Caveat emptor

Caveat emptor

It has come to our attention that a company called Allegro (Poland) an auction portal (similar to eBay), is promoting sale of counterfeit OMS ® equipment into Poland, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Russia and others Located in Mid- and Eastern Europe). We have examined the product(s) and it is definitely not a genuine OMS ® item(s).

Allegro is not an authorized OMS ® internet auction portal nor are any of the companies that sell OMS gear on their website authorized to sell OMS equipment. Any so called OMS® product that is purchased via Allegro will not be repaired or serviced in or out of the warranty period by OMS ® or any our authorized distributor(s).

The official exclusive OMS® distributor and OMS Service Center for Poland is:

Authorized to sell in Poland

Abyss Diving
Beldan 2
02-695 Warsaw, Poland
0048 22 853 62 22
info@abyss-diving.pl

Other authorized OMS dealers/service centers can be found on: OMSdive.com/dealerb.html

Please note that the only authorized distributor for Germany is :

WARNING: Ocean Management Systems will not be responsible for any injuries or death due to the use of unapproved Oxygen Sensors in OMS Oxygen Analyzers.

For example:

we are pleased to welcome our new OMS German distributor to our listing of International OMS dealers.

Genuine OMS^® back plates are easy to identify as they are stamped rather than Laser cut, have soft edges and slots, minimizing fabric and webbing abrasion and are extremely resistant to corrosion. The genuine OMS back plate is shown in Fig. 3 wears an OMS stamped logo in the middle of the plate and the USA Patent number D500.545. (detail Fig. 4)

If you have any questions where to obtain genuine OMS equipment in North America, Europe or other countries, please access: http://www.omsdive.com/intl.html

Warning :
Many aftermarket oxygen replacement sensors, have dangerous readout errors in excess of 5% (as tested) due to lack of compatibility with the Analyzer. This type of error can result in you having a gas with a higher or lower PO2 than planned, possibly resulting in hyperoxia, hypoxia and even death!

Please note that the replacement Oxygen Cells offered by Oxychec for OMS oxygen analyzers fall into this category. We have extensively tested these cells and found that they can have a full scale error rate of up to 5%!

Play it safe and always use Original Equipment parts in your equipment.

Why doesn’t OMS ^® use a flat corrugated hose on its BC’s?

Answer: After careful testing it was determined that flat corrugated BC hoses easily deform and do not recover i.e. resume the original shape (see image below).

In some cases the deformation caused a restriction in the corrugated hose either closing off or completely restricting the air pathway. This can cause difficult and labored oral inflation of the BC and if the corrugated hose airway is closed off, inability to orally inflate the BC.

In our opinion some flat corrugated BC hoses have no place in sport or technical diving.

Does your BC outer bag adequately protect your inner bladder ?

The first line of defense against puncture or abrasion of the inner bladder of your BC and loss of buoyancy is the outer cover. If this cover is easily breached your inner bladder is at risk for direct puncture or abrasion by foreign matter. Instant failure may result from punctures or long term abrasion of the inner bladder may occur; both resulting in a loss of buoyancy.

To prevent this from happening OMS uses 1000 Denier Cordura backed by 5.0 oz. of Urethane.

Those BCs that are puncture prone use either no urethane or only a ½ oz urethane backing that affords little or no puncture protection thereby exposing the inner bladder.

The paper clip test shows the superior puncture resistance of the outer bag of the BC with the 5.0 oz. backing.

Safety Recommendation: If you do own a BC with anything less than 1000 Denier Cordura backed by 5 oz of Urethane we suggest frequent predive inspections of the inner bladder to test for leaks, punctures, and abrasion.

Why doesn’t OMS offer "Marine Boat Snaps”?

“Marine boat snaps” are offered by some of the more visible technical dive companies, but not OMS. Why? While these snaps are very easy to use they have a proven track record of being one of the most dangerous items a diver can configure with. "Marine boat snaps" have a tendency to gather fishing line, primary line, electrical cordage and any other line that happens to come in contact, thereby entangling the diver.

It may take a little more effort to utilize a standard “Sliding Bolt Snap” but you will be less likely to become dangerously entangled.

If you are still a skeptic, start using them around wrecks that have been fished on, but be sure to bring a cutting tool.

About 5 years ago OMS 100# lift dual and single bladder BC's were rejected by Ocean Management Systems because of serious manufacturing defects. These BC's were supposed to have been destroyed by the fabricator: Cindi Walters of Cal Pacific, dba Forte.

They evidently were not destroyed.

These defects include possible bladder rupturing without warning causing total loss of buoyancy control, defective stitching and setting of grommets.

These BC's were never authorized by OMS for sale or distribution and may pose a serious safety hazard.

They are easily identifiable as


• The Power inflator is equipped with a gray inflator button and a oral inflator mouthpiece located at a 45 degree angle (OMS has never sold a BC with this inflator)
  
• There is no warning label
  
• The webbing that holds the elastomeric bands may be frayed around the grommet area
  
• The fabric makes a "cracking noise" when compressed and is shiny

Know sellers of this defective BC are:

The Wet Shop
Owner Jeff David alias David Jefferies
6615 Royal,West Vancouver BC


Joe Doiron
3031 Washington Ave
Victoria BC

    and

Recovery Sales Outlet
Independence Missouri

Should you have further questions please feel free to contact Ocean Management Systems.