What do you consider "gimmick" gear?

[seeker242]

As stated previously in this thread just because you don't like it doesn't make it a gimmick.

That would depend on what your personal opinion of a "gimmick" is to begin with. And from all the responses in this thread about all these various things, it's quite obvious that people have different opinions on what is a gimmick and what is not. I don't see a problem with this. I don't know why anyone else would.

Is the dive count in your profile accurate?

Sometimes it's hard for folks to take strong/absolute opinions and double-down snark seriously when they come from someone with fewer total dives lifetime than many folks in this thread have done last week.

Trust me, I've got lots of experience... in strong opinions and snark.

Yes, it's accurate! But if no one is taking me seriously, then why does anyone even care what I have to say to begin with? After all, I'm the new guy. What does it matter what I think? You have way more experience than I do. It shouldn't matter to you what my opinion is! It would be like Tiger Woods caring about what some high school kid has to say about how he played in golf tournament last week. Tiger Woods couldn't care less about that, LOL.

 

[jbomb001]

an ingenious or novel device, scheme, or stratagem, especially one designed  to attract attention or increase appeal.

Sent from my galaxy S5 Active.

---------- Post added October 15th, 2015 at 09:45 PM ----------

From dictionary. com

Sent from my galaxy S5 Active.

 

[ams511]

That would depend on what your personal opinion of a "gimmick" is to begin with. And from all the responses in this thread about all these various things, it's quite obvious that people have different opinions on what is a gimmick and what is not. I don't see a problem with this. I don't know why anyone else would.

Gimmick is a word and as such has a commonly accepted definition. You can look up that definition in something called a dictionary. The definition of a word is not subject to personal opinion, if it was then people could not communicate. You can have an opinion on what the word stands for. For example, you may like or dislike cats. However, what is a cat is not subject to opinion.

---------- Post added October 16th, 2015 at 03:45 PM ----------

I think that much is obvious! And I don't accept yours. I don't think there should be anything wrong with either of those things. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion!

Unlike you I did try to see your point of view. Your assertion is that if the safe second stage malfunctions the dive is over whether the inflator works or not does not matter. Let's accept that as a given. Now a diver with a separate safe second and inflator would call the dive when the safe second malfunctions. So the probability of calling the dive is the probability of failure of the safe second. Now with an Air 2 which incorporates both an inflator and a safe second we have two probabilities, the probability of the inflator failing and the probability of the safe second failing. So the probability of calling a dive is equal to the greater of either the probability of the inflator failing or the probability of the second stage failing. If the second stage has a greater probability of failing then the probability of calling the dive is equal to using a separate second stage and inflator. If the probability of the inflator failing is higher then the probability of calling the dive is greater for the Air 2. So the question is what has a higher failure rate second stages or inflators? So your opinion is based on an assumption that inflators have a higher probability of failure than safe second stages. I know of no study that looked into this, so where are you getting your data? In my experience (completely anecdotal), I have had more problems with second stages than inflators. Others may have different experiences.

 

[gkrane]

That would depend on what your personal opinion of a "gimmick" is to begin with. And from all the responses in this thread about all these various things, it's quite obvious that people have different opinions on what is a gimmick and what is not. I don't see a problem with this. I don't know why anyone else would.



Yes, it's accurate! But if no one is taking me seriously, then why does anyone even care what I have to say to begin with? After all, I'm the new guy. What does it matter what I think? You have way more experience than I do. It shouldn't matter to you what my opinion is! It would be like Tiger Woods caring about what some high school kid has to say about how he played in golf tournament last week. Tiger Woods couldn't care less about that, LOL.

Seeker, being a bit of a new diver myself I try to listen to those with experience. When I started a few years ago my thought on what was "proper" gear is drastically different than what I am heading towards now. As soon as I move, I am shifting from a traditional stab jacket to a BP/W config with a fundies class thrown in. I try to soak up as much knowledge as possible from those who know. Not to say I cant have an opinion on gimmicks, but at this point I don't have the experience to tell someone yes or no that his air 2 is a gimmick. I use one now by the way and it has server me well for 3 years.

 

[seeker242]

Gimmick is a word and as such has a commonly accepted definition. You can look up that definition in something called a dictionary.

And whether some particular thing is a gimmick or not, is a completely arbitrary opinion. Not a fact. If it was, then the OP would never even have asked the question to begin with! He would already know the answer to it just by looking in the dictionary. But of course, the idea that all you need to do is look in the dictionary to know if some particular thing or not is a gimmick, well that's just not reasonable. There's a little more to it than that.

an ingenious or novel device, scheme, or stratagem, especially one designed to attract attention or increase appeal.

Sent from my galaxy S5 Active.

---------- Post added October 15th, 2015 at 09:45 PM ----------

From dictionary. com

Sent from my galaxy S5 Active.

That's one of the definitions. I personally think this one would be a bit more applicable in context, from dictionary. com


verb (used with object) 5. to equip or embellish with unnecessary features, especially in order to increase salability, acceptance, etc.

I personally have no problems keeping my octo in the proper place, it seems completely unnecessary for me to consider combining them. From my POV, it falls under the above definition just fine.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

.. I'm the new guy. What does it matter what I think? You have way more experience than I do. It shouldn't matter to you what my opinion is!

Finally, you got it right!

 

[FinnMom]

Red/blue/yellow jetfins. Totally a gimmick. Totally unnecessary. For someone with perfectly good fins (me), a total waste of money.
If offered fair price & correct size I'd buy them in a heartbeat!


Also gimicky & really loved is glo-orange spool/reel line. Gotta see the visibility to belive it, looks like an orange laser beam.

 

[solodiver71]

Did anyone say "Spare Air"?

 

[Manneca]

When I started diving everyone dove in thermal underwear (or pjs--really), a backpack, a horse collar (with its CO2 cartridge, guaranteed to kill you if you needed to use it underwater). So, I suppose anything developed after that is a gimmick. I dove with my Lloyd Bridges (Mike Nelson) mask for years. You really need a wet suit? Really? You need a BCD? Really? I suppose free divers would think anything having to do with SCUBA is a gimmick. Gimmick is in the eye of the beholder.

 

[Bob DBF]

...a horse collar (with its CO2 cartridge, guaranteed to kill you if you needed to use it underwater).

I'm not dead yet! I had them on a horse collar and two BC's, once a year I would pop them at depth to insure the system worked and then replace the cartridge. I never had a problem, other than the canoe incident of '78, which is why I never SCUBA dive out of canoes anymore.




Bob
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All my life I've wanted an excuse to wear a knife, and here I have found a sport where it is actually encouraged~ Dave Barry