The New KISS Sidewinder is a Pretty Cool Unit!

[Richard FDC]

I had a chance to demo a KISS Sidewinder with Edd Sorenson after the 2017 NSS-CDS Winter Workshop and was pretty impressed. It's very stable and easy to dive. Edd will be at the June NSS-CDS International Conference doing more demos but why wait? Give him a call.

KISS Sidewinder Sidemount CCR is a Real Game Changer- Order Yours Today at Cave Adventurers - DiveNewswire

 

[PfcAJ]

Is he paying you to advertise for him?

 

[Richard FDC]

Thanks for asking that question! By "he" I assume you mean Edd Sorenson and, if so, I absolutely do not have to be paid to say good things about him and his shop, Cave Adventurers, and here's why. I travel a lot and therefore have the pleasure of visiting many different dive shops. Over the years I coined the phrase, "Inclusive versus exclusive dive shop." What does that mean? An inclusive shop is a place where everybody is welcome and treated well, no matter if you are just a snorkeler or if you are an advanced technical diver. An inclusive shop works with their customers in a non-judgmental manner and has a positive attitude toward the sport, the customers, the manufacturers, and the training agencies. There are many more things to say here but, by now I'm sure you get the point. Cave Adventurers is very much an inclusive shop and since first I wandered in there as a lowly Cavern Diver back in maybe 2004 or 2005 it has always been one of my favorite dive shops. Let me tell you the story. Edd wasn't even there that day but the tone he sets for his shop was evident. I went in and started asking questions. Some guy I didn't know who was sort of just a customer/friend started talking to me and giving me information. Finally he said, "Hey jump in my pickup and I'll take you over to JB and show you around." That was Ben Martinez and he spent over an hour with me giving me information and making me a believer in the Cave Adventurers way of doing business. Years have passed and I'm proud to call Edd Sorenson a good friend. I was the one who had the honor of bringing this story public back in 2012 when I wrote it for the NACD Journal. Rescue at Twin Caves- A Lesson for SCUBA Divers | Florida Dive Connection - Florida SCUBA Diving News and Information. Edd is one of a kind and I've spent a lot of time discussing with him the work he's done with the Sidewinder and it's pretty impressive. I've also had the pleasure of getting the details from Mike Young and getting insight from Tom Mount about the unit it's a great story. I shared the press release to help people. Actually, I shared it to help a bunch of people. I'm helping Edd and Mike Young get out the word about this new piece of equipment. I'm helping the NSS-CDS spread the word about all the cool things happening at the 2017 International Conference. I'm helping divers everywhere to learn about new innovations and new equipment. I'm helping ScubaBoard and Pete Murray by putting up content, and I'm helping you because that content brings viewers to ScubaBoard and advertisers like that. Without advertising ScubaBoard wouldn't even exist. Again, thank you for asking the question because I think this is information everybody should have.

 

[_Ralph]

... I absolutely do not have to be paid to say good things about him and his shop ...... I'm helping Edd and Mike Young get out the word about this new piece of equipment. I'm helping the NSS-CDS spread the word about all the cool things happening at the 2017 International Conference. I'm helping divers everywhere to learn about new innovations and new equipment. I'm helping ScubaBoard and Pete Murray by putting up content, and I'm helping you because that content brings viewers to ScubaBoard and advertisers like that. Without advertising ScubaBoard wouldn't even exist. Again, thank you for asking the question because I think this is information everybody should have.

Sooooooo, not that it matters to me, but ARE you?

You specify you don't have to be paid, but you don't actually answer the question directly....


_R

 

[Richard FDC]

Sooooooo....what difference does it make and what's your point? Do you ask Pete Murray if the banners here on Scubaboard are paid for? I work with people and products I believe in and like to help people. I have a banner on my site promoting Lauderdale-By-The-Sea and write articles about the town. Is there something wrong with that? I was the chairman of the recent NSS-CDS Winter Workshop and spent a few days in Marianna working closely with Edd to organize the event. Another close friend had just bought a new Sidewinder (I guess he believes they're pretty good too) so the two of us did a cave dive behind the gate at Vortex. I was using my Dive Rite O2Ptima. Edd was doing a class there so we decided for me to try the Sidewinder after the cave dive. We just swapped units standing in the water and I was diving the Sidewinder with ease in just minutes. I was pretty impressed with how stable and simple to use it is. Edd and I are friends and I help him with some marketing and.Cave Adventurers even has a banner on my website. We decided to do a press release on Dive News Wire to announce that there would be demos of the unit at the NSS-CDS International Conference. The link to the press release is here to help spread the word. If there is something wrong with that then I guess our entire industry has a problem.

 

[scubadada]

Sooooooo....what difference does it make and what's your point?

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest is a good thing, it increases your credibility.

Currently, you appear as evasive as one of our politicians. What is your problem with disclosing if you are paid by Cave Adventurers or KISS?

 

[PfcAJ]

If he's going to pay you at least break up your posts into paragraphs.

 

[lv2dive]

<<What difference does it make and what's your point? >>
I don't know that it would have made that much of a difference if you have a business (paid) relationship with Edd except that instead of answering the question, we got an evasive post that didn't answer the question. I still don't think this question is answered.

<<Do you ask Pete Murray if the banners here on Scubaboard are paid for? I work with people and products I believe in and like to help people. >>
I think it is pretty clear Pete is running a business. Are you posting a personal opinion or are you running a business, or both? I think it's a fair question given your response. This is the question about which I am most curious at this point, to be honest

I interpreted the sentiment of other people's responses to the OP to be, it's best to be crystal clear about potential conflicts of interest to maintain one's credibility. I will also acknowledge it can be kind of challenging to know when relationships are relevant to disclose. For example, since this started out as a discussion about rebreathers, is it necessary for me to disclose my boyfriend is the US distributor for SF2/ScubaForce? I don't think it has anything to do with this conversation but in the interest of transparency, I'll disclose it.

Sooooooo....what difference does it make and what's your point? Do you ask Pete Murray if the banners here on Scubaboard are paid for? I work with people and products I believe in and like to help people. I have a banner on my site promoting Lauderdale-By-The-Sea and write articles about the town. Is there something wrong with that? I was the chairman of the recent NSS-CDS Winter Workshop and spent a few days in Marianna working closely with Edd to organize the event. Another close friend had just bought a new Sidewinder (I guess he believes they're pretty good too) so the two of us did a cave dive behind the gate at Vortex. I was using my Dive Rite O2Ptima. Edd was doing a class there so we decided for me to try the Sidewinder after the cave dive. We just swapped units standing in the water and I was diving the Sidewinder with ease in just minutes. I was pretty impressed with how stable and simple to use it is. Edd and I are friends and I help him with some marketing and.Cave Adventurers even has a banner on my website. We decided to do a press release on Dive News Wire to announce that there would be demos of the unit at the NSS-CDS International Conference. The link to the press release is here to help spread the word. If there is something wrong with that then I guess our entire industry has a problem.

 

[Richard FDC]

Wow! Conflict of interest? I guess there is. I dive an O2Ptima but I think the Sidewinder is a pretty good unit. In fact, if I were inclined to have two rebreathers I'd have one of each. Please go back and re-read my post and I'm sorry if I upset the word police and didn't break it up into proper paragraphs. LOL I'm really struggling with how and why I should answer this post. Did I get paid to put this link on Scubaboard? No. (You couldn't pay me enough to take this silly abuse) People who know me know that I've been volunteering and helping the dive community for years. I've written many positive articles about a variety of things in diving. I have a website that costs me money to maintain and I sell some banners to pay expanses. Would you like to buy space? I would like to have back just the expenses I've incurred volunteering and doing things for the diving community let alone actually getting paid for my time. When I see something that's good I like to tell people about it. When I see somebody doing good things I like to tell people about them. That's a whole lot more satisfying than cruising the forums. That's why I don't come on here much. Let's go back to the title of this thread: The KISS Sidewinder is a Pretty Cool Unit. Is there something wrong with that? I'm actually writing an article about it for my website. I've interviewed, at length, some of the key people and know a little about it. I've tried a unit one of my close friends bought so I know how it performs in the water. I've been diving a long time and am pretty much running out of certifications I have left to earn. I love our sport and like to do things that help it. Maybe more of us should take that approach.

 

[teknitroxdiver]

Did I get paid to put this link on Scubaboard?

Even this is a politician way to phrase a response. Leaves plenty of "depends on what the definition of 'of'" is kind of loophole in your statements. I don't think anyone cares if you are somehow sponsored for these posts, they just want to know if that's the case.