Torpedo DPV

[Kirk]

I know it is a lot of money, but I really like my Silent Submersion (UV-26, a heavy beast).  I had a choice of getting the scooter, or a more reliable vehicle.  A couple years ago I picked the scooter (then of course my pickup truck died). 

Rather than a Torpedo, if you don’t want to spend a ton of money, I would look for a used Mako or Tekna.  You could probably find them used for about the same price as a new Torpedo (I’ve seen them for sale for about $900 or a thousand dollars).  Silent Submersions and Gavins are essentially Makos with rewound motors, I think a different clutch assembly, battery assembly slid into a chunk of sewer pipe, with a delrin nose cover (and in the case of Silent Submersion, a redesigned handle / motorcycle-like trigger assembly).  I’m not sure about the X-scooter, for I’ve never used one, and don’t know if it starts with a Mako motor, but it does have an interesting variable speed mechanism and aluminum hull, both qualities of the Farallon scooters (which are also really nice dpvs).

I’m not sure about the performance specifications, but suspect that a Torpedo would be considerably slower than a Silent Submersion, Gavin, or X-scooter, and likely slower compared to a Mako or Tekna.  I know, for instance, that when Rodney, the maker of Silent Submersion, wrote up the performance specs for his scooters, he did so assuming double LP 104s, with an aluminum 80 stage bottle, which of course, is a fair amount of drag in the water.

If you do choose to go with a Torpedo, I agree with Lonnie, you might want to check with Scuba Dive and Travel over on the Southside of town to see if they still carry it.  When Rich Dreher owned the store, he had a bunch of them.  Though, there may be a reason he, last he told me, became a Silent Submersion dealer, and he sells (or sold) Silent Submersion scooters at a pretty good price (well at least the best price without a nudge-nudge, wink-wink agreement), essentially list price, with no tax (since he is shipping from Florida) and free shipping (he takes that out of his profit to be competitive, and I guess Rodney is pretty strict about discounting his suggested retail price). - Kirk