Scuba Gear Reviews by Bill Michie

XS SCUBA SHOT WEIGHT
Rating: dive weights 6/8/2007

Excellent product. It served me well on my recent dive trip to Hoi An, Viet Nam. However, each airport, with the exception of the Danang International Airport near Hoi An, asked me to come back in a little room and supervise the security personnel searching my luggage and scuba equipment. Apparently, the concern was that the dive weights had the appearance of gun powder or the like as I was told. Other than the Danang International Airport where the guards were reading the newspaper and magazines and not viewing the luggage as it went through the x-ray machine, I was always asked to come and supervise a security search of my diving equipment! I had a great dive in Hoi An with Rainbow Divers. It was awesome.

Was this review helpful? Yes No
137 out of 277 people found this review helpful.

OCEANIC Outrigger HLT BC
Rating: Recently purchased Oceanic Outrigger HLT BCD as part of package from Scuba.com 5/26/2007

I recently purchased the Oceanic Outrigger HLT BCD as part of a package offered by Scuba.com. I like the product a lot. I just took it to Hoi An, Viet Nam, for a dive trip with Rainbow Divers of Viet Nam. The dive masters were much intrigued with my brand new gear and scrutinized everything with envy. The little inflatable pouch in the front was a much envied and talked about feature as I was able to sit upright in the water with the back inflated BCD due to the front inflated pouch while resting on the surface after each dive. It was nice. Overall, I like this product. However, on two separate occasions, my air tank worked its way free from the BCD connecting strap. The dive masters put the gear together and tightened everything. At one point, I was told that my dive tank was floating above me after becoming unconnected to my BCD. I was completely unaware, and my buddies on two separate dives descended on me and reattached my tank during a dive of 15 meters depth. We compared BCDs, and thought that the Oceanic Outrigger HLT BCD could due a better job with coming up with a mechanism better attach the air tanks to the BCD. My buddies BCD had metal clips that pulled over the webbing and tightened the tank to the BCD, which I will be looking into to prevent the same occurrence from happening again. For that reason, I would suggest that a different back inflated BCD be scrutinized for purchase until Outrigger develops a better way to attach the air tanks to the BCD more securely. Otherwise, I have no complaints. Safety is very important to me, and I think that the design as is at present is unsafe and that another BCD should seriously be considered until this problem is remedied.

Was this review helpful? Yes No
72 out of 140 people found this review helpful.