Opinions on the best scooter?

Hey guys, I wanted to know what people think about the different brands of scooter:

Which is fastest?
goes the farthest distance?
has the best combination of speed and distance?
is the most reliable?
has features needed for technical diving?
is easiest or comfortable to use?
is good for scubatics?

I'd like to hear opinions from everyone, especially cave divers and deep technical divers, as thats the kind of diving I'd like to do. I'm also interested in using a scooter while freediving, so please let me know what you think.

Tags: scooter

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Permalink Reply by Mark Strachan on January 27, 2009 at 10:26pm

George -

I'm pretty well sold on Andrew's company as a source of a scooter, if I'm just going to get one. What I'm not sure about is which one to focus my beedy little eyes on--the Sierra short, long, or Cuda 650 or 850. I'm really attracted to the idea of having a right speed machine, so the cuda really has my attention.

I'm thinking that the 850 might be a safer scooter for deep penetration dives because of the extra battery life, BUT the extra length might make it less maneuverable... What do you think? If you could do it all over again, would you go with the Sierra, or would you go with one of the Cudas, and if so, which one?

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Permalink Reply by Terry Ostby on January 28, 2009 at 7:12am

Ok I am throwing in my 2 cents also , you guys have a lot more exp in the ocean caves etc . But here it comes .
I checked out the Gavins mechanics namly trigger control and compared to the x when Joe T brought one along to MN. I have used both . Personally I like the X a lot better over the Gavin Simply because of the problems the Gavin has or had and the X is a lot easier to Deco on and Is so much lighter to carry and travel with . As far as burn time It works good for me for what I have done . I have found with the Gavin I like the long body over the short body for handling , just seems more stable . Personaly like I said I would buy a X brand over a Gavin , I think prices are about the same not sure . Although I have been using a Gavin on several dives I am getting use to it . The service from both comp . is comparable from what I understand although have only had exp. with Gavin . Scooters are a blast and an excellent tool ,just depends what you are looking for .
Like I said 2 cents worth

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Permalink Reply by George K. Watson on January 28, 2009 at 9:12am

I can tell you that the interchangeability of the Sierra components was very attractive to me. I initially purchased a longbody and then just a short body and high capacity battery. I am not familiar enough with the Cuda to comment much, but with your scubatics desires, a short, small machine with low mass is going to be your best bet. This is a bit antithetical to burntime, unfortunately. You either have to commit, or as in my case, buy enough components to compose either a lightweight scooter or long burntime scooter right there on site.

As far as speed goes, I have dove the longbody in Ginnie Springs and Manatee springs, a moderate flow and rippingly high flow system and was satisfied with the performance. There is a nasty spot in Manatee (a venturi) near 'Sue's Sink' and though it was slow, I made it through no problem. I imagine the Cuda would be a bit quicker through there, but it did not seem untenable with the longbody, we got a nice long penetration in.

I can also say, that when I have dove with teams with SS or Gavin, all non-scooter dive operations are easier for me. Dropping and picking up stages, gas switches, bottle shifts, deco... all are easier because of the size and mass differences.

Of course, the Florida hardcores make fun of my little scooter and I can't outrace the SS, but I can do lot's of fun tricks while on deco in the Eagle's nest basin that they can't even think about.

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Permalink Reply by Ben McGeever on January 30, 2009 at 2:50pm

BR>Now the speed difference between 150 ft/min and 250 ft/min feels like MUCH more of a gap than just 100 ft/min :)
Every 20% increase in speed costs you twice the power due to drag, so as the only real feedback for speed underwater is drag, you feel like you are going twice as fast.

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Permalink Reply by Matthew Mandziuk on January 30, 2009 at 9:55pm

Has anyone tried the Hollis Scooter?? Is that a swear word on here??? I've been playing with one of them. I've only used previous Diverite Arrow prototype's made by Farallon.....SS and the Hollis. It's fun. Fast, destroys the Gavin for Speed. I tried doing Scubatics drills with it the other day in the pool, it was okay, but I had the trim weights out. I'm looking forward to trying the X.