Bladefish DPV - anyone tried it?

Anyone tried the Bladefish DPV? Is it as fast as they claim? At 5kg, that 5000 model sounds like what I want to bring out on expeditions to follow animals doing their thing. Any experience stories would be much appreciated.

I'd love to hear comment from owners also.

I saw one of these last winter at Diver's Direct in Florida and was impressed with the size and light weight of the unit.

It seems well put together. First thing I thought about is, that it would be a lot easier to tow this unit back to your exit point after a

premature battery failure than it would be if you were diving a Gavin or other traditional style scooter.

Having said that, it would also appear to be easy to manage along with a camera housing and strobes. Might even be able to fit

it into my airline baggage allotment for travel too.

Price is very attractive though, even if it is only limited to 130 ft. (not a problem for me as I am very seldom down this deep)

http://www.divernet.com/Diving_Gear/diver_...000_seajet.html

But photographers need this:-

http://www.divernet.com/Diving_Gear/gear_f...the_future.html

Thanks John. I did try the Thruster. While I like the tank mount option, it's a long bigger to travel with. The BF5000 is slight lighter and much more compact. It's also 1/4 of the price. That review looks great. I'll probably need to mod the throttle for left hand use if possible.

don't own one but just came back from a livaboard where a guy had one with him. It was seriously noisy, the first time he used it i though there was a RIB overhead until i saw him pass me ( i had stopped to take pictures) i then managed to easily fin past him.

After 4 or five dives he had a massive argument with his missus and never used it again. The guide had already told him he could not use it on several dives as it would scare the sharks/manta's

I could see the point if you where a disabled or elderly diver but if not the money would be better spent on a gym membership and/or new fins.

Roddy

We just had one on a shoot as a prop... it works as such... looks great... but the talent needed to fin to help it along at any kind of pace. Yes noisy ... 7D in aquatica, no hydrophone, mic on auto levels picked it up no worries.

It does look good but I reckon I'd call it a propulsion "aid" ...