DPV / Scooter thoughts

[John Mooradian]

Hi all. Considering a DPV. My primary use would be in fresh water (Georgian Bay in Ontario). Most likely on the 25' - 70' depth range. Cold water most of the time.

I am considering the Seadoo Explorer X. In reality i will not use it in salt - would rent when travelling.

I know it is. It as robust as some of the more "serious" units, however for the price it seems decent. As long as it doesn't let me down during a dive I think I can live with the differences and shortcomings - but I would love to hear from someone who had one.
Also always open to advice / other options.

 

[tbone1004]

at the last Tahoe, the Seadoo GTI was tested. It managed 8lbs of thrust, 100fpm top speed, and 0.5 miles range with a diver in recreational config. This is all tested in drysuit, bp/w, and single tank for reference.

Seadoo claims 220fpm which is hilarious. It may hit that without towing anything, but not with a diver.
.5 miles is about 25 minutes of burn time in this instance.

With the Explorer, they claim 290fpm. If we claim optimistically 1.5x the speed, then you'll be able to go 150fpm which is a good speed, for about 25 minutes. Good for about one 90 minute dive. If you assume that the 1.5x speed bump is also a thrust bump, that's 12lbs of thrust.

Now, the downfalls of that scooter. You need two hands to run it. This is inconvenient if you want to be able to do anything while on the trigger.
Even at 12lbs of thrust, you aren't going to be going very fst and if there is any current, you are SoL. We consider the older scooters *Makos and Tekna* "weak" with 25lbs of thrust.

My recommendation would be to find an older mako or tekna. They'll be cheaper than the $850usd you're looking at for the Seadoo and much better scooters. Bit of a weight penalty though at 55lbs but it's worth it.
Top speed will be a trust 150fpm, range will be close to 2 miles, and you'll get 25lbs of thrust which will be easily 2x the Seadoo.

$475 for that guy
WTS: Mako DPV

If you want to spend up a bit, this is MUCH faster and stronger and better and and and, but $1500
Dive Xtras Sierra DPV

 

[ffdiver]

I would strongly consider going with the Sub-Gravity AquaProp. For the price, it blows away everything in its price range and really puts any of the seadoos to shame.

If you don't need the 2-4 hours of run time and plan on traveling I would go with the NiMH version of the AquaProp which runs under 2k.

Disclosure: my company is a sub-gravity dealer. If you do a search on the forum you should see the post I had posted about these little dpvs.

 

[stevensamler]

Hi all. Considering a DPV. My primary use would be in fresh water (Georgian Bay in Ontario). Most likely on the 25' - 70' depth range. Cold water most of the time.

I am considering the Seadoo Explorer X. In reality i will not use it in salt - would rent when travelling.

I know it is. It as robust as some of the more "serious" units, however for the price it seems decent. As long as it doesn't let me down during a dive I think I can live with the differences and shortcomings - but I would love to hear from someone who had one.
Also always open to advice / other options.

Suex has a new line of scooters check them out.

 

[John Mooradian]

Thanks for the feedback. The dive shop I deal with also carries the Suex line - I will have to ale a closer look - past the price tag....