Opinions on Cressi..?

[TGreene]

I'm a brand new diver and have purchased Cressi Ellipse Titanium regs w/ Ellipse Octo & a Focus mask from an online dealer, then scored a like new S116 BC on ebay for next to nothing...

I've spoken with a couple of people that seem to hate Cressi with a passion and trash everything except for their masks, so I'm wondering what you all think of Cressi, and especially in regards to parts and service..?

-Tim

 

[keyshunter]

Many people trash Cressi with no VALID reason. They also do the same to other companies. Cressi has been around since 1946. If they made poor quality gear, it is extremely unlikely that they would have lasted this long. That said, their regs are not very popular in the US, but, I think this is more of a marketing/support problem than a quality problem. However, their rubber goods (masks and fins) are very popular in the US.

 

[uncleavi]

I have used Cressi in the past and don't have anything bad to say about their stuff.

 

[Nismo]

I almost bought the same regs. Would have if I didn'g get a deal on a free octo with Zeagle. They make good stuff. I use their mask and Archimedes II computer.

 

[EastEndDiver]

I had a set of Cressi regs fthat I bought in the early 80's that I used regularly and never had a problem with.About 5 years ago I sold them on Ebay for a good price.Cressi makes a good product.

 

[TGreene]

Thanks. I was beginning to get a bit worried that I might have made a rather costly mistake.

-Tim

 

[shoturtle]

I had the ellipse titanium with I added the environment kit to make it an alaska, I have hand no issues with it. It is well made, and I have dive water down to 5C. And it had no issues. Cressi is more popular in Europe. As it was stated before, I too feel it is a lack of marketing and lack of info by the US public that leads to these misconception of Cressi's quality. Cressi's customer service has been very prompt, I sent them an email and they got back to me in a day or two.

 

[widget]

Yes, nothing wrong with the line, its probably the third biggest brand sales wise in Europe (to Scuba Pro and Mares) and second in Italy, only Mares sells more in Italy.

Cressi is most well known for their soft line, masks, fins etc the world over, its undoutably their strong point, but their regs are fine products as well.
Differant brands have geographical areas where they are very strong and geographical areas where they are reletively weak, the same as they will have lines where they are strong and lines where they are weak, usually its a marketing or a product saturation issue, as to survive in this tough market, you simply cant have an inferior product.

 

[aascubagirl]

We use all Cressi regs/gauges, bcds, masks, snorkels, fins, boots, etc. for our gear rental line and have been extremely pleased. We started with implementing the soft goods line and were so impressed we quickly expanded to the hard goods and have never looked back. The bcds are very reliable, durable and easy to maintain, as are the regs. You should have a great experience with them and yes, I concur with the others about the main problem w/Cressi in the U.S. being one of marketing and support. I think that is changing, though!

 

[Scubi Do]

I've spoken with a couple of people that seem to hate Cressi with a passion and trash everything except for their masks, so I'm wondering what you all think of Cressi, and especially in regards to parts and service..?

-Tim

Hey Tim,

I think the person preference of gear is a perenial religious argument. I'm currently going through an Oceanic phase at the moment. What i like the next guys hates...

But, just finished my PADI rescue course last week end and I do not know about the other PADI courseware, but the Rescue manual and corresponding DVD seemed like a Cressi advertising campaign.

All I can say is that if the guys that are marketing and instucting in the PADI courseware, and are supposedly PADI professionals (yeah I know .. they probably get the gear for nothing) wearing Cressi, surely it cannot be that bad.

As another example, I have been diving for the last 20 years with a Dacor Pacer reg. I was at my LDS the other week and it was in the hands of one of the instructors and the owner of the shop asked the Instructor why he had that peice of crap, not know it belonged to the customer. He was very red faced when I told him it was mine. Bottom line is the reg was a peice of crap compared to todays standards but it has been faithful to me for the past 20 years.

What i am getting at is that todays Cressi's are a world better than what some, or possibly many people are diving with. I have no idea what is better than another reg but if it works well, if it can be readily serviced and it fits in with your price range... bugger what all the critics I say.

I question whether most critics have real first hand experience with what they are bagging in the fist place anyway. As with any sport, there is always a wank factor that dictates that bigger or newer or more expensive is better....... hey.. not always the case!