May 2011    Download the Entire Issue (PDF)

Vol. 26, No. 5   What's this?

Pegasus’s New, Cheaper DPV

readers debate: the leisure model is $800 less and just as good

from the May, 2011 issue of Undercurrent  

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You may remember reading my enthusiastic report of the Pegasus Thruster back-mounted DPV (Diver Propulsion Vehicle) in the July 2010 article "Look Ma, No Hands Underwater." At $2,350 the price was high, but a leisure model is now out for $1,550, so I decided to try it in the ripping currents of Dampier Strait in eastern Indonesia.

It weighed 26 pounds at airport check-in. It was a pity that Emirates Airlines lost the bag between London and Jakarta; I had to wait six days before it arrived at Kri Island. I only got to use it for one day at the place where I was really going to need it, though I went on to use it as well during a liveaboard trip in the southern area of Raja Ampat, where the currents are less demanding.

The Leisure Unit

Most of my review in the July issue still applies. The Thruster fits onto the diver's tank by means of a specially designed mount, and is held tight by a conventional camband. With a fitted battery section, it looks a little bit like a small missile with a propeller set within a cowling at the rear end. A control cable is fitted via a wet connector at its front end, and has a large on/off switch button positioned at the business end of the control cable. Press to go. Release to stop....