News from DEMA???

[Marie13]

USIA-first class company, family owned, made in the USA products, military supplier, OEM for other companies.

This class act knows the market and where to spend their money.

A lot of the reason the dry suit in my avatar came from USIA.

 

[mdb]

This was my 21st DEMA since 1987, I am going again for sure. I can't count the number of times the experts of gloom and doom talk about not having DEMA and that DEMA is dead!!

Not dead-just aging and less relevant.

If you like wandering the aisles-good on you.

My first DEMA was the first DEMA-used to be fun.

 

[rhwestfall]

Johnson Outdoors has run SP into the ground just like most other things they acquired. They know nothing about SCUBA, and we are now going to loose a 50 year legend. Dick Bonin is probably rolling over in his grave,,,

 

[mdb]

Johnson Outdoors has run SP into the ground just like most other things they acquired. They know nothing about SCUBA, and we are now going to loose a 50 year legend. Dick Bonin is probably rolling over in his grave,,,

Dick and Gustav both.

They built a quality brand.

My first reg a Mark 5, Jet fins, and all the rest.

They were divers, working with dive stores, mostly NASDS stores.

Now it is a corporate brand with all that entails.

 

[mdb]

Fewer people certified as basic divers for over ten years.

"Tech" long hoses and frog kicks etc. is not the answer.

Young people interested in the ocean and adventure, relaxation, fun, that would seem to be the answer.

 

[stuartv]

There are two shops that I go to, locally.

One has a huge store, tons of inventory, sells gear for very low prices, and offers the lowest prices on recreational training in the area.

The other LDS is exactly the opposite. It is small and doesn't have a lot of inventory in stock. They charge full MSRP for all the gear they sell, and they charge premium prices for their training.

Shop 2 charges a bit over double, all said and done, what shop 1 charges for OW certification.

Both shops seem to keep their class schedule pretty well full. I think shop 1 does have capacity for more students at one time, but they both clearly stay busy. I think shop 2 is actually making money. Not so sure about shop 1.

And, shop 1 students seem to run around (my understanding of) the industry average for diver retention after OW. Shop 2 students run around 80% as still diving a year after finishing OW. And they also run around that percentage rate on buying full sets of gear from Shop 2.

I don't know what is to be gleaned from all that. If I had only had the option to spend the money required to train with shop 2, I would not be a diver today. $350 plus basic gear was something I could manage. $700+ plus basic gear would have been more than I would have felt like I could spend... and I just wouldn't know what I was missing by pursuing a different hobby instead.

 

[scubadada]

Dick and Gustav both.

They built a quality brand.

My first reg a Mark 5, Jet fins, and all the rest.

They were divers, working with dive stores, mostly NASDS stores.

Now it is a corporate brand with all that entails.

1972: MK5/R109 (I still dive these), tank pac with separate inflation vest with low pressure inflator, jet fins, cutting edge stuff. Sad to see what's happening

 

[BoltSnap]

Not dead-just aging and less relevant.

If you like wandering the aisles-good on you.

My first DEMA was the first DEMA-used to be fun.

I don't wander the aisles, I meet with vendors I need to meet to discuss business and see new products and also get to see what is new and who is doing what. There is no other place or time where I have this opportunity to do what I do during DEMA. Perhaps the people who there just to loiter around don't see the value, but the ones that are there for business and for keeping up with what is new, it is the place to do it. There are also so many opportunities for continuing education during DEMA for the instructor and dive professional/retailer, there is no equal anywhere else.

 

[Wookie]

Unfair, grumpy criticism. The path for the water to get into the bladder is different via the LPI than through the mouthpiece, so you get some good washing of stuff you normally don't wash.

Um. Yup, and I have managed to keep the salt water out of the LPI for most of 6000 dives. Kind of like the regulator I learned to service with an autoshutoff so you don't get water in the first stage. Gimmick. At least the particular manufacturer I took the class from acknowledged it was a gimmick and I was welcome to remove it if I had problems with it, and I was assured that I would have problems.

 

[mdb]

I don't wander the aisles, I meet with vendors I need to meet to discuss business and see new products and also get to see what is new and who is doing what. There is no other place or time where I have this opportunity to do what I do during DEMA. Perhaps the people who there just to loiter around don't see the value, but the ones that are there for business and for keeping up with what is new, it is the place to do it. There are also so many opportunities for continuing education during DEMA for the instructor and dive professional/retailer, there is no equal anywhere else.

Good for you.