Ah, jeez... Would you like some cheese with that whine?
Just pokin' at ya, bud... What kind of friend would I be if I didn't take that opportunity?
For what it's worth, if you send me the photos, I'll put them up on my website's server and you can link to them from there. Of course, I don't for a minute think that this was really about photo space, of course... But don't say I didn't offer.
I couldn't agree more, Bill.
Here's the funny thing about that lever system... All of them consider "up" to be toward the shoulder... And down to be toward the feet... Which is interesting, of course, because if the diver was in a correct prone position, "up" would be toward his back and "down" would be toward his belly. Additionally, when the lever is flipped "down," it activates a dump near the diver's shoulder - which means, in many ways, that the BCs with the lever on them very much encourage an "upright," vertical position in the water. In fact, the designers expect it, since the lever operates a dump on top of the shoulder, and not on the diver's back.
...Which is REALLY a bad thing. A vertical position has numerous disadvantages underwater, notwithstanding the diver's inability to slow a rapid ascent. The diver's simply not in a position to do anything but "Polaris missle" if the system decides to rapidly inflate.
Conversely, a diver with a horizontal attitude is in a position to slow both ascent and decent, resist any horizontal current, tend to an ailing buddy, donate or receive gas in an OOG situation, and of course, maintain good bouyancy. Simply put, these "lever" systems promote all kinds of nasty underwater issues, and discourage divers from learning proper diving techniques which will keep them alive.
...Which is how just ONE piece of gear can have a very dramatic effect on a diver's life. Even if a diver never actually has a life-threatening issue with this BC, it certainly would make diving "not so much fun" - which means that he loses interest in the sport (or hobby or lifestyle) very quickly.
Put into context, how many people have you known tell you, "Ah, you're a diver... So am I! I haven't dived in many years, though... Sorta lost interest..."
Could it be that the industry is cannibalizing itself? Could it be that the non-diving engineer of dive equipment is the REAL reason why the industry is falling apart?
To answer the question, all ya gotta do is visit DEMA. Do it a few years in a row and see how much turnover there is in the marketplace... So many fresh ideas, so much surface logic!
Add to that a very illegal (in the US) price fixing situation (in an industry too small for the FTC to care) and it's easy to see why so many dive shops are going out of business; and why so many people never get serious about diving.
...Which I suppose makes us very special people - an exclusive group!
