Hi Landon,
Just a few questions.
Do you plan to be around 10-15 or even 20+ years from now, and in the long run do you plan to support 15 or 20 yo regs with parts?
Yes, we plan to be around in 20+ years, and we will support customers with parts as long as they need them. If for some reason we did not have parts for an old model, we would offer them an upgrade pathway. We are reasonable people, we are humans too. We try to work together with customers for a solution. That said, a regulator requires simple O-rings, a diaphragm, a seat, and a sintered filter, which aren't hard to maintain a supply chain for.
Do you have any plans to develop a balanced piston design (maybe you do now IDK?).
Personally, I don't see a need for a piston as I prefer diaphragms. However, I am a businessman, so if we got enough demand for a piston, it might be in the future. Overall though, we don't like to comment on future product development on SB given how it goes.
What would you do if US relations with China deteriorate to the point that commerce becomes impossible. Are you prepared to bring manufacturing back to the US? Or at least a friendly political partner. Your stuff is manufactured in China correct?
I wouldn't do much, as it wouldn't really affect us. The whole "your products are made in China" mantra is just more FUD used to disparage us. We do not manufacture our products in China.
We use the USA, Italy/Scandinavia, and Taiwan currently. In the past we have also utilized other locations for various products. These are of course many of the same locations used by many other brands as well.
For me it is about finding the place best suited to produce the product in question. While I would prefer to produce more in the US, there is a limit to what manufacturing can be brought back here, as the US doesn't have some of the required capabilities anymore.
Many people who do their own servicing and have an extraordinary interest in regulators and gear question these things. For instance, Aqualung still uses and supports parts for it’s Conshelf regulator (kit #900001) since 1967. AFAIK the Conshelf is still manufactured in a plant in the LA area.
Are you planning on having that kind of track record?
Scubapro also has some legendary designs that divers have grown very fond of that have also been around for a very long time. Regulator designs and support is something we don’t take lightly.
I’m even skeptical of companies like Atomic since that company was started from disgruntled political motivations. How long are they going to be around?
Dacor was another solid company and now they are gone.
How long is any company going to be around? Statistically speaking, companies existed on average for something like 60 years, now it's less than 1/3 of that. Less than 25% of companies make it beyond the 10 year mark.
To put it quite simply - just because they were here, doesn't mean they will be here in the future, its a false metric.
As I have stated before in other posts, Deep6 represents a very small portion of my assets. I do this because I want to, not because I need to, which puts me in a very stable position, and better off than many other dive related businesses out there.
This is some of the legacy that you’re up against. It goes deeper than fear tactics and marketing. It’s established track record.
The fear, uncertainty, and doubt that we will not exist in the future because a competitor existed first? Again, this is no guarantee at all, just a misleading marketing talking point.
As far as established track record, I think ours speaks for itself, and we have provided exceptional customer service since day 1.
I’ve never used any Deep 6 gear but hear positive things about it.
I’ve also used Hog regs, I bought a set and it was fine, but I ended up selling it.
I remember when Hog was the darling of scubaboard, what happened to them? It seems like they were a here-now company and then they were abandoned. I have never seen any of that stuff in any dive shop.
It would be poor form for me to comment on a competitor.
So now it’s the Deep 6 show up on stage. what are you doing to be better than them? Who’s the next one?
I think we have already shown what we can do better. Our customer support is excellent, our products are exceptional, and our value is unmatched. Our fins are one of the most popular designs available, our regulator performance and sales are getting a lot of notice, and we have some cool new offerings coming soon.
I’m not trying to be confrontational, but these are legitimate questions and things that the long time scuba diving and DIY community thinks about.
Attempted or not, this did come across as quite confrontational, and many will read it that way. Several of the questions weren't really questions being asked for an answer were they? Its a statement in the form of a question to imply someone won't be around in "10-15 or even 20+ years", which is by definition an FUD tactic.
That said, I do want to highlight if the DIY community is focusing on anything, why aren't they focusing on the fact that my business partner is the one person who has been pushing for DIY in this industry for nearly 2 decades? He quite literally pioneered the option.
Either way, we will continue to do what we do, which is to build products that we want, and offer services that we would desire from the dive industry. Hopefully others will see the benefit to what we do and chose to support us.
All the best and happy diving! I am going to go enjoy my birthday!
.
