Gear Brands

[RetMTFE]

I have to agree with dumpsterDiver in regards to Oceanic. Look at their "30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee". It's left up to the individual dealers to decide if they want to participate in the program. My other half was talked into buying a computer they were not happy with and are now stuck with it. I put a post concerning this on the "Q&A for manufacturers" forum and never received a response from Oceanic. And yes, we called them and got the "it's up to the dealer" response

 

[ktownhero]

I'm looking into buying my first bit of gear as well, and I'd say your first concern should be what do local shops sell and service? Luckily for me, I have a Scubapro and an Apeks/Aqualung dealer near me and it just so happens that those are the two brands of regulator that I'm most interested in (I'm in NJ -- murky and cold water, I want a high performance reg that can take a beating).

My one local dive shop only sells Scubapro regs and their logic is "these regs are always on the top of the list for breathing and durability, and no matter where in the world you go you will find somebody that can service them -- what reason is there to sell any other brand?" -- it makes sense.

That said, from what I gather, you really can't buy "bad" equipment -- especially if you're only diving warm water.

 

[Coldwater_Canuck]

My one local dive shop only sells Scubapro regs and their logic is "these regs are always on the top of the list for breathing and durability, and no matter where in the world you go you will find somebody that can service them -- what reason is there to sell any other brand?" -- it makes sense.

I disagree, now I don't want to judge this shop's business plan, but generally you want to give customers choice, not say "we think this is best, buy it". It's this type of thinking that will drive more and more people to online shops with massive selection. Not only does it no allow price competition, but there are many reasons that a person's top choice may not be Scubapro.

For example, the city I'm in now I've never dove around, so I have no real connections. There were a few dive shops in town and I needed a little bit of gear, I contacted the one I did because they were a Zeagle dealer, and since I'm familiar with Zeagle I was thinking of buying a reg from them (I actually bought it online because it cost me half the price in the end; but I ended up buying a bunch of other smaller pieces of gear: business that may have gone somewhere else if the shop only sold one (non-Zeagle) brand)

In my opinion this sort of thinking is somewhat arrogant and not customer friendly.

 

[ktownhero]

I disagree, now I don't want to judge this shop's business plan, but generally you want to give customers choice, not say "we think this is best, buy it". It's this type of thinking that will drive more and more people to online shops with massive selection. Not only does it no allow price competition, but there are many reasons that a person's top choice may not be Scubapro.

For example, the city I'm in now I've never dove around, so I have no real connections. There were a few dive shops in town and I needed a little bit of gear, I contacted the one I did because they were a Zeagle dealer, and since I'm familiar with Zeagle I was thinking of buying a reg from them (I actually bought it online because it cost me half the price in the end; but I ended up buying a bunch of other smaller pieces of gear: business that may have gone somewhere else if the shop only sold one (non-Zeagle) brand)

In my opinion this sort of thinking is somewhat arrogant and not customer friendly.

Well I don't think assuming they are arrogant and non-customer friendly are reasonable conclusions there. They've been extremely friendly and helpful to me, and I don't see anything wrong with them having a belief in a certain product. It's their choice to do so and obviously it works for their business. They've been around for a long time. Would I prefer if they offered more choices that allowed me to compare items in the store? Yes. But they are far from arrogant and unfriendly!

 

[Coldwater_Canuck]

Well I don't think assuming they are arrogant and non-customer friendly are reasonable conclusions there. They've been extremely friendly and helpful to me, and I don't see anything wrong with them having a belief in a certain product. It's their choice to do so and obviously it works for their business. They've been around for a long time. Would I prefer if they offered more choices that allowed me to compare items in the store? Yes. But they are far from arrogant and unfriendly!

No, no I'm not saying in general they are or aren't (you can't really no that without shopping there). Just that it doesn't seem like me to be the most customer friendly strategy to gear selection. In every other way they could be perfect, I'm just not sure I agree it is a smart strategy. But I don't know all the ins and outs of the dive business, maybe there's a reason (deal with Scubapro?) that not carrying other brands can work out best for them, but I suspect at some point they may revisist that strategy.

I have no doubt it would work well in the past when you have uneducated customers coming in asking "what do you recommend?". But in the internet age that is becoming less and less of the case (in general, not just diving) and now people come into stores more informed, often knowing exactly what they want before stepping inside a store (when I shop for computers, electronics, etc I often buy locally but know exactly what I want before stepping inside the store so I'm not making a decision based on the "recommendation" of a commissioned salesman: extended warranty, how can I lose ). . Maybe I'm wrong, I just don't think limiting selection is going to be a smart choice in the future when you have local and online competitors offering a massive catalog to choose from. If people decide ahead of time on anything other than Scubapro, well that dive shop is out of luck.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

I know this can be a matter of opinion, but what are the top brands of gear. I hear alot about Scubapro, but what about Oceanic and others? I'm not certified yet, thinking about and looking at gear expenses.

Thanks

Welcome to scubaboard!

A good question, but.....

For the way you've asked the question, the answers you'll receive are going to be the poster's opinion. Some are based on actual extensive experience with the brands they praise or slam; but many or most are based on, well, nothing at all other than falling for sales hype. Most of us (me included) have only dove a handful of the possible gear configurations and brands available, and thus can only comment on what we dive, not on every brand & model out there.

A better approach is to ask about a specific piece of gear you are considering rather than a general brand, and get feedback from folks who are actually diving with the gear. Then you can read about what we like or did not like about a specific regulator or BC or whatever.

Best wishes.

 

[Teamcasa]

I know this can be a matter of opinion, but what are the top brands of gear. I hear alot about Scubapro, but what about Oceanic and others? I'm not certified yet, thinking about and looking at gear expenses.

Thanks

Let me start by saying that you will have to look very hard to find a bad piece of diving kit and even harder to find a (first hand) piece that is dangerous.

All I can add is that there are many brands out there, so do strongly recommend purchasing gear brands that you can have serviced locally so you won't have much down time..

These two sum up my feelings on gear as well. Welcome to diving and to ScubaBoard!

 

[ScubabunnyCR]

THe options for scuba gear are huge! Go out there and get some experience try some different styles and then make a decision. I use a real mix a brands for different things including a wonderful oceanic BCD, dive rite mask etc. You can´t make a decent decision I feel until you have tried some different styles.