Chinese diving equipment

[flyboy08]

I order a mask on 10/20 and it arrived today. For 14.58 delivered, it seems to be of equal quality to my 75.00 Cressi I bought earlier this year. I'll put it to the test in December in CZM....

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

if you are going to buy cheap chinese regs, i would just go through amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Palantic-SCR-03-YOKE-NA-OC-Diving-Regulator-Octopus/dp/B00TP172KG/

https://www.amazon.com/Palantic-SCR-01-YOKE-AJ-Adjustable-Regulator-27-Inch/dp/B00TP0Z7XG/

I looked at this reg just because I was curious:
https://www.amazon.com/Palantic-SCR-01-YOKE-AJ-Adjustable-Regulator-27-Inch/dp/B00TP0Z7XG/
It looks to me like a simple unbalanced piston 1st stage with some sort of adjustable 2nd, whether it's balanced or not who knows?
But the advertising says something else entirely.
And what about rebuild parts? what would it be the same as or similar to in other brands? Even though an unbalanced piston is dirt simple, it would be nice to have a kit available instead of trying to source o-rings and an HP seat.

 

[Coop42]

Also, I see: "Usually ships within 1 to 2 months."

 

[runsongas]

they sell kits on the scuba choice website for the piston and diaphragm

Palantic AS101 First Stage Regulator Service Kit

Palantic AS105 DIN First Stage Regulator Service Kit

the seat looks the same as the older hog or dive rite kits, so you probably could use one of those.

the price seems to fluctuate a lot, so my guess is it went into backorder is why the lead time is so long. it was as low as 70 dollars when I linked it until 10/25/17 according to price tracking.

https://camelcamelcamel.com/Palanti...tor-27-Inch/product/B00TP0Z7XG?context=search

 

[runsongas]

https://www.amazon.com/Scuba-Choice-Palantic-Regulator-Octopus/dp/B00HJD8QV6/

14 dollars, no 2nd stage hose though

 

[ljpm]

I have purchased two drysuits and one wetsuit. The drysuits were the best neoprene suits I have ever worn. They were custom made with quality neoprene to exact measurements. I think where they lack is minor finishing. My wetsuit was a well designed suit that did not have a string attached to the back zipper. How do you really pull it up your back if there is no rope attached to it? Well you make one yourself.

Otherwise they make really good gear.

Do you still have a link for the company where you got your drysuits.

 

[ljpm]

Anyone try one of the Chinese UV lights. I'm heading to Roatan this winter and would love to do a night dive to see fluorescence. Unfortunately a NightSea light is a bit expensive for a dive or two.

 

[Ioncloud9]

People don't understand...... American business people think that the Chinese have a "creativity gap" but the fact is that this is not true in the least..... In fact, it is the other way around..... Americans VASTLY .... VASTLY ... underestimate the Chinese.

Its not the "creativity gap" its the culture of quality control and skimping on superior materials to lower costs. I haven't had a problem with Chinese design as much as I have with poor QC, or subpar materials that vastly shorten the product life. They also have fewer government controls to prevent companies from screwing you like that. Chinese companies that market directly to western countries aren't as guilty of this as others are though.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

Its not the "creativity gap" its the culture of quality control and skimping on superior materials to lower costs. I haven't had a problem with Chinese design as much as I have with poor QC, or subpar materials that vastly shorten the product life. They also have fewer government controls to prevent companies from screwing you like that. Chinese companies that market directly to western countries aren't as guilty of this as others are though.

American products are made directly for the end consumer. Chinese products specially in the diving market are not for the end user but for the American brand that will put their label on them and sell it to the end consumer. This means that Chinese products while being extremely cheap will not come as "polished" as the stuff you buy from your dive shop. Each American brand who buys from Chinese Manufacturer will put their own finishing on it. So when you get a bare bones product, that does not mean they are skimping on anything. It just means that their customer is the bulk buyer.

The surprising thing is that a lot of times, the cheap material people blame the for is actually requested by the Western manufacturer! When you order wetsuits the Chinese can make them out of really cheap neoprene which is used in hospital supplies like arm casts etc. This can not take compression very well and will flatten after a few dives. How many times have we had branded dive suits that lost their shape after 15 - 20 dives? Yup. That Western brand actually called their Chinese manufacturer and said that most scuba divers who are buying their first gear will not dive long enough to notice that their wetsuit will lose shape after 20 dives to a 100 ft. In order to save costs and increase profits the Chinese company (with full understanding of their western distributor) will use that foam to make those wetsuits that you see hanging in dive shops. The reason why Chinese do it is because some distributors actually want them to. They will be honest with you and tell you that they can use compression resistant neoprene which will cost you a little more per piece. Now it is you who has to make that BUSINESS decision which would be more beneficial to you.

So Chinese market is trying to cater to all sorts of customers and you need to be able to tell them what kind of buyer are you so that they can give you something you will buy from them again and again.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the American end consumer wants to spend money once and then expects the brand to take care of him. When you buy your 3000 USD Santi drysuit, if it has a leak you send it to Santi and wait for many months to get it back. What if you buy three Chinese drysuits that are half the price of that one Santi? If after 300 dives the suit develops issues, you throw it and use the other one. If after another 300 dives the second one has problems you throw it and use the third one. Each time you have a new suit and you are still half the price of the Santi for which you have to wait an eternity to get that zipper replaced.

Dealing with the Chinese requires a very different mindset then what we presently have. They are making all sorts of manufacturing decisions in their factories that you and I may not have imagined in our wildest fantasies. Secondly the Chinese market has options to offer that may be new to you. Instead of a customer warranty that $uX they can give you 6 suits and have you set for the rest of your life.

 

[SeaMonkey67]

Its not the "creativity gap" its the culture of quality control and skimping on superior materials to lower costs. I haven't had a problem with Chinese design as much as I have with poor QC, or subpar materials that vastly shorten the product life. They also have fewer government controls to prevent companies from screwing you like that. Chinese companies that market directly to western countries aren't as guilty of this as others are though.

Agree. And it's an information transparency gap as well. I've done business with two importers in the industrial/hardware products arena for many years, and they were both on the early edge of imports from China/Taiwan/India and now Malaysia. The lack of government controls might actually be the lesser of the problems - one of my suppliers has had contracted factory production forcibly moved from from the factory he visited and contracted with to another by the local government in order to spread the workload around. Who knows if any of the material specs actually followed the business.

Much of the importing by smaller and mid size American companies is done through agents rather than directly with factories - and that adds a whole other layer of potential problems, an unethical agent can be a nightmare. The policy in my business has always been to avoid direct importing of anything with too many moving parts or unusual materials that would be difficult to verify after manufacturing. Have had very few quality issues over the years with simple, machined type parts and those have been directly related to either slightly inferior material that still met the spec on paper, or less stringent QC.