Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Hollis Stainless Cam Band

I ordered two Hollis Stainless Cam Bands from LeisurePro 07/26/2011. They each cost $30.00. Jose, whom also works at Coconut Tree Divers, ordered the same ones a couple of weeks prior. The result, after a mere 4 months of use, they are falling apart at the velcro section. They've been sewn together with a simple one pass of the machine. That is what is seems like anyhow. A pity because otherwise I was happy with them, ready to recommend them with double oks and everything. 

Again, we are looking for things that simply work. Are we to remove them, send them back and wait for a month while a new pair is sent to Roatan, Honduras? No, instead, we will purchase a different brand and keep searching for the optimal set of gear. One could say it was a bad "one", but it happened to different dive professionals and they failed at roughly the same time. Perhaps someone could cough it up as a bad batch. Well, I would rather purchase the kind which undergo quality control and did not rely on my putting the warranty to a test. We dive everyday and can not be bothered with a month long hiatus of non-working while being replaced gear. What the gear gets a holiday and we do not. Besides, we are diving in calm, warm, clear water in optimal conditions. If the gear does not work here, where will it perform? 

When the bands were shipped, one included the rubber insert used to keep the tank from slipping or sliding and the other did not. It is big deal because I paid for it, but I would not give the product a bad review because it was lacking a non-essential piece. That could be the fault of the third party seller and not necessarily the manufacturer. In my case I had a spare from the DiveRite bands being using prior to switching to the Hollis pair. The reason for the switch to begin with, was the DiveRite bands were the thin 1". They would come undone all the time, one of them anyhow. That would leave the tank attached but dangling and just felt wrong. Enter Hollis Stainless Cam Bands. Overall rating, thumbs down. 


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