Ombudsman: Nekton 2000 Buoyancy Compensator

At first, reader Bill Dognin (San Mateo CA) liked his Nekton 2000 buoyancy compensator — at least until, during the course of his sixtieth dive or so, the integrated weight pouches fell out of the BC. Worried that losing his weights might turn into a major safety problem, he wrote International Divers Inc., which manufactures the Nekton 2000. When he still hadn’t received a response a couple months later, he turned to Undercurrent in the hope that we might solve his problem.

I called International Divers and spoke with Customer Relations’ Debbie Taylor. Although her records indicated that they had responded to Dognin’s letter, she agreed to help me with his problem. Apparently Dognin wasn’t the first person to have trouble keeping his weights inside his BC: any time weights weren’t fastened “very securely,” she told us, they tended to fall out. International Divers finally solved the problem by designing a modified version of the pocket of the BC, which they will fit at no cost.

Owners of a Nekton 2000 buoyancy compensator should call 800- 257-2822 to receive an authorization number and shipping information, then pack up the BC and send it back to them. While Taylor said this information was printed on the warranty card included with the unit, any readers who skipped the fine print can now upgrade to a safer unit.

— UC Ombudsman