Posted by Generator X on September 04, 2001 at 20:49:53:
In Reply to: Rodales posted by BadFish on September 04, 2001 at 20:31:23:
1. It's lip service originated testing that generates subscription revenue for the magazine's publisher. It is OK for the part time diver to use as a buying reference, but in the real world the gear they rate doesn't normally hold up under regular use. There is better gear that is usually not part of any testing by scuba labs.
2. No
3. No
4. See answer 1
5. Not really. If the reviewing publication generates any money from it's reviews it's bias from the get-go. The best thing that could happen
to the scuba diving gear industry would be a consumer reports type of magazine. Find someone who can tell you about a product without citing some koo-koo testers choice or best buy stamp of approval.