Warning: That $120 Chinese made drysuit valve almost cost me my dive

I picked up a cheap set of exhaust valves off Amazon to save some cash. First deep dive last month in Puget Sound, the thing froze open at 60 feet. I was dumping air nonstop and couldn't control my ascent. Had to emergency abort and surface way too fast. Anyone else ever trust cheap gear and almost pay for it?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_wren1mo ago

Nah, operator error ruins more dives than cheap gear ever did.

margaret_jackson731mo ago

Ever notice how nobody ever talks about how cheap gear actually forces better habits? When I started out with a beat up rental rig that dumped air like a sieve, I learned to check every single connection before splashing down. People with top shelf gear get sloppy because they trust their equipment too much. I've seen guys with 5k setups do stupid shit like skip pre-dive checks then blame their rebreather when they surface early. The cheap stuff keeps you humble and paranoid, which honestly saves more lives than a shearwater computer ever will.