slane
Registered
After having seen them both side by side recently, it appears the only difference is the pockets. The Knighthawk has roll-up/expandable mesh pockets and the Seahawk has more traditional zip-open pockets. Otherwise they're the same.
I'm a noob who just acquired a Scubapro Knighthawk...
- Thread starter ScubaDoo83
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After having seen them both side by side recently, it appears the only difference is the pockets. The Knighthawk has roll-up/expandable mesh pockets and the Seahawk has more traditional zip-open pockets. Otherwise they're the same.
ScoobaDoo, I've been active on ScubaBoard since 2005, and I have seen more new divers than I can count come onto the board and excitedly report what they have bought, asking the board's opinions on their purchases. Almost always, there are a lot of negative opinions, which the posters didn't want. They wanted to be told how well they had done, and unfortunately, in the scuba world as it is, they have rarely done well unless they have done a lot of research beforehand. The gear that shops put together in their packages is often a mixture of things that are quite good with things that aren't, and the package prices are rarely incredible deals (as I told you about the BC that you bought).
I just find it kind of amusing that, rather than come here and read the enormous amount of information there is about various types and brands of equipment, people buy and THEN come and ask how well they did. And I've learned over the years that nobody wants to hear they made a mistake
I just find it kind of amusing that, rather than come here and read the enormous amount of information there is about various types and brands of equipment, people buy and THEN come and ask how well they did. And I've learned over the years that nobody wants to hear they made a mistake
This comment makes me noise.
You shouldn't adapt your diving to the gear you bought, but buy the gear you need for the dives you intend to do.
Sometimes new divers know well what type of dives they want to do, sometimes not, and many new divers discover dive sites and dive types totally unknown or never thought.
I do not agree with the posture of training with your own gear and in the school where I work, we advice to dive&rent until you understand and learn what you need (this with the exception of mask and snorkel, though we provide them in the courses). After this, come to us and we will help you define better your purchase.
OP
ScubaDoo83
Contributor
In this case though there have been no negative comments. And also, no mistake was made (yet, that is TBD). I think we just have a misunderstanding as to the nature of the post and I am fine with leaving it at that. I understand the sentiment you are trying to convey as I frequent online forums revolving around my other gear oriented hobbies.
There have not been any negative comments, but you'll note that several people have told you that they bought what you bought and replaced it fairly shortly thereafter. And I told you it wasn't what I would have bought (nor what I would have counseled you to buy, had you asked me). There is nothing about the Knighthawk that is BAD -- the BC works. Most all dive gear, except very old stuff, works, because the liability is too great if it doesn't. Things like tank stability or weight placement or pocket functionality may not be great, and as a beginner, you won't know how much those things impact your diving, because you haven't had an opportunity to try other gear, and just managing underwater is probably maxing out your bandwidth (as it did all of us!).
Your shop did well off you, but not necessarily by you. You bought very expensive equipment, and you almost certainly could have gotten stuff that would have worked as well for you at significantly lower cost. BTW, I did very much the same thing, although I didn't spring for top-of-the-line/top-of-the-price-range gear as a new diver. But almost everything I bought had been replaced within a year, as I became an active diver and found out there were things that worked much better for me than what I had. I did sell much of it, usually for half or less than what I had paid for it.
Go dive the gear you bought. It will work just fine, and what you need now more than anything else is to GO DIVING. You may end up replacing some or all of it over time, but if you're into other gear-oriented hobbies, you're probably quite familiar with that process, and it may even be part of the fun
Your shop did well off you, but not necessarily by you. You bought very expensive equipment, and you almost certainly could have gotten stuff that would have worked as well for you at significantly lower cost. BTW, I did very much the same thing, although I didn't spring for top-of-the-line/top-of-the-price-range gear as a new diver. But almost everything I bought had been replaced within a year, as I became an active diver and found out there were things that worked much better for me than what I had. I did sell much of it, usually for half or less than what I had paid for it.
Go dive the gear you bought. It will work just fine, and what you need now more than anything else is to GO DIVING. You may end up replacing some or all of it over time, but if you're into other gear-oriented hobbies, you're probably quite familiar with that process, and it may even be part of the fun
eelnoraa
Contributor
I think the main thing here, which board members here think it wan't really smart thing to do is to spend $2500 on equipments before you even get your first dive ever, not to mention not completing certification. I know OP has his/her own reason, sounded like not wanting to use rental. The truth is the happiest party here is the dive shop.
To OP, since you already spent the money, you should just enjoy them until you realized (if ever) you want something else. Just keep in mind that resell value of dive gears, even after a few dive, is more of less 50% of retail.
To OP, since you already spent the money, you should just enjoy them until you realized (if ever) you want something else. Just keep in mind that resell value of dive gears, even after a few dive, is more of less 50% of retail.
Here's how package pricing works, as I learned in a week long workshop on scuba marketing.
The shop needs to make a certain profit margin overall on its sales. When you look at the prices in the shop, some are very close to that margin, and some are seriously marked up, giving the shop a huge profit on those purchases. A lot of those are accessories and other items you might not be inclined to buy. The shop puts together a package that sells at a discount. That package includes some of the very highly marked up items you would not have been otherwise inclined to buy, but you decide to get them because of the package discount. The inclusion of the highly marked up items with the items with lesser markups creates an overall package price that gives the shop its target markup rate.
Another factor is that if the shop sells enough of a specific model, the vendor gives an additional discount for future purchases of that item. Let's say a shop sells 4 models of BCDs made by Company A, all with the same markup. They sell 10 each, for a total of 40. They then purchase replacements from the vendor and continue as before. But let's say they instead sell 31 of one model and 3 each of the other models. In that case, the vendor will likely charge them less for the model they sold the most of, so that in the next round of selling, they will make more money if they continue to sell that model as before. It is thus in the store's best interest to push customers toward a certain line of products in order to lower wholesale costs and increase profit margins.
After that workshop, the store I was then working for adopted that model. The process included requiring the instructors to wear a specific set of gear from head to toe and tell their students that they selected the gear they wore because it is the best there is. Of course, the real reason was that it was the line of gear the store targeted in order to get the highest profit margin.
I don't work for that shop any more.
The shop needs to make a certain profit margin overall on its sales. When you look at the prices in the shop, some are very close to that margin, and some are seriously marked up, giving the shop a huge profit on those purchases. A lot of those are accessories and other items you might not be inclined to buy. The shop puts together a package that sells at a discount. That package includes some of the very highly marked up items you would not have been otherwise inclined to buy, but you decide to get them because of the package discount. The inclusion of the highly marked up items with the items with lesser markups creates an overall package price that gives the shop its target markup rate.
Another factor is that if the shop sells enough of a specific model, the vendor gives an additional discount for future purchases of that item. Let's say a shop sells 4 models of BCDs made by Company A, all with the same markup. They sell 10 each, for a total of 40. They then purchase replacements from the vendor and continue as before. But let's say they instead sell 31 of one model and 3 each of the other models. In that case, the vendor will likely charge them less for the model they sold the most of, so that in the next round of selling, they will make more money if they continue to sell that model as before. It is thus in the store's best interest to push customers toward a certain line of products in order to lower wholesale costs and increase profit margins.
After that workshop, the store I was then working for adopted that model. The process included requiring the instructors to wear a specific set of gear from head to toe and tell their students that they selected the gear they wore because it is the best there is. Of course, the real reason was that it was the line of gear the store targeted in order to get the highest profit margin.
I don't work for that shop any more.
Which Hollis BC are you using in this case?
Stormbringer
Contributor
Congrats. I also have a Scubapro Knighthawk. Its a good BC and if it works for you and you are happy who cares what others think.
Jim
Jim
I have had mine for over 10 years or less 1,000 dives and it's starting to show seem wear down near the pockets, I guide and teach in it, in mainly tropical waters, weight pockets work fine too, only drawback is storage....
you made a great choice
you made a great choice
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