BP/W’s finally make it to the big time!

[Sam Miller III]

@Jim Lapenta
posted:
I wish the article had said something to dispell the lie that BPW's push a diver face forward. Or that it's one of the most economical choices for a shop or independent instructor to have for rental/student gear. In the article I wrote years ago this was addressed as well as a number of other points.
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What Article ?
Who published the Article ?
What points ?

Just curious

Sam Miller, 111

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

@Eric Sedletzky, are you ready for the influx of orders?

I’m still trying to wrap my head around the explosion of orders that have just come in in the last few weeks. Scubaboard is only part of it!

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I started to think they were doing that magazine as a joke or "what not to look like" because every issue was of divers in poor trim, poorly arranged gear, nothing streamlined, and over all cringy. Then you go on a dive boat or some open water tourest place and realize that the people in those magazines are the better makeup of 90% of the world's certified divers.

The manufacturer/retailer/end user dynamic has become very political.
Big manufacturers love to control their retailers and keep them loyal with aggregate discounts and Authorized dealer status and territories. Dive shops love to keep control of customers by convincing them to buy all the newest “cutting edge” stuff put out by manufacturers. The end result is divers who look like they are wearing the entire dive shop. And when the manufacturers come out with new stuff every few years, the dive shop can up sell the customer again and keep the money flowing. This is great for manufacturers and dive shops but not for the end user.
BP/W originated on the internet and for the most part continues to be an internet phenomenon (mostly sold on the internet). Dive shops missed the bus many years ago when they refused to acknowledge their legitimacy. I’ve been diving BP/W since 1999. I started when there were still doubles wings and STA’s for single tanks, cam slots and narrow donut wings had not been invented yet.
I can only hope that BP/W start to have a big enough impact now that it gets stuck right in the face of the dive shops who still refuse to acknowledge their legitimacy and still want to stick with the crap that the run-of-the-mill manufacturers stuff down their throats. I would love to see more dive shops become independant again like the old days and carry what they want without the fear of being “cut off” or harrassed for not selling enough of one particular manufacturers stuff, and at dictated prices too even though the dive shop pays for that stuff outright so technically they own it so should be free to sell it at whatever price they wish.
I’m all for a good shake up to break the sport loose from this strangle hold. I think it would be healthy and great for divers that maybe don’t go online to see there is another world out there of alternative and better gear choices besides what their stuck dive shop leads them to believe.

 

[LakeCountyDiver]

BP/W originated on the internet and for the most part continues to be an internet phenomenon (mostly sold on the internet). /QUOTE]

Are you making a joke? If you don't mind please explain how the BP/W "originated" on the internet.

 

[drk5036]

Are you making a joke? If you don't mind please explain how the BP/W "originated" on the internet.

I’m guessing the main piece of evidence to back up this claim is, what percentage of people who dive BPW’s buy the parts online and assemble them themselves? A really high percentage. Most people don’t learn about BPWs from a dive shop...

 

[kelemvor]

I wish the article had said something to dispell the lie that BPW's push a diver face forward. Or that it's one of the most economical choices for a shop or independent instructor to have for rental/student gear. In the article I wrote years ago this was addressed as well as a number of other points.

You can't always win the powerball first time you play.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Are you making a joke? If you don't mind please explain how the BP/W "originated" on the internet.

The knowledge and use of BP/W was first broadcast over the internet so that’s what makes it an internet baby. If I just went into my dive shop only and never got online on the internet boards, I would never have known that BP/W even existed. It’s still this way in many parts of the world. Dive shops don’t like BP/W much for reasons listed earlier in this thread. But it might be a bitter pill they might just have to swallow if they want to keep up with the times. The raging 80’s and 90’s are gone along with the crazy spending people were doing back then at their LDS’s getting into the sport. People are a lot more savvy nowdays and the internet has played a huge part in that.

 

[LakeCountyDiver]

The knowledge and use of BP/W was first broadcast over the internet so that’s what makes it an internet baby. If I just went into my dive shop only and never got online on the internet boards, I would never have known that BP/W even existed. It’s still this way in many parts of the world. Dive shops don’t like BP/W much for reasons listed earlier in this thread. But it might be a bitter pill they might just have to swallow if they want to keep up with the times. The raging 80’s and 90’s are gone along with the crazy spending people were doing back then at their LDS’s getting into the sport. People are a lot more savvy nowdays and the internet has played a huge part in that.

Yeah as mentioned on this board a million times the internet has killed the brick-and-mortar stores. it used to be money was made in gear sales and not in training but that has since turned around where dive shops make the bulk of their money in training.

 

[PfcAJ]

The knowledge and use of BP/W was first broadcast over the internet so that’s what makes it an internet baby. If I just went into my dive shop only and never got online on the internet boards, I would never have known that BP/W even existed. It’s still this way in many parts of the world. Dive shops don’t like BP/W much for reasons listed earlier in this thread. But it might be a bitter pill they might just have to swallow if they want to keep up with the times. The raging 80’s and 90’s are gone along with the crazy spending people were doing back then at their LDS’s getting into the sport. People are a lot more savvy nowdays and the internet has played a huge part in that.

Pretty sure the use of backplates predates the internet.

 

[Sam Miller III]

@Eric Sedletzky
Posted:

BP/W originated on the internet and for the most part continues to be an internet phenomenon (mostly sold on the internet). Dive shops missed the bus many years ago when they refused to acknowledge their legitimacy. I’ve been diving BP/W since 1999. I started when there were still doubles wings and STA’s for single tanks, cam slots and narrow donut wings had not been invented yet.
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You are a top runner for the worlds most knowledgeable dive historian

BP/W originated on the internet
I recall owning and diving a BP/W long before the advent of the internet

Dive shops missed the bus many years ago when they refused to acknowledge their legitimacy
1999. I started
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A review of the diving catalogs of 1990 reveal the following BIUs

1) Sea Tec Sea horse BIU # 1016-0061 - Page 4

2) Sea Pro (at Pac) -Page 2
a) At Pac
b) Freedom Pac
c) Travel Pac

3) Zeagle - page 4 &5
a) Alpha BIU
b) Beta BIU
c) Advent BIU
d) Speed Pac BIU
f) Alpha Speed Pac BIU

The BIUs were being produced and marketed in 1990

Sam Miller. III


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