from them if they carried the product. Ask them to install it and remind them that you've dropped 2 G's in the last month if they start getting difficult about it.

Some LDS owners are trolls who get all butt-hurt about stuff like this but that's their problem, not yours. Worst case scenario they'll charge you 10 bucks to put it together for you.

R..

 

[ScubaSteve]

Buy what you want to have. Explain that you would have bought it from them if they carried the product. Ask them to install it and remind them that you've dropped 2 G's in the last month if they start getting difficult about it.

Some LDS owners are trolls who get all butt-hurt about stuff like this but that's their problem, not yours. Worst case scenario they'll charge you 10 bucks to put it together for you.

R..

I agree with this however I suggest you not jump into reminding them of the money you have spent with them. Let them decide to install it or not on their terms and then politely remind them if they choose to not agree to install it.

(this part is general and has nothing to do with Diver0001's post) I would also not expect them to install it for free. It is so simple many would however, they are well within their right to charge a nominal fee to do so since it is using their labor. I think expecting anything for free that is not free for them is asking too much.

 

[mathauck0814]

I did the math once on buying my own compressor.
I figured I would break even at 1660 fills as opposed to going to a dive shop,. This BTW is without any electricity, maintenance costs, or filters, so in reality it would probably be around 2000 or more fills to break even.

So I decided no matter how mad I got at my LDS I would have to eat crow and at least go in for fills.

If I wanted to save money on diving, I'd stop diving. Having a compressor is about convenience, period.

 

[Wookie]

well first of all, I find the hooker analogy to be very different since I am not married to my LDS, nor did I vow to be faithful.

Secondly, if I can find something cheaper online, I don't see any problem with buying it, and paying my LDS to install it. I generally have not done that in the past because it is more convenient to get stuff through my LDS, but I don't feel I am obligated. My point in my previous post was only that I think this is the case, but perhaps I should check if it is true.

Lastly, yes, as with most young boys growing up in Canada, I played street hockey on most days in front of my house, and occasionally we had to move the nets for traffic to get through.

Nor do I find or think you are wed to your LDS, or that you shouldn't buy something online. I don't like to tempt fate or people, because it seems that they disappoint.

We played street hockey in Maine, too. At least until the ice froze on the mill pond.

 

[James R]

You will find a wireless spg to be nothing more than a gadget though. Tech divers dont use them. Good old brass spg does the trick.

I am a tec diver. I use my transmitter on my right post and my SPG is on my left post. Instant information is not a bad thing, although I don't rely on it exclusively or "need it." I know a few others that do the same thing, and I couldn't care less what people on the Internet think of this practice.

 

[cbrich]

Problem solved! I present you the USB fill whip!

View attachment 134122



Tim

How about the EtherFill???

To use the EtherFill 5000, connect the Ethernet cable on the EtherFill 5000 to any RJ45 Ethernet port on your computer or network hub. Then connect the fill whip on the EtherFill 5000 to your cylinder. Attest that you are certified to use the gas you are about to download. Then begin downloading your gas fills from the Internet directly into your cylinder, using the EtherFill 5000. Watch the gauge, and when your cylinder is full, just close the handwheel on the fill whip, or abort the download. Nitrox-ready, the EtherFill 5000 is rated up to 5000 psi service. Caution: there are dangers involved in overfilling cylinders. The built-in flow restricter ensures that your fill rate never exceeds 500 psi per minute. Your actual fill rate is determined by the bandwidth of your Internet connection, not recommended for use over dialup. The EtherFill 5000 is supported only on the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system. Linux will be supported just as soon as someone in the Open Source community will debug the drivers. We've contacted Apple about developing an iPhone version but the Apple engineers inform us they are concerned about the Etherfill 5000 consuming all remaining capacity of the AT&T and Verizon networks. We have a tablet version currently in beta test for those divers seeking extremely flat gas for sidemount.

The fill whip on the EtherFill 5000 is a flexible high-pressure 60-inch hose with stainless steel fittings. The fill whip includes a valve and a male DIN connector. If you need a yoke connection, just spin on a RG1200 DIN-to-Yoke adapter (working pressures limited to 3300 psi with the yoke adapter). The pressure gauge is a quality Dive Rite SPG calibrated to 5000-psi in 100-psi increments. Its solid brass and tempered glass housing features a Bourdon tube mechanism. The Bourdon tube design provides the greatest degree of accuracy and reliability -- especially when enclosed in a solid-metal case. The EtherFill 5000 is also available as a metric version reading in BAR. The hybrid Li-Po-Ni-MH Chinese technology on the EtherFill 5000 is similar to that found in canister lights. These batteries are substantially smaller and lighter than all other batteries offering comparable output. The red LED indicates the status of the network congestion management algorithm. The LED blinks to indicate the EtherFill 5000 is searching for any network devices. Once found, each network device will be automatically shutdown. Thus you may rest assured that you will never experience network congestion problems with the EtherFill 5000. As always, after you complete your breathing gas download, you should analyze your cylinder contents with an Oxygen Analyzer because your download might have been corrupted. You can double check your cylinder pressure with the DIN Cylinder Pressure Check Gauge. Coming Soon -- The EtherFill 5000 Plus will enable you to upload your leftover fills to your own private storage bank in 'the cloud'. You will be able to use your stored gas yourself at a later date, share it with your buddy, or trade it with other EtherFill 5000 Plus owners. For green rebreather divers concerned about the new cap and trade policies on CO2 emissions, the EtherFill 5000 Plus will allow you to upload CO2 from your scrubber and reduce your carbon footprint. Many have suggested we add a USB option and we are researching the feasibility of an O2 compatible USB cable allowing you to store gas on any 5000 psi rated thumb drive. We hope to have the new Plus version available very shortly as we are using the same engineering talent that developed the Apocalypse Rebreather

You could be the second person to buy one, and it only cost $1,000. I bought the first one, and it works so well, I don't every have to step foot in a dive shop ever.

I forgot to mention, I got a firmware upgrade that allows me to get Trimix from my EtherFill. I was also told the next firmware upgrade will add OLED to the gauge.

 

[pastorjared]

My LDS is typically at or above retail prices. They are very helpful and informative, but for me sometimes it comes down to either i buy something somewhere besides my LDS or i don't buy it at all. I wish I could, but when you're talking about the difference between $1200 and $500 that's significant. I Purchased all my gear (i.e. regulator, BCD, Wetsuit, etc) from a local diver who took great care of everything. I took it all to my LDS and had him inspect it all. He has given me a tough time for not buying directly through him. Since then I've purchased a number of items from him.

That being said, I do plan on saving up for a good dive computer to purchase through him, To support my LDS but also to have someone to take a faulty item to.

 

[nimoh]

I am a tec diver. I use my transmitter on my right post and my SPG is on my left post. Instant information is not a bad thing, although I don't rely on it exclusively or "need it." I know a few others that do the same thing, and I couldn't care less what people on the Internet think of this practice.

I am not a tec diver, but moving towards it. It is my understanding that the issue some tec divers have with this is that carrying unnecessary gear can potentially introduce failure points, increase drag, or make a configuration overly complicated. However, I don't see installing a transmitter on the right post falling into any of these categories unless it can be shown that the transmitter is less secure than an HP plug. So, I agree and would probably do the same, if I found a cheap transmitter since I don't intend to move my transmitter back and forth from my singles reg.

 

[mathauck0814]

I am not a tec diver, but moving towards it. It is my understanding that the issue some tec divers have with this is that carrying unnecessary gear can potentially introduce failure points, increase drag, or make a configuration overly complicated. However, I don't see installing a transmitter on the right post falling into any of these categories unless it can be shown that the transmitter is less secure than an HP plug. So, I agree and would probably do the same, if I found a cheap transmitter since I don't intend to move my transmitter back and forth from my singles reg.

Worst case scenario, your transmitter sticks out and can be bashed into a ceiling/door frame and break off creating an open/unsealed high pressure port.

Slightly less than worst case scenario, the transmitter does not stick out (is arranged in and down, as would be desired over the above alternative) but is a line trap that can pose an entanglement risk.

Best case scenario, it works fine and tells you what your brass and glass SPG tells you.

By the time you get to that level, you should use your instruments to verify what you already know (you know your SAC, you know your average depth - you should be able to look at your SPG and have a pretty good idea of what it's going to tell you before you get it up to your face).

I try not to get in the water with anything that I don't need to safely complete the dive. I don't need a transmitter, so I don't get in the water with one. It creates many potential negatives and absolutely zero positives.