MAN theres is a lot of noise in the seascooter forums; praise and complaints, it makes me want to ask this simple question: What is it you guys are looking for in a recreational DPV......? I mean the Sea-Doo range is clearly used everywhere for some time and popular, but what features would you like to see introduced? Besides the upgrades from the technical players there have honestly not been any significant DPV developments for the fun/sport diver, We have some ideas but would be interesting to hear from the toughest crowd ...... feel free to join in!
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Seadoo Seascooter
The scooters I use are all technical. They're able to get me in high flow caves, tow gear-laden divers, fight currents and go deep (-200+). They're also relatively fast which is important when you are on the decompression clock. I also travel with one of the tech scooters (X Scooter).
I would not consider the recreational scooters for myself, but I could imagine that my recreational students would want the following in their scooters. I base this on several classes I taught called "intro to scooter" in sunny, wonderful Catalina where the stable consisted of a mix of tech & recreational scooters.
A.
Speed - students like speed. At the end of the scooter class session most students dropped the slower rec. scooter for the faster tech scooter. Size did not matter as the mule (me) put them into the water. However, if they had to launch a standard Gavin (special-wound motor)/Mako into the water themselves I'm pretty sure they would opt for either faster fins, or a middle-of-the-road scooter (Apollo). An interesting discussion that often ensued after class was "why." If I can fin faster than a scooter "why do I need one?"
Note - Male students didn't so much mind 50 lbs. of battery weight and launching. The percentage of male to females in my classes was 9:1.
B.
Styling - hate to say it...but if you're a recreational diver using a scooter you don't want to look like a putz driving a sorry looking scooter, or granny's car on the road. Part of the appeal is the James Bond effect. You want to look cool using it. Of course, with a Magnum tech scooter/Cuda you've got the biggest missile on the block. Implied robustness is a another plus. Chintzy materials suggest "pool toy."
C.
Compactness - At the end of the day the recreational diver is
looking for fun, and some utility. Being huge, heavy and hard to pack in a car will not win the scooter points.
D.
Duration - Having the thing die on you during a dive is a complete drag. Ease of charging, or ability to swap out inexpensive (rechargeable) batteries would be a win.
That being said - I do think rec. scooter manf. have conducted a decent "needs assessment" of the marketplace and have delivered product which fulfills the needs of the rec. market. The intermediate niche IMO being only covered by Apollo, or Oceanic/Mako. The latter being a tad too pricey for most intermediate scooter shoppers. Something new in that niche which provided near-tech speed and versatility without tipping a 1000.00 price point would be interesting.
Cheers,
X