Posts by Oceantendency

I've stayed up near Branson, MO and we've fished/water skiied in the Lake of the Ozarks, but never fished the tributaries. That's some gorgeous country up in early fall while the water is still warmer..But then again I've been swimming in some cold creeks/rivers in Northern AR too. That area around those bluffs looks killer for some largemouth bass and crappie.

I know it was the wrong weekend, but for anyone else to dive this weekend..
that's the latest on the weather/swell

Actually weather is shaping up for Friday afternoon and Sat morning, but hit it early, NW swell not to hit til later Sat afternoon into Sun morning..Monday is gonna be kickin' !!

So I just wanted to add something here from a different perspective: So I can remember a few years back when Guy Skinner bought out JBL, I knew several people who said they were cheap or that guy is making products cheap, etc.. Personally I've had some great experiences with Guy Skinner, the price for his wetsuit and new trigger mech was "cheap" when it first came out, people hated on the camo, eventhough it worked great for me, or didn't like the new gun ( I did a few mods my own). Now I currently dive in Cressi 5mm, but I do have some Mako lycra tops for the summer that are awesome, I know a few people who dive in the Mako wetsuit and love it, no issues. I also use to work PT in a dive shop and can tell you that when Sporosub was going out of business before being bought out, the Sea Star mask has since been somewhat copied and renamed/rebranded by atleast 3 different Main line companies.. So all this talk about cheating and stealing...WTH..patents and show me how Dano "stole" 100% of the mask..How many masks out there in the market look VERY similar, but have small differences like rubber type, straps, etc.. I know a few Riffe, JBL, Mako, TechniSub, Mares, Oceanic, and Atomic masks throughout the years that have been awefully close to each other, but different enough to rename them. Now I will give credit to Mr MORI for the best design of a slip tip , EVER !!! Since then it has been somewhat changed by no offense but Darryl Wong and Dano. They are almost identical, my Mako tip is as good as my Mori. Now I haven't shot any of his guns, but no a few club members who love them. I have an arsenal of a few different name brands and when you look at how close several hybrids are to each other these days, ofcourse they borrowed some ideas from each other, and yeah it's pissed off some people, but that is kinda how the business has gone. Putting Freediving to the side, look at how scuba diving products are soo similar, minus that ones with True Patents like Suunto, ScubaPro, Cressi, etc; but then you have other products like masks/snorkels/fins/wetsuits that are extremely close to each other.

I've personally done business with Dano because he is a San Diego Freediver Club sponosor, he has sponsored several of our Blue Water Meets, and I've never had one complaint with his products. So please don't hate on Dano, just because you're pissed and do it relentlessly on a Forum, that's really not cool. Don't do business with him directly. Me personally, I know that guy has some mad freediving skills and he's a great guy to do business with. I love their fins and composite fiberglass blades, flopper shafts that I've bought for my Cressi Geronimo Pro 115 and for my Riffe Islander. The only product that I'm not crazy about are the socks..they work, but I got big ass feet and I F'up everything except Argos..BTW Omer are the worst offenders for freediving socks..but that's my opinion.

I don't own any floats by them, but a few of my dive buddies dive and have less problems with their Mako Floats than with my Sporosub Float, but I fix it and make it work, I don't go on a gripe fest like a lil baby. Tons of people outsource, maybe not all their products, or they need a starting point on their wetsuits, or trigger mechs, etc... you gotta look at these things with any Dive Product, no matter who the Manufacturer is:
a) Does it meet MY Standards?
b) Do I like doing business with you? Customer Service?
c) How easy is it to fix via phone hassle or DO IT MYSELF??( I really hate lazy people, BTW)
d) Just like any gun/speargun you buy, Do I like the trigger pull and does it effeciently kill stuff?
e) If not, how can I modify it to MAKE IT WORK for me?
f) Is this within my budget? ( Dude, I make decent money, but I have a wife that only works PT cause she's taking care of our 4 month old, 2 yr old is in Preschool and that ain't cheap, and step daughter too, so I can't just go drop 1 G or 2 on dive gear just because, especially when my wife dives too) Different people are on different budgets, so they do the BEST they can with what they got. Or they KNOW how to take ANY Product and make it better.

** If you are any experienced Freediver and you don't modify your own gear..WTH are you doing diving????

So instead of blaming the manufactorer, just do business with someone else. I give my business to various places for different things, local and online or at Scuba shows, if I think I'm gonna get a great deal on something. Our dive community is a pretty tight niche, just think we could treat ALL our people that make products for us in a better way. Just saying with my 2 cents, I've seen a lot of changes happen in the last 25+ years, companies come companies go.. I've seen a bunch of Chinese knock offs on a bunch of US stuff too., but once again look at a-f) and if they don't line up with your standards, buy your stuff elsewhere.

Some of ya'll might know me from BD or Spearboard, same ID: Oceantendency. So originally from South Louisiana ( Houma and the New Orleans area), ok to call me a Coonass, just not a redneck. Been freediving since I was 6, scuba since I was 14, fishing since I was 3, first pole spear around 14 when I first learned to scuba or freedive in FL, Been diving all over FL ( ocean and springs) and Bahamas. Been Freediving in San Diego since 2004. Part of SD Freedivers Club since 2007, and lada dada dah....I love diving the Nados, Carlsbad, LJ, and POint Loma. MLPA's suck eventhough I griped at most of the hearings, seems like it didn't work. Anyways married with 2 lil girls and a stepdaughter...so I don't dive like I use to, but love to still get out and target specific species. I only kill what I'm gonna eat or give to my co-workers and family. I'm not into killing sharks, anymore, just not my thing. I don't hate on people who blast on everything, but just be respectful. Can't wait for the ghosts to start showing up again here soon in the Kep beds.