WTB Regs

[BillGraham]

Im looking to purchase 2 sets of regs (Din) for my sidemount configuration. I live in the Daytona area but will be at Ginnie springs sunday Dec. 17th, if anyone has something that im looking for and would like to possibly meet there. Thanks! 8)

Something to give some thought to is that some 1st stages provide better hose routing than others.

Yup, and say what you want about the Odins being ancient P.O.S.'s, they are reliable and you can flip the second stages over, which eliminates a lot of hose routing headaches for sidemounting. You can score them on e-bay for good prices if you are vigilent.

[hans471]

"I know what the stated reasons are but by claiming it's a liability issue and using that as an argument then by the same token I shouldn't be able to buy brake pads, calipers, or other auto parts either. "
So as a DIYer I can work on my own car, airplane, etc. but maintaining my own regulator is some sort of liability issue? "


Well, everyone has their own oppinions. And yes, you can buy parts to fix your own car. Those companies do get sued but they sell enough volumn to cover their liability insurance and still make a profit. On the other hand, some Scuba companies have gone under due to some large settlements against them. When someone dies the families go after the companies big time. People I have meet in the industry over the years have told of fighting lawsuits over wrongful death suits in the millions of dollars over any number of seemingly little things. When you are a billion dollar company you can afford this. Many Scuba companies just don't have that deep of pockets. They figure why expose themselves to the risk when one suit can put them out of business. Fact is there have been several diving related companies that went under that way over the years. Others, some very well known, have cancled products after their insurance companies told them what they would have to pay to get liability coverage.

An individual in our country has the right to have any oppinion they choose. You may agree or disagree with anyone you wish, right or wrong. You can take your business anywhere you wish. A company has the right to make policy on their products as they are the ones who have the liability exposure and end up paying out millions when someone screws up and kills themselves.

If I was manufacturing regs or any other product that someone could conviently kill themselves with I would think real hard about selling parts to just anyone. I make five or ten bucks profit per kit and I sell a few thousand of them a year. So, for a profit of a few thousand bucks I risk a lawsuit that can cost me millions and put me out of business. Not a good business decision for me!

Autozone does a little bigger volumn than that so they can afford the insurance and the lawyers to fight their battles. Not only that, there are so many sources of training and manuals to help you fix your car, Autozone can slide by on that defence. Its a bit harder to find a repair manual or independent training course for dive gear overhaul.

I have been in the business world for many years and have to teach this stuff to my students. In the world of business liability is a MAJOR issue. One may disagree with this and think its something else, but its a big deal when one lawsuit can shut your doors. American companies today spend more money on fighting lawsuits than they do on new product development. Its the world we Americans have chosen to live in.

Oh, and in the twenty five years I have been a pilot, the FAA puts some very strict limits on what work I can do on my own airplane UNLESS I built the plane myself. Othewise, there is very little I am actually permitted to do. The vast majority of the work has to be done by an FAA certified mechanic. And, the cost of product liability insurance nearly killed the production of small planes in the US until congress finally enacted some liability limits for the manufacturers. Even with that the cost of a small private aircraft went skyhigh over liabilty insurance costs. (ask Piper Aircraft Company about this). Liabilty is a MAJOR issue in decision making in the business world.

Its a free country. We can agree or disagree with anyone we wish and a company can have any policy they wish. If we don't agree with theirs, then we can take our money somewhere else.

This doesn't really belong in this forum, but since it was brough up...