PADI Sport Diver gear review

[Gary D.]

I have to laugh when I hear stories about LDS's around the country bad mouthing brands they don't carry. One of the two local shops we had was way out of the mainstream. There was some of the gear he would rather not dive with but he was a dealer for it so he had to use what he sold. But he would flat out tell people you may have to go elsewhere to get a better piece of gear due to the industry restricting the areas they sell in.

He was very honest about it, was very successful for 25+ years and has retired. Both our local shops have sold over the past few years and now both are good to deal with. We B lucky.

Neither shop puts a lot into the magazine reviews and go more by the actual reviews from the people using the stuff.

Gary D.

 

[terfmop]

It became pretty clear to me when I checked their BC area on their gear page and nothing from Zeagle, DSS, Oxycheq, etc showed up that they were a shill magazine. Some magazines do a good job keeping their reviews of advertisers gear honest, but I am finding that the diving industry including many LDSs at least gear selection wise is a bit slimy. It is really difficult to find honest comparisons between gear from commercial outlets.

<looking down at the magazine right now> ..um..Zeagle Eden, Zeagle Zeus, Zeagel Ranger LTD all listed

 

[Straegen]

I was referring to their online website. I don't have the magazine you are referencing and even so I doubt you will see DSS and Oxycheq BP/Ws. Also, I couldn't find a bad review of any product they "tested". Everything I have read in the complimentary magazine I do have from them was puff and little substance.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

Some magazines do a good job keeping their reviews of advertisers gear honest

Please give examples

 

[Straegen]

Not in this industry but in others. Lots of motorcycle magazines have very good reviews of bikes and gear. Even Backpacker magazine does a good job with gear review. Some sites like backpackgeartest.org which is completely consumer driven are excellent. Might actually be a good website to setup for diving gear actually. My point is that it can be done even though it doesn't seem to be done in this industry.

That said, XRay seems to be a good magazine content wise, but not a lot of reviews. I like Underwater Photography as well.

 

[drdaddy]

Yes I got my issue earlier in the week, but come on now you don't really consider Sport Diver magazine to be a consumer reports type of review do you? It's much more advertiser driven than unbiased reviews of new products. Good reading but understand its baseline.

Cajuncru Diver,

Thank you for you balanced response. It seems like their are some "grumpy old men" out there that should be diving (I went yesterday and am getting ready to eat the dungeness crab I caught)!!!

Personally, I like getting any of my diving magazines and have looked forward to this years "Gear Buyers Guide". But if you read my profile, you will see that I'm not into the latest, prettiest, bestest, etc. My Sherwood Oasis is an older one with metal 2nd stage and breaths wonderfully (in cold/warm, deep/shallow, wet/dry). My BCD is a trusty SeaQuest (AquaLung) Pro-QD w/re-done velcro and added "scuba-pro" fasteners. My 7mm O'Neil farmer john is about 10 years old and I get ridiculed every time I walk wet into my LDS (he has a warm dressing room and lots of water to rinse my gear - just 8 minutes from the jetty) as he tries to sell me one of those new fangled ones hanging up. I told him that I might buy a hooded vest as the neck of my O'Neil is getting stretched out.

I like the pictures (don't go everywhere/anywhere they suggest), articles (don't just believe everything that's said - unless it's DAN), and even the new gear (but I won't be buying that Rolex Submariner - my Citizen is working fine). In fact the infamous PADI Sport Diver is laying right beside me as I'm downloading my dives. I'm going to pick it up now.

The point being - lighten up. Actually, that's a beer mug for later with my crab!!!

drdaddy

 

[Abidon]

Oh Doc, don't get me wrong.....it is just blatant advertising. It's just that they used a proper name description for wings when they were doing the blatant advertising.

Phil Ellis

There's no better proof of that statement than pages 10-11 of the current issue. Page 10 has the table of contents showing small pics of some of the products that are reviewed in the issue. One of the pics shows a Citizen Eco-Drive watch. On page 11, there's a full-page ad for that same Citizen Eco-Drive watch.:shocked2:

I started subscribing to this magazine about three months ago, and my non-certified wife reads it more than I do; mainly for the reviews of exotic vacation spots. It's been the most effective tool for convincing her to get certified without me begging her to do so. For that reason alone, my subscription to Sport Diver is some of the best $29 dollars I've ever spent.

Please excuse my

 

[Nemrod]

I went into the area retail diver store and the sales people gave me that issue. It is a good review of what is out there but obviously does not go into the tech or more advanced diver needs. I call that magazine the PadI Propaganda Rag but I am then always informed PadI does not own the magazine. Whatever, it seems to toe the PadI line and is written like most PadI material at a 6th grade mental development level.

Yes, I have heard wings called air cells. Wing and BP type BCs have been around since the mid 70s and I recall them being referred to as back inflates and air cells but never a wing until recently when I joined this board and everyone was talking about Hog and wings and BP, I asked and was told, now I understand it was just a terminology change. In 1984 I was actually told by a charter out of Miami that I could not use my wing because it would float me face down and PadI did not approve of their use.

SCUBA does not need the word "unit" attached to it by the way. SCUBA Unit is redundant.

The very same magazine we are talking about contained an article a few years back about a sunken city in Table Rock lake and that you can swim down main street and visit the church, drug store etc. It was a total lie and fabrication so consider that when you read anything in Dive Training magazine, even the New York times does more investigation that Dive Training. Pure fabrication of several things in fact, completely made up BS, yeah, so follow their advice on anything with caution.

That said, it is not a totally unfortunate magazine.

N

 

[Colliam7]

It became pretty clear to me when I checked their BC area on their gear page and nothing from Zeagle, DSS, Oxycheq, etc showed up that they were a shill magazine.

I don't have the magazine you are referencing and even so I doubt you will see DSS and Oxycheq BP/Ws. Also, I couldn't find a bad review of any product they "tested".

Just an observation, but would it seem to be a reasonable idea to have a firm foundation, such as first hand reading, upon which to make strong statements? The Sport Diver issue in question is really no different from other 'Buyers Guide' magazine issues you might see for vehicles (automobiles, motorcycles), other recreational pursuits (climbing, skiing), computers, etc. At times, some magazines do publish evaluations, or comparisons, or field tests of gear. But, generally, scuba Buyers Guides are not rigorous, analytical studies. Sport Diver makes no claim to be the Consumer Reports of dive gear, the word 'review' really wasn't prominently featured in the magazine issue (and, certainly, the word 'comparison' wasn't), and there didn't seem to be any statements in the issue suggesting they (Sport Diver ediors) 'tested' anything. In fact, some of the editorial content, such as the 'Why to Buy' article, was probably reasonably informative for newer divers looking at gear - not brands, necessarily, but some general features and considerations. The cover made it clear the contents were focused on 'New Products', and the primary criticism that can be leveled is the use of the 'Best Gear Now' statement on the front. Is it really a 'shill' magazine just because it didn't include DSS or Oxycheq gear? Is is a 'shill magazine' because it didn't reference any Salvo lights, or Agir-Brokk wings, or Diving Concepts drysuits, or Golen Gear? Not really. It was an issue oriented to promotion of gear sales! And the manufacturers who wanted visibility for their new or improved products probably ponied up advertising dollars, and probably the text that goes along with the product description. Maybe, they even provided some of the products to try out (although I wonder if Rolex provided the editors with a $29K watch). So, yes, it could be viewed as 'blatant advertising'. The electronic 'pages' of SB are filled with strong opinions about gear - quality, safety, functionality, price-perfomance value, even whether the gear is necessary to begin with - most of which (mine included) are substantiated primarily by anecdotal experience. So, when I see the annual Buyers Guide issue of Sport Diver, I take much of the hype with a grain of salt.

 

[Straegen]

"The Best Gear Now" is a pretty bold statement and a statement that implies they have selected the best gear in the industry. For them to proclaim the best gear out there and not include what many here who are actual diving experts by every sense and leave out their gear especially in the BC area it makes it pretty easy for me to draw an empirical conclusion. Besides, I have read several of their magazines as well as had a subscription just run out.

Based upon my experience that magazine is a bunch of shills and no I don't think that is to bold of a statement.

As for other industries... I can point to several major magazines that actually have bad things to say about products during their annual gear roundups.