Summit to Sea hyperbaric chambers:
I will give Summit to sea credit. They were the first ones to start the 15 days no questions asked trial. They send new ones out, not used to demo. All dealers for Summit to Sea are obligated to give you a free trial. It's worth it just to try it for 15 days to see their chamber and see if you like the buckle/belt system which I'd say about 80% of the people I talk to don't like it at first then get used to it. I will say its a little awkward to buckle yourself in and lean out the chamber to buckle yourself in. You can't just zip it as you have to zip it up to the belt, switch hands over and start again. But for the price of their chambers, most people will deal with it and get used to it.
It seems that almost every few months or so a new hyperbaric chamber company is emailing me to get me to sell their chambers. I am getting emails on how I can make more money selling theirs than the ones they say I am selling now. The most recent was Oxynova. They sent me all these comparisons on how they were better than the rest. And who are you Oxnova who just came out who has no history. Give me a few years. Let me get feedback and then I might start promoting your chambers but if you are in Canada and someone is buying your chamber in the states, especially since yours goes up to 1.5 ATA.
This is just to show how they don't even read my site. I don't even sell chambers. If you read my site tit will tell you how I play my part. How would I trust a hyperbaric manufacturer that is just spamming chamber sites. They are like used car dealers trying to get me to sell junk. I looked at my older emails from 6 months ago and go figure, those manufacturer websites are no longer accessible and pages not found.
I have done my research. I know what makes a good chamber good and what makes a cheap chamber the price it is. There are chambers that sell for $20,000 and some that sell for $5,000.
Companies selling the cheaper ones will tell me that I am overpaying if I spend more than $5,000. Are you kidding me. I have dissected these. I hear the complaints on the junk out there. Like I said, "DON'T THEY REALIZE FACTS REVEAL EVERYTHING".
If you plan on using a chamber temporarily or long term and want accuracy, this is really what it all comes down to. If your condition justifies something short term and you are not putting a child in the chamber with an injured brain or a very delicate situation, a cheap chamber can work.
Summit to sea chambers have the buckles on them. FLEXI-LITE TM also has the buckles and they also go to 1.5 ATA. Although they both are cleared to go to higher pressures than pressures FDA cleared for 1.3 ATA usage, you cannot buy the valves in the states. In Canada the chambers come with the alternate valves and even come with a stronger compressor than sold in the states. Soft shell chambers are not legal to go over 1.3 ATA in the states.
Please see my page on buying these chambers. I urge people not to buy from anyone in the USA that is promoting anything that has not been FDA cleared as far as going over 1.3 ATA. It is not legal for them to sell to you and you can also get in big trouble.
The Summit to sea Dive hyperbaric oxygen chambers are among the two top selling brands of all the hyperbaric chambers I have reviewed.
They have several different sizes including vertical hyperbaric chambers you can sit in instead of lying down in. They also have a chamber that someone in a wheel chair can go in to.
They have 6 foot zippers instead of 4 foot zippers that make the zipper opening wider for larger people. The extra 2 foot zipper makes it so you don't have to squeeze in with a narrower opening. Stress from pulling apart the zippers can put stress on the ends which wear and tear them if used in a clinic on shorter zippers if they are the same type as the Summit to Sea Dive chambers. Note that these are non oilless zippers on theirs and you do have to oil them every so
Their buckles and valves are made of medal, not plastic. They are also the type of quick connect fittings that are on their auxiliary valves and fill valves. Most are the type you have to screw in.
The noise from their chamber run at 36 decibels. Note that 40 decibels is the sound of a fridgerator which is the sound that most oxygen concentrators run at.
You can choose between the foam or inflatable bolsters on their chambers. The inflatable ones are much more portable.
They are the lightest inside (super translucent) of all the buckle/belt chambers I have tested. They let in the most light from outside of the chamber.
They are the lighter of the portable chambers. Their material is thinner and has a lightweight nylon core which gives it strength that doesn't have anything to do with the vinyl cover which most people feel and it feels thin to most people. The vinyl structure over the nylon doesn't add strength to the chamber, it is for Air tightness, not strength. The weight has nothing to do with it. It is the core strength that matters. Each Dive chamber, even their least expensive one, can be tested to 21 psi. They are super strong.
Note: the vinyl cover is thinner than all the chambers I have tested but the nylon core is thicker. A heavy duty nylon core doesn't add extra weight like thicker materials do.
Most of their chamber are made in France except the Dive model that is made in Minnesota. All their materials on the Dive chamber only are made with USA materials unlike their other ones. I have researched them and personally have seen them being made in the their factory. They have a Iso9000 certificate for their Minnesota factory.
I have called almost everyone that has had the their Dive hyperbaric chambers and so far, 2 years later, none of the people I called said they every had a problem with it. The only complaint is forgetting to lubricate that zipper regularly and it gets stuck and hard to open which sucks if you are trying to get out of the chamber.
This is the only company that has the buckle type hyperbaric treatment chamber that offers a 2 year warranty on their zipper. About 3% of their chambers according to what I found out have zipper failures within the first year and they replace it if there is a problem of any sort within the first year. Most people don't fully zip their zipper and when the zipper fails its usually the persons fought. But its the companies word against theirs so they usually fix it. The zippers cost about 90 cents a yard for all chambers but the labor is what is expensive. The people fixing the zippers probably are happy though. The ones that don't have the zipper warranty usually are about 500 to 700 cheaper generally and I think that is why they are cheaper for the models that are labeled under different names. I really don't know the story if this company makes private labels for other companies but I have seen some look a likes that have almost the same specs but almost always without the zipper warranty.
According to the manufacturers, fixing the zipper on a return is the most expensive thing to fix, just next to the windows that can leak. I strongly recommend to get an extended warranty as long as the extended warranty includes the zipper.
