EXTRA
May 2000
COMPENSATION CLAIMS
CONCLUSION
There was no clear winner. If it's price that's most important to you, the Ocean Reef Syntex is hard to beat, unless by the Dacor Sportster or Cressi-sub Aquapro 5.
All-round, we thought that in the "club" class of BCs the Poseidon Clublift was very good, alongside the similarly priced products from Scubapro, Technisub and Mares. The Buddy Pioneer was also a favourite but it was outclassed because of its relatively high price. Instead we preferred the minimalism of the Buddy Travel Wing 16 - and its price too.
For comfort we liked the Oceanic Probe and the Cressi-sub S108, available at almost identical prices that were in the premium bracket. The Sea Quest Diva has unique attractions for those who can benefit from its design.
Among wings, the "original" Zeagle Tech still proves that it was a sound design right from the outset. Multi-tank tekkies will surely opt for the Dive Rite Transpac with Super Wings, while we thought the Scubapro Superhawk NT was best but then, at nearly £500, it is very expensive.
Some products were new to the UK market but there were very few that we thought not up to the job. Past the £300 price barrier it would be hard to choose a bad one. Get one that fits and try it in the pool first if you can.
DISTRIBUTORS
Apeks Apeks Marine Equipment 01254 692200
Aqua-Lung Aqua-Lung UK 01162 124200
Beaver Beaver Sports (Yorks) 01484 512354
Buddy AP Valves 01326 561040
Cressi-sub Cressi-sub UK 01484 310130
Dacor Hydrotech 01455 274106
DiveRite Sea & Sea 01803 663012
IDI Effesub 00 3903 6226551
Mares Blandford Sub-Aqua 01923 801572
NDiver Northern Diver 01257 254444
Ocean Reef DCM Sales 020 8644 3393
Oceanic Oceanic SW 01404 891819
Poseidon UWI Circle 01420 544422
Scubapro Scubapro UK 01256 812636
Seacsub Alpha Distribution 01226 341133
Seaway Seaway Direct 0800 0748016
Seaquest Aqua-Lung UK 01162 124200
Seemann Sub Swan & Co 01964 532202
Technisub Aqua-Lung UK 01162 124200
Zeagle Bowstone Diving Products 0161 4420272
Appeared in DIVER - May 2000
