Blacktip DPV Review - Cave Divers Edition

[@divextras]

Thanks for the fantastic review! 😁

[@meridacavediver]

Thanks for the great experience, it’s really opened up my diving. This week I have a particularly complex dive over the course of three days where day 1 and 3 I will be staging and picking up tanks. The cave we will be traversing will be a couple of km’s long and we’re laying down some new line. The footage in this video was the pre check for the dive coming this week.

[@williamsweet7511]

ETA on the exploration models?

[@meridacavediver]

@@williamsweet7511 Not sure if this is for me or Dive Xtras so I'll give my two cents. When I was looking to purchase I had to go through a third party vendor. I did just check for you and I see them at Dive Gear Express. I would verify but it looks like they are in stock. I can't speak for the supplier though.

[@joffercave1418]

Great video, thanks for your time and knowledge.

[@offthegridinsouthflorida7753]

I am a commercial and recreational diver in Palm Beach, FL. I am looking to purchase a DPV and I appreciate your in depth view. You did a great job in explaining many aspects of using and owning a DPV. Thank You

[@meridacavediver]

Thank you for taking the time to let me know, I appreciate that. I think you will really enjoy it.

[@williamsweet7511]

Been waiting for this one, thanks so much, I'm gonna order one tomorrow, my diving is a little different, I do more ocean diving on a rebreather so I'm going for the exploration model to handle longer dives. I hope I love mine as much as you've enjoyed yours. One thing I tell people is a DPV only works if everyone diving with you has one, which is why the blacktip is so awesome. Everyone can afford it. lol. Stay safe and have a great day.

[@meridacavediver]

William this makes me very happy and I want to thank you for giving me that extra kick in the butt to get this done. I think on a CCR system you would get better value from the Exploration and I can actually tell you a bit about ocean diving as I've tested both the Travel and the Tech in Mahahuhal (South of Cancun and Tulum). Side mount config, 50 - 55m, drift dive, and salt water obviously. Loved it... here's why. DECO! We started off doing a standard wall dive and as time went on we would rise up to a shallower depth. When we got into deco territory we weren't confined like we are in a cenote. I think you will really enjoy it. On another one of my dives, (more shallow reef) the boat captain forgot to drop the anchor... thank god we had the dpv because wouldn't you know it.... the captain also broke the string off the engine. Much longer story but yeah, I have ocean experience and I think you will be very very happy. One tip - get your trim and harnes length right.

[@ELAMINHamid]

Thank you

[@meridacavediver]

You are very welcome, I’m glad you enjoyed it.

[@LanceOperative]

great quality review

[@meridacavediver]

Thank you sir, I appreciate the feedback.

[@willsmooth45]

I’m so glad I know someone who builds dpv batteries and rebuilds them for a living I got a dive x sierra for $1235 fully rebuilt and modded also changed it over To accept dewalt batteries

[@zerovisdiver]

Great review, thank you!

[@bloodymarvelous4790]

How does the DPV work in relation to the rule of thirds. I can imagine using your DPV to explore a cave, and it failing at some point. That means you now need to return to the entrance on your own power. How do you determine the penetration and/or time limits?

[@meridacavediver]

Hey there, good question. The general rule of thumb is that if you have one dpv you now operate on a rule of sixths. If you are carrying two dpv’s you work from a rule of fourths.

[@Teampegleg]

The basis of the rule of thirds doesn't change. You need to reserve twice as much gas (and DPV burntime) you would need to exit the cave. What changes is how you figure out what is twice as much gas. Are you basing it that on swimming out, being towed out, or using a spare scooter? Upstream, downstream? How much flow? It becomes a conversation closer to planning BO range for a CCR. Of course there is the million dollar question that few ask. Even if you have enough gas, can you physically swim that far out of the cave? What about the arm/shoulder stamina to be towed that far out?

[@johannmattis4842]

Good quality material! Me myself had the luck to grab a used XK1 for a friendly price. Which is kinda kickin ass.

[@meridacavediver]

That’s great, what type of diving are you doing?

[@johannmattis4842]

@@meridacavediver German lakes on Rec Trimix level. Coldwater deco dives. Cavediving (fullcavediver) so far on Sardegna. (approx 30dives) Plan to expand to central European Caves. Depth and thermal protection are the challenges there.

[@meridacavediver]

@@johannmattis4842Nice, I'm guessing dry suit? I've toyed with the idea of a rebreather and a dry suit but I'm not sure I have the right personality for it. Here I wear a 3 mil. I dabble in trimix when we're going past 55M. What mixes are you using? Is it for depth or for the conditions?

[@johannmattis4842]

@@meridacavediver Drysuit at least, we dive all year also winter, then heating or even reduntant heating is mandatory. Well if You dive drysuit all year round You think the other way, maybe a matter of habbit. For me the stable trim esp. with multiple tanks is way easier with a drysuit. I heard even in Mexico it´s vastly spread at longer cave dives. But as You have mostly steep, short profiles it´s probably not a big advantage (at least for insulation). I use Tx only for dives deeper 50m - up to 65 so far, only light mixes - 20/30 - 18/40. Also due costs, I dive OC sidemount like You with regularily 4 tanks. But these topics usually lead to heated discussions on the web.

[@meridacavediver]

@@johannmattis4842 Ah ok. So for Tx, you and I are the same. I had a pretty interesting narcosis experience at around 62m but I'll give you some context. So the geography here as in Yucatan is very different than in the south where the tourist spots are. Where I am your description is right. For example there's a cave that I dive where the entrance is at 40m but as soon as you enter you start rising as you move through the tunnels. In the narcosis instance, you descend to 60 - 65m and then back up to 50M for the majority of the next cavern. The dry suit trim thought is interesting, I had not heard that before and never really thought of it that way. I do like the idea of a dry suit and after about 2 hours I do start to get cold, even with my 3mil wetsuit. Maybe I should try a dry suit and see what I think.

[@michaellambert2976]

Thanks for this! I was wondering how the plastic would hold up against limestone! Have you had any collisions with rock in the cave? How does the dpv handle high flow?

[@meridacavediver]

Hey Michael, I haven’t had what I would call any collisions, but it does get bumped around going through restrictions and things. From my perspective the plastic appears to be sturdy and I don’t have any concerns with toughness over regular use. As for flow, I can’t really speak to it because the cenotes here generally don’t have any real detectable flow. For that you may want to check out the. @DiveVibe channel or a review by Dive Xtras featuring Aaron Moser. I think they have different use cases that I do. I’ve watched both reviews as well and thought they were very good.

[@michaellambert2976]

@@meridacavediverthanks again :-)

[@meridacavediver]

@@michaellambert2976 always happy to help

[@CubanazoJB]

We miss your videos buddy!! I have been told you now you can go deeper without bubbles 😇 !! Don’t be shy!!! 😁😂😂

[@meridacavediver]

🤣 I appreciate that and the rumors are true. This is also very good timing as I’m currently writing a series and I start filming in a couple days.

[@Godscreation-H2O]

How did you mount your lights to dpv ?

[@meridacavediver]

I made some mounts on my 3d printer and use bungees

[@familyscuba1292]

Now that a year has passed, do you still recommend the blacktip tech? I’m on the fence if I should wait to buy the cuda or just get right into it with the tech.

[@meridacavediver]

Hey great to hear from you again. The immediate answer is that I think the tech will serve you very well but I have some additional information for you to consider. I’ve been diving with some of the Florida boys for my CCR training and a few of them are spending the big dollars because they’re dealing with flow and with the addition of CCR, battery life might be a concern. Now, with that being said… a concern worth the extra money? Hard to say. For me right now it’s not a big concern but I’m still just getting used to my CCR and just finished mod 2, so I’m more depth over distance. But my answer may change in a year. For you I would ask myself these questions… how long are my dives usually? Do I deal with much flow? I’ve had zero issues with my tech and I’ve probably put just over 250 dives on it. I also know a few people who have them and they’ve had zero issues as well. If I was to review the unit again, my opinion wouldn’t change… although I have been unsuccessful in getting @divextras to give me a Cuda 🤣 But I do love my tech.

[@familyscuba1292]

@@meridacavediver Thanks for the response. Since I posted the question I did a bit more reading on the subject. It looks like many end up using the tech as a backup DPV to a more capable (read more expensive) unit. That sounds more than enough justification to get this one now. I’m sure the Cuda will follow in the next couple years.

[@addohm]

That looks like Fernando - swears by DPV :D

[@nikscuba]

use high quality 20Ah batteries for Travel or Tech is better than Dewalt 12 or 15Ah.

[@cosmosaure7558]

Max gear is 8, not 7.

[@meridacavediver]

Now that comment actually made me get up, go put the batteries in, and test it lol. Good catch, you are correct! There are 8 speed modes. Thanks for pointing that out, I’m glad you enjoyed the video.

[@vbarba]

The 8 gear can only be used few minutes (7?) (depending on environment temperature). Actually, in my experience, the 7 gear can't be holded for long time neither...

[@mr337kj]

Have you experimented with the custom 20ah cave packs for sale? I can always rent the 12ah dewalts in Mexico but would be nice to have a 20ah for here in the states I can drive to site with. My tech is paid for just waiting for me to go pick it up.