Post by Grumman-581"Adam Helberg" wrote ...
Post by Adam HelbergWhat evidence do you have for that?
Depends upon your definition of 'evidence'... What one convince one person
might not convince another person... Here's a link... We've discussed this
in detail on previous topics and some people are convinced, some refuse to
be convinced by *anything*...
http://www.forcefin.com/FF_PAGES/FF_wisewords/rodalesuit.htm
<snip>
Statements made by Dane Farnum, Publisher, Rodale's Scuba Diving regarding
the suit conclude with the statement that "Rodale's Scuba Diving will
continue to publish the only comparative scuba equipment evaluations
available in the United States." The evaluations are not characterized as
"independent", "objective" or "unbiased" as was objected by Bob Evans
Designs, Inc.
</snip>
End result is that yes, Rodales does compare things, but one should
understand that there might be some bias in their comparisons... At the very
least, it is a place where one might see what items might be currently
available for the recreational market... Don't hold your breath on waiting
for them to do a review of various backplates though... <grin>
Rodale's is no Consumer Reports and obviously accepts advertising and is a money
making outfit. Also some brands refuse to submit their products for testing. For
example ScubaPro at one time or currently is one of them. It's not surprising the
ratings are biased to some extent by advertising pressure.
Nevertheless when it comes to scuba gear there is no Consumer Reports. There are
advertising blurbs as in California news, user reviews and some attempts at
comparative tests. Some of the data on gear in Rodale's on gear is very good--for
example conservativeness comparison of various computers was very good. You have to
use what data is available when buying gear taking into account that the data may be
flawed, still it's better than nothing or listening to a dive shop salesman.
Adam