Great review. I just bought the Mk3i and T2; as good as it gets! Agree with the totally crap battery life of the Suunto D5. I had that unit for 2 years and it was total dogsh1t. Glad to finally have this Garmin Mk3 beast!
I had the exact same remark when I tested the mk3i. I reached out to Garmin about this choice and this was their answer : Single Gas is not just recreational dive mode: Although we expect recreational dives will mostly be executed with Single Gas mode, certain technical dives can leverage Single Gas mode as well. Technical divers still can and do make decompression and/or cave dives (the definition of technical) with only one gas. This is common when the deco plan is simple enough to not be worth managing an extra gas mix. Wreck penetration and cave diving, even without deco, is considered technical diving, and often air is the only gas used if deco isn’t expected. And it actually kind of make sense to not separate both as rec / tec, but based on the gas you carry.
I have multiple main lights in test including an unreleased product. But for these reviews, i am going to explore longer cave / cavern to make sure i have got all the good / bad about the product.
After I was introduced to XDeep's frameless mask a couple of years ago, my long-serving Scubapro frameless and Hollis M1 masks instantly became backup masks. The comfort, vision and perfect seal of XDeep's frameless mask are, in my humble opinion, supreme. Best mask I've ever had the pleasure to dive with. I have a wide face and this mask just delivers. Not a single drop of water has managed to get inside. Given it's sold at a midrange price I feel I get a lot of bang for my bucks. And no, I'm certainly not paid and/or instructed to promote XDeep's products. I'm just a regular recreational diver who has paid for every single item of my equipment. I just think that XDeep deserves praise as a great and very innovative dive equipment company...
Yes, I totally agree. I have had my XDeep Zen for well over 2 years, and I can't see myself using another wing because the Zen has everything I want: supreme comfort, durability, and great design. Since I primarily travel and dive in tropical waters, I use Ghost's ultralight backplate, and this combo is the ultimate solution for me. I also use some of XDeep's other top-notch products: their frameless mask (perfect seal and vision, very comfy), their bolt snaps (best on the market), and their DSMB.
Hey! Thanks a lot! CCR would make a lot of sense, but not all the divers are CCR mixed gas diver, and the philosophy behind this is to first go there on an open circuit (much easier in case of failure / harder to break) and then do dives on CCR.
We bought these and thoroughly regret the purchase: The Dive app will not open unless you have an LTE or wi-fi connection. The Connect app is completely cloud-based (all data disappears when not connected to at least LTE) so if you are on a live aboard boat you have nothing. The underwater messaging is gimmicky and within another menu so not very practical under water. Garmin support is abysmal. 45 minutes, 20 minutes and over two hour wait times this week alone. And then, even though you selected the option for the Descent MkIII, you get general customer service who doesn't know the watch well. They told me that there are very few people at Garmin who actually know the watch. The bezel is soft and scratches easily. The base of the transmitters are wider than other transmitters and won't fit on some octos without a pigtail. We really regret buying these.
I'd say the Hollis M1 is still great. But they had a change in production, and the glass is different than the old “Saint Gobain crystal” and the new one isn't as good as the old. Beuchat also has a great mask (maxlux)
@@ekjellgrenhi buddy :) I do own a vx1 and I’m actually looking for a replacement mask. I’ve done around 110 dives with it and it’s always mix feelings, either super good sealing on my face or super bad. I’ve had couple of fogging issues but burning it and prepping it with soap did the tricky perfectly, for my face/shape it just doesn’t seal and leaks water almost every other dive which is super annoying. I’ve tried it with long beard, trimmed beard but still doesn’t give me consistency. I will buy this xdeep and see if it fits me better and use the Apeks as a back up. On my opinion is not worth the price tag 🏷️ hope this help.
Hi maxime, thanks for this great review. Would you feel confident taking this dive computer for technical dives, or does it seem limited to a "recreational" interface? I'd be interested to understand the degree of customization, notably on the communication of total ascent times (apparently in seconds?), the usefulness of the computer without the probe? etc... Thanks for your great videos!
Hi! Yes absolutely. I haven't used the probes and you are right, the is in seconds. I honestly didn't miss anything from Shearwater except the GF99. But I wouldn't be surprised if this feature comes to MK3i via update. You can customize more of the screens than a teric. I love the big numbers mode. Check up on my new video where I used it as a training device for expedition diving :)
After your last Video my Shearwater Perdix got an companion, I bought my MK3i , actually I wear it for some trainings, and next week I go diving in Sri Lanka, Indian Ocean - the Inreach Mini 2 is the next interesting thing in combination with the MK3i I’am interested - thank you for your Video !
I tested HMR plus for pulse during dive, but there is a bug in export to dive app. I currently have G1 again skin for pulse and Mk3i on top of my drysuit for dive data 😊 Say hi to Mikko from Teppo
I've just upgraded to the Mk3i, my Mk2's did 200 dives in the past year very well. Garmin warranty support is excellent, I've never had such a supportive company to deal with. Great video btw...
@@MaximeCheminade to be honest I've never had a company support their product as much as Garmin and stand by any issue. Seriously they are great, so I'd make more.
Depends on the use :) my main is a big blue VTL9000max my wide beams are either Keldan, Big Blue or Xtar, but I am soon going to review a new light product.. And its very cool!
Did you keep the original inflator hose? I find that mines feels kind of short. Not sure if it's normal or if I need to adjust how I'm wearing the backplate wing, but I feel like the inflator hose is short and I really have to force it to bend in order to manually inflate in an emergency.
I kept the normal one, and it's fine for me. Check the length of it. There are 3 different dimensions of corrugated hose. You can change them easily with some zip ties.
Super review Maxime! Petite question pour toi: je pensais aussi partir sur le mode standard DIR. Les fameux pads de protections que tu decris etaient en option? Car je ne les vois que sur le modele deluxe. Mis a part le probleme de la pate, apportent ils un reel confort en plus?
Salut! Alors oui ils sont en options! Je voulais avoir la protection du dos, et il y avait un pack avec les pads pour le meme prix. Tu peux l’ajouter si tu utilise le configurateur. En terme de plus, oui ca ajoute un poil de comfort, mais ca dependra surtout de comment ta wing est sérée. :)
I'm considering buying an Xdeep wing and stuck between a Zeos and Zen. I'm female & short 5'4" and like the idea of Zeos 28lb (as opp to 38lb - think this is a big jump) and the Zen.. leaning towards Zen with small steele backplate as generally cold Irish water diving. But wondering if the dimensions are much bigger in Zen and if it might come down very far at the bottom of my back and butt. Any thoughts? Lou
Hi Louise, Thank you very much for your message! Before I can answer to you, you are saying that much of your diving is in the Irish cold.. Do you often dive thick wetsuit? Or dry suit? Do you plan to travel with it?
I mainly dive Irish waters and mainly in drysuit but semidry in summer months sometimes. I actually got my Zen deluxe wing delivered today. Ima littke anxious as it looks pretty long and sits low at my shoulders down and well down on my butt. Its just different i suppose. Any thiughts welcome. L
I'm diving with my Zen since 3 years now. And will never dive with an other wing again!!! This is a really great review as allways. Thank you verym much Max.
Thank you for having that honest review. I am still thinking about buying the Zen and you’ll make it more easy to buy it. 👍 What about the strong and thick harness? Is that comfy? My first thought was: ohhh no - not for me 🙈🙈
Hello! I am very happy you found the review helpful! Its actually really comfortable. You can size it the exact way you need and it holds you perfectly. The extra padding you can get also add to the confort.
A little additional information about changing the inflator. After asking XDEEP, It's very easy and shouldn't be hard for any dive shop (or anyone with 2 cable ties).
@@MaximeCheminade man, I got one 10 days ago, but with the ghost bp (ultralight version). That thing is just amazing, big shout out to xdeep, the really delivered, just an amazing bcd. I’ll check later on mine, but I think u can switch the left and right padding to solve your hose issue.
We don’t need to protect people from themselves. If they change the backgas to hypoxic and don’t change it back before diving, that’s not on Garmin… Things like this are why we have computers that default back to air mode of out of gauge mode and actually put people at risk. Someone setting their backgas to hypoxic without being trained will just shorten their bottom time and change the max depth (but the mod of air is already so far out of recreational limits) so there isn’t any extra risk here. When nitrox trained, they should be familiar with the risks of not setting their computer to the right mixes anyway. Other than this, really good review.
Thanks a lot for your comment! I partially agree with you. I think both should be available. There is some things that bothers me (and preparing the 6 month review as we speak :) ) with both single tank and more advanced modes (CCR tec mode). But i think a dive computer shouldn't permit to breath dangerous gas mix at the surface as the only back gas or at least display a warning. At least on the modes that are intended for recreational diving or even just allow a "advanced mode" that unlock such features. Hypoxic mixes normally also contain helium (yes even in single tank mode), and this creates very different profile than an air dive.
Great review! I just bought it yesterday at Adex. It’s perfect as I always loved the garmin fitness watches and I always wished I could see my heart rate while diving and now it’s together! Been waiting for the smaller version with the integration to be released. Curious to know, were you not able to customise different fields for the dive screen? I’m interested to understand cos I used to customise my running fields. Thanks again for the review
