Cheap scooter (DPV)

[Old Man Dave]

I've been wanting to try a a small scooter for freedive spearing off the beach and for a little bit of scuba down to 100ft.

I like the Sea doo GTI and was tempted but at over £400 it was a bit expensive for something that might not pan out. Idealy i'd have liked to borrow one to try but no one locally seems to have one.

Now I've seen this on ebay [ame=http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/300-350-Watt-Water-Sea-Scooter-DPV-Scuba-Diving-Pool_W0QQitemZ330415674176QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4cee4f1340]300 - 350 Watt Water Sea Scooter DPV Scuba Diving Pool on eBay (end time 22-Mar-10 22:02:44 GMT)[/ame] . Same spec as the sea doo but made in China I suspect. The thing is at £150 incuding shipping from Florida USA I can afford to get one and give it a go.

If it works out I can upgrade to a sea doo later. However, are these scooters any good? Anyone know? Anyone bought one, seen one, used one?

Dave.

 

[cdavis]

Sorry, I'm not familiar with this scooter, but its advertised motor power is about the same as an Apollo, a good scooter that costs more than 15 times as much. The claimed speed is more that 1.5 times faster than the Apollo.

Seems like somebody is stretching things a bit, be wary. PM Jon.

Connor

 

[Jon]

All of the "toy" scooters that I have tried were fine for kids playing in the pool with, but no where good enough to actually dive with- and I put the Seedoo's in that same group. One of them that I tired was so slow that I had too kick with it to even get down. It would be nice if someone came out with a cheap scooter that actually had some power, but I have yet to see it.

A better option is to check out Ebay and look for a used Apollo, Dacor, Aeris, Tekna, Scubapro, or Oceanic scooter. These will be more expensive than the toy scooter, but still cheaper than a new version- and much cheaper than the top of the line Gavin's, Farallon's, X-scooters etc. I would think you could find a used one for less than $1,000 US.

Jon

 

[Jon]

Here's another option that I saw at DEMA a few years ago, but have never tried myself. It's called a Torpedo and has a strange trigger mechanism (magnet held onto your hand with a Velcro band), but might be the most affordable option for a real scooter.

Here's a link for the different models they make:
Torpedo, Diver Propulsion Vehicle, Models

Jon

 

[dirkslim]

A couple that I occasionally dive with bought a couple of SeaDoos and wrote something about them here: Thou Shalt Scoot Underwater | www.Hungry4Adventure.com. I don't know how informative it really is, but I know that they love theirs.