Bronze Turkey Award Number Six:
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
In the last issue of StupidDiverTricks.com, we pointed out what happens when manufacturers attempt to solve nonexistent problems and end up creating a whole lot more in the process. The object of our scrutiny was the Dacor/Mares HUB. In fairness, we should point out that the HUB is not alone.
SeaQuest makes what are, arguably, some of the best BCs on the planet. I’ve sold, or helped sell, a literal ton of them in the past two years. My personal recreational BC is a SeaQuest Balance. When it comes to BCs, SeaQuest seldom gets it wrong. But, on those rare occasions when they do…oh, my.
Recently, the engineers at SeaQuest set out to “solve” what they perceived to be a significant problem with BC design: drag. Their solution was a rather unusual looking unit called the Fusion.
The Fusion ostensibly reduces drag by eliminating the conventional BC inflation/deflation mechanism. Instead, the Fusion has a unique power inflator mechanism on the lower left-hand side of the BC (similar to the Dacor/Mares HUB). Users deflate the BC by pulling on any of three different cords that activate remote exhaust valves.
As with the HUB, oral inflation is accomplished by means of a small-diameter inflation tube that tucks away, out of sight, when not in use. Unlike the HUB, there is no built-in regulator system (thank heavens).
The Fusion could be a ground-breaking — even revolutionary — BC, were it not for three things:
- As with the HUB, its non-standard inflation/deflation mechanism is simply not what most people are trained in or used to using.
- For a BC that had, among its chief design goals, streamlining the overall form factor, the Fusion is surprisingly big, heavy and bulky (one diver characterized it as “like wearing a dress”). Because of its huge size, it would be difficult to describe the Fusion as being in any way streamlined.
- Despite its immense bulk, the Fusion lacks anywhere near the pocket space one finds on most conventional, jacket-style BCs.
From what dealers tell me, the Fusion has been less than a runaway best seller. Poor SeaQuest. ‘Twas a noble effort (no good deed goes unpunished).
Where did the “standard” power
inflator design come from?»
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