HH: Worth Considering

Mark Chase said:
AS above if you dont like it go to a diferent thread.

Persoanly i was gutted when having spent a small fortune on a HH head i discovered a shead load of people were having a shead load of problems with them but no one was posting about it.

My 2p?

Send a free HH CCR to DSix36 and let him dive it for a year.

Then he should do a product report on it.

If he's not interested ill do it. If it works ill say so. If it fails? ill say so.


ATB

Mark
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Okay. Well I'm not going to send you my hammerhead but I have been sent a free one.
Ill keep you posted of any finding I have with my rebreather. So far so good. I did have a problem with my batteries though. I kept (past tense) them in the garage charging and found that when I went on a dive in 28 degree air temps that my handsets were not turning on. Luckily my buddies had spares and this solved the issue. Once the batteries warmed up they performed fine. I've learned my lesson with storage.

I've got nothing to lose so I will be honest with my units performance. I don't know Kevin but have been told he is a standup guy. Every interaction I've had with them has been positive and I hope to keep it that way.

I like the fact that an end user started replacing the screens with OLED and now the factory installs them new with units. That to me is Kevin's strong point of listening and evolving to the changes of the diving market. My unit came brand new with the OLED screens. Some have had issues with them but mine have been working great.

I will keep the board updated because I love diving and diving a rebreather is one of my favorite things to do. It's all about the dive and the experience. So far my hammerhead has been able to give me that experience.

I did however get two tanks out of hydro with my new rebreather but heck, the damn thing was free so WTF do I care.

;-)

Cheers
Garth McClune


... and when you breath from it you instantly feel better about life. [The Hammerhead]
 
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DSix36 said:
Excellent idea Mark, but getting Kevin to agree might be the real task. I would even post product reviews as I trained and learned the unit, both good and bad.
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If Kevin really wanted to score a review, let me dive one for a season.

I'd report fairly on the Good, Bad and Indifferent... no different than any of the other rigs I have dived. The truth is the truth, no matter where it falls.

Then I'd send it to Don for a year... :wavey:

And then finally Don could send it to Mark Chase, so he can drill out the pressure sensing port to make sure it works... :haha:


Now that would be a fair test.


Dave

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DSix36 said:
A little side track - I know of several optima users that would not post about any problems for the simple reason of not wanting to piss Kevin off and possibly effecting the cost/qualtity of their repairs. Many of them are more vocal about it now that they no longer live in fear of not being able to get their electronics serviced.
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I have posted about the problems I had with my Optima in the past. And I have never shied away from telling Kevin about some flaws that I see. But fortunately (and maybe I'm just one of the lucky ones) I have not had a problem since upgrading to the Delrin handsets a couple of years ago. I went through several intesema pressure transducers on my metal handsets, as well as several other problems. But my Delrin Rev C+ handsets have been rock solid. I wish everyone with HH electronics were so lucky. Unfortunately, the consistency just isn't there. And there was no way I was jumping on the Rev D bandwagon before it was a proven commodity.
 
DSix36 said:
Excellent idea Mark, but getting Kevin to agree might be the real task. I would even post product reviews as I trained and learned the unit, both good and bad.

I had no idea that the hammerhead rebreather was suffering all the failures it was until at least one user grew a set of balls and posted about it. It seems that it is catching on and people are not a shy about it as they once were.

A little side track - I know of several optima users that would not post about any problems for the simple reason of not wanting to piss Kevin off and possibly effecting the cost/qualtity of their repairs. Many of them are more vocal about it now that they no longer live in fear of not being able to get their electronics serviced.
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Convincing anyone that wears a gold & SS Rolex Submariner with a blue dial to make a smart decision may be tough to do................who would be dumb enough to wear that tacky POS.
 
JONT said:
Convincing anyone that wears a gold & SS Rolex Submariner with a blue dial to make a smart decision may be tough to do................who would be dumb enough to wear that tacky POS.
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Literally laughed out loud at that... :thumbsup:

(As I look at my terribly beat up 40 year old Sea-Dweller with the illegible bezel and a chipped crystal... that I wear on the outside of my suit... )


Toys v/s Tools.... Toys v/s Tools....


Dave

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The end of this thread seems more of an attack on the person rather than a reliable review of the hammerhead. I personally don't mix gold and silver often and don't have much of each to make it an issue but I do like the looks and feel of the hammerhead.
Having decompression in the handsets is a plus as well. I do plan to buy a shearwater petrel in may but feel perfectly comfortable using the primary for light deco.

Another notable feature to the hammerhead is the manifold system found on the stock units that ship. I think it's great that a stock unit has both an oxygen and diluent distribution manifold.

A couple people I dive with have their cans rhino lined. Is anyone else doing that?


... and when you breath from it you instantly feel better about life. [The Hammerhead]
 
Garth said:
The end of this thread seems more of an attack on the person rather than a reliable review of the hammerhead.
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Most of those posting opinions are people who have spent hard earned cash for their opinions. And sadly when many of us have spent our coin, we then need to engage the "man" repeatedly, as what we have paid for fails and needs to be worked on. That brings us to the fact that you cannot divorce the hardware from the person. The person seems... well... blackmailing people who complain on forums about their experiences... lets just say that its been an expensive lesson. Lack of respect... Yeah, you could say that. You want glowing reviews from people who have been screwed or do you want to hear from others experiences?

But you're right. We have devolved into laughing and pointing rather than complaining about failed hardware. I respectfully withdraw from the field.


Best,


Dave

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Garth said:
The end of this thread seems more of an attack on the person rather than a reliable review of the hammerhead. I personally don't mix gold and silver often and don't have much of each to make it an issue but I do like the looks and feel of the hammerhead.
Having decompression in the handsets is a plus as well. I do plan to buy a shearwater petrel in may but feel perfectly comfortable using the primary for light deco.

Another notable feature to the hammerhead is the manifold system found on the stock units that ship. I think it's great that a stock unit has both an oxygen and diluent distribution manifold.

A couple people I dive with have their cans rhino lined. Is anyone else doing that?


... and when you breath from it you instantly feel better about life. [The Hammerhead]
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Oh poor Garth, did you get your feelings hurt. :chuckle: You know there are some issues with the firmware. Just a matter of time before you see them. If you would like next time we dive I can explain to you why it is so hard for anyone to sun a project to develop firmware for life support equipment. It is very hard for a company the size of JM. It makes it even more amazing that shearwater has been able to do what they have. Clearly Bruce has a lot of experience.

And you have nothing to complain about you have no money invested. :furious: Unless you are counting having to have those tanks hydroed. :big:
 
cferrar said:
And you have nothing to complain about you have no money invested...
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I agree - Irrespective of whether the electronics prove reliable or Garth swaps for SW, he still made out like a bandit. Wish I had his problem :sarcy:

Dwayne
 
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My feelings definitely weren't hurt. :-) it would take a lot more than that given my luck... (bandit).

Like I said I am new, haven't had any issues and thoroughly enjoy the rebreather. More important than that the machine is like I said before the experience of silent diving. Dave I don't want you to leave the field, I only want you to know that like you I love my rebreather regardless of the brand.

Whether I would like to think it is a tool or my wife would like to think it is my toy it is the coolest thing I've done yet. I always knew I would enjoy a rebreather because my favorite part of me dive was the part where I wasn't breathing. Since breathing is somewhat of a mandatory thing similar to landing an aircraft it became problematic to my enjoyment. The feeling I get while diving a rebreather is what American express would call "priceless." and I haven't even done any "real" dives yet...

I think the takeaway for me with this thread is that I truly need to understand how lucky I was when I was given the opportunity to do what I love with little to no impact on my family (budget).

Cheers diver people. :-)
 
Yep, its a seriously strong machine. Kevin and his gang have developed rig that should suit most eCCR divers, I dove it for a couple of years and really liked it.
 
Just reading over this thread that was brought back from the beginning of the year. It's the end of November and almost a year since my training. I have enjoyed the Hammerhead thus far and haven't missed any dives yet.

Right now I'm in the phase of looking for spares just in case I have an Oring go out or something.


Garth
 
Garth said:
Just reading over this thread that was brought back from the beginning of the year. It's the end of November and almost a year since my training. I have enjoyed the Hammerhead thus far and haven't missed any dives yet.

Right now I'm in the phase of looking for spares just in case I have an Oring go out or something.


Garth
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As my Grandmother would say; "Well, bless your little heart"

As I would say; "Just because you got lucky, does not mean that you are not an idiot"

:brickwall
 
Garth said:
Right now I'm in the phase of looking for spares just in case I have an Oring go out or something.


Garth
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Trish & Kevin put an O-Ring kit together for me a couple of years ago (pre-Extreme Head). I don't have a printout that I could send you, but if you ask me what size this or that O-Ring is I'll look. They not only put what the O-Ring was for on the packaging, but its size as well. Actually, just check with Trish to see what they now offer.
 
Awesome! I just emailed them and will report back what I find out.

There is always the Oring cones they sell to measure the o rings or the size gauges. I don't have one of those but figure they might help my buddies who have evos, inspirations, and others.


Garth
 
:-D

I'm sure I'll have some good idiot stories as time goes on. Must wait until I start measuring my O rings for my spares kit. Hehe


Garth
 
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