What do you think about it? I think its cool,although expensive but very cool. I would love to demo one.
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What do you think about it? I think its cool,although expensive but very cool. I would love to demo one.
I saw the mask at DEMA 2006. What a nice mask. They're going to incorporate that into their new rebreather I talked at length with them about.
I need gauge readers for my middle age eyes, yet I could see the numbers perfect with no blurring.
I saw it on the Internet for sale at some dive retailer for about $1200.
The features are here
The user settings can be read here
To Demo a complete Powerpoint HTML slideshow , click here
Here is their PDF file.
Thanks Dave
I dived Oceanic's HUD mask on New Year's Eve. I really liked it, but I didn't like it enough to shell out $1500.
I want one! Need to save my pennies :)
I think this one is another gimmick. Really I would rather spend 1/3 the money for a nice mask and nice computer. Or even a nice full face mask for that matter! You can get an Ocean Reef FFM for 1/2 the price of the HUD mask.
I bet in 5 years the HUD mask will have fallen through the cracks.
By the way, you can get them for a good amount less than the asking price, a few dive shops I know that has them would LOVE to get rid of them. They are not a big seller so if you are still set on getting one try to make a deal.
I just got back from a Manufactures gear test tonight!. We tested the HUD and yes some new split fins. LOL The HUD was cool. It is a good computer Nitrox friendly easy to use. With my 57 year old eyes I had not trouble seeing the display right there. With remaining air depth and no Deco time left. The mask itself fit really well and didn't leak on my face beard and all. The 1500.00 price tag is big and it will come down I would bet. But if you use video or still it is pretty cool to have it right there in front of you. They are working on a full face as well for Public Safety Divers and those that need to use communications. They will also have a Rebreather style by summer. One more step in technology that will have its place. I was hoping they would forget it was on my rig, but they didn't!. I also got a crack at Aries new top of the line Reg was is exactly that!. Comes with a built in swivel and breaths like a dream. We spent two days at Santa Cruz Island on the Backside with great weather testing.
I think this one is another gimmick too....like We used to think of pressure guages, integrated BC...heck BC alone! I fear this is the look of the future. While I still take out my double hose Aqualung on my steel 72 with J valve from Sears, Most of the time I dive my more modern gear. Who knows 35 years from now (I was first certified 35 years ago) we may just look back fondly on the days when we used to dive with a HUD mask...remember when we thought they were a gimick now with the occular implants and gill franistaners how could we ever have used masks and Tanks!!!
The R&D on this mask was fully funded by the military, yet they said Oceanic was free to sell the product on the civilian market, otherwise, it would be a $5,000 mask. They are thinking of integrating the HUD to a CCR.
$5000?? they must be doing WAY too many drugs.
Research?? It is a stinking dive mask with a computer glued to it. Come on, they are not selling at $1200 let alone $5000.
Another typical waste of US tax dollars.
They had some tooling expense, it is nicely integrated into the mask, and I think they will sell when they come down to the price of a good computer and a mask! $800.00 +-???
Okay that's it! We are going to beat one into you! We will hold you down and make you scream "Oceanic HUD mask and I want it now!" And you my rich friend will pay double! :p :rolleyes: ;)
The manufacturer said they will have the full face and CCR version out in summer and yes it will be switchable!
Oceanic! We were told last week on the gear test overnighter to Santa Cruz Island... So be careful what you wish for!;) They said July, but it might be later?
Oceanic does not make full face masks or rebreathers, so what the question is:
Which full face mask is it going to fit and which brand/model of rebreather? I am sure it is not going to be a universal unit.
I didn't understand the question I guess? AGA mask and I didn't ask, but assumed universal or Majority types of Rebreathers.....
I am sorry I looked today and the HUD I tried was from Aries! I don't know why I thought Oceanic, but I did! Sorry if anyone was misled, but all the info is the same including the release dates!
Oceanic also owns Hollis.
Of should we say Bob Hollis owns Oceanic, Pelagic (makes computers for lots of folks), Aries and Hollis (which is run by Bob's son)..
As long as we're adding to the list, I think Bob also owns the Tawali resort in Papua New Guinea.
I know they're all in the family, but product branding is important and many places in the world can get one but not the other? I was just thinking as I was testing it how much it was like my Data Pro Plus II, because it is, Da! :rolleyes: So I just wanted to be clear! And yes we had Hollis on the Boat with all the back plates and cool gear as well as Pelican with some great lights! A LED that is great!
Usually we get half-truths from the media. I am reminded of aircraft seats for something like the C5 or whatever it was where the media said toilet seats were 10K each. They made it sound like it was hardware store toilet seat. They DIDN'T admit they were thin stainless steel seats that the military only ordered 200 of but that had to be pressed in a $75K custom die so the seat was light but sturdy. But the truth usually won't sell papers.
The R&D alone for these masks must have cost well over 250K, then add liability insurance....the mask probably has $100 in materials in it and most of the rest is R&D.
Personally, if it weren't for the fact that I use gauge readers from Prescription Dive Masks in San Diego and have a heads up Po2 display, I'd have this mask too.
At 56 I have the obligatory Astigmatism and it was easy to read! I was told it is like looking a 3 ft letters and 6 ft! It was easy to read and the Rebreather model is supposed to have all the bells and whistles? I might have one of these in my future, who knows?
OK, but the point is for $600 they could have bought 200 plastic hardware store toilet seats that were just as light and functional. Even if they broke and had to be replaced every month, the cost would still be MUCH less than $10k over the useful life of the airplane. While I wouldn't mind our government spending this money if it was necessary, I do mind that they are spending it while so many more important problems exist that need that money. We don't have universal health care, there are people starving in our own country, we have an environmental crisis on our hands, there are over 2 MILLION people in jail in our country, our public school system has gone to hell in a hand basket, I can go on and on and on.
I say give them a plastic toilet seat, and take care of more important issues with the remaining $1,999,400 OR lower taxes A LOT!
It costs, quite literally, millions of dollars to train a SEAL. If we can make his job even a tiny bit less risky by spending $5,000, then that is money well spent.
What folks don't realize about the toilet seat question is that is more a piece of accounting BS than actual seat cost. There is more put into the seat than most folks realize. You can go down to home depot and buy a plastic toilet seat for $20.00, but what did the one that is currently on your toilet actually cost? did you add in the time to select it, the vehicle expenses to pick it up, the worker expenses to install it, etc.? Those are some of the overhead costs you incur getting a seat, there are many more in industry. In addition, overhead for the entire program is typically assigned on a contract by dividing it up and allocating it equally to each item or system, this often makes an everyday item seem to be very expensive to people who do not understand the system or who have a need to make political hay.
The problem is it does not cost $5,000 that is the point, it costs a lot more. And does it really make anything less risky? I don't really think so, but again that is not really the point I was originally trying to make, I was saying it is way too expensive for the general public.
The one on my toilet cost under $30, it took me about 15 minutes to drive to the store, 10 minutes to find and pick out the seat, 10 minutes in line and 15 minutes home. It took about 5 minutes to install it. I suppose at the rate of $.45/mile, it cost me about $10 in vehicle expenses. So $40 of actual expenses and about an hour of my time, even at $40 an hour that is still under $100, so we still have $9,900 unaccounted for. The REAL reason for the insanely high prices in political BS. Remember that some of the suppliers to the military are owned by the politicians, so of course it is in their best interest to overcharge, and again in their best interest to make sure the government pays for it. Think about it, they are the ones with all of the money and a retirement plan that would make ours seem like a joke.
No, you failed to add in overhead. Assume that you bought 100 things to fix the house last year. To account for overhead you need to take everything that you paid to live in the house including rent or mortgage, taxes, utilities, food, heat, water, electricity, laundry, etc. and divide that by 100 and add that quotient to the toilet seat. That's the way the accounting works.
It's real easy for the populist, know-nothing politicos to make a big deal about it, they don't understand the basic assumptions of the system, they take a myopic, microeconomic view and use that misinterpretation to crank good people like you up over the mythical $10,000 toilet seat. That keeps you distracted and focused on the evil contractor; rather than the pork barrel set asides that your not supposed to notice.
Ace,
What you are failing to account for is the fact that your application of said toilet seat is not the military's application. In a sub, plane, etc., when they are thrust into a combat situation, your $20.00 seat will splinter when hit. Very easily one those splinters could impede that soldier's ability to fight. (splinter in the eye, hand, leg, etc.) That could very well be the weak link that the enemy is able to exploit to atain a victory. (death to that person)
Another way to see it is this: An aircraft seat is designed to withstand a 16 g force. In an accident/incident, a sub-standard seat could break loose, causing severe harm, and probably death for those in the path of that seat. Are you willing to "go cheap" on that seat for a couple of bucks? You would be first in that chorus, calling for improved parts, and improved safety standards.
Interesting how things can get side tracked. Just clicked on this thread to find it had moved from HUD mask discussions to the cost of toilet seats in millitary aircraft. :confused:
That is the other point, there are many places where the testing of parts costs orders of magnitude more than their civilian retail price (e.g., the fittings for a non-magnetic MK-15). Don't forget that the costs associated with the design of the testing regime and the test equipment get added in to the cost of the part.
Gotta keep up.
We were talking about military toilet seats that have a heads up display, weren't we?! ;)
With crappy middle aged vision, I can see the characters in the mask perfect. My problem is I need the right eye with a magnification diopter, and my left eye needs to see the heads up display of my rebreather with the left magnification diopter, both cemented in. This mask would interfere with the left eye's vision of my HUD, but Oceanic's plan was to integrate the masks' HUD with the rebreather controller, so no need for an external HUD.