It may cost a little more but compared to the Scubapro Hydros Cargo Thigh Pocket, but it’s a night and day difference. I haven’t heard a complaint about the S-TEK.
The S-Tek is made from heavy-duty 1000D Cordura, to meet the stresses of the environment and hard use. How does this compare to Scubapro Hydros Cargo Thigh Pocket, people complaining the material ripping apart at the seams/stitching after 20 dives.
Mounting uses a stainless steel bolt snap to the waist harness D-ring and an adjustable strap for the thigh, the Hydros uses a plastic hook and strap.
The S-TEK is the largest of the three, measuring approximately 10” x 5” x 3” which is big enough to fit my iPhone 15 in the SeaLife SportDiver Ultra Underwater Housing.
I’m not sure where Scubapro all went wrong with the Hydros and Ninja pocket, but for the price of shipping, I would only purchase the S-TEK.
Purchased these from Amazon, before I learned about DiveCatalog.com, so while I paid more, they were still an affordable option while waiting on the warranty repair of my Scubapro Supernova fins. I wear a size 12 shoe (NIKE & New Balance) and the chart recommends XL which matched the Supernova XL fins, but to me, the pocket felt a bit tight, so I returned them for the 2XL. While you “can” wear them without a bootie, I wear Scubapro Go 3mm socks (3XL) and the still fit fine. The are positive buoyancy, although I don’t think as positive as the Supernova, but I feel better knowing they will float instead of falling to the ocean floor while doffing them prior to getting back on the boat.
My new Scubapro Supernova Fins had a small cut on the top of the boot. I asked the dive shop owner what he recommended to fix the boot. He informed me that they were made of monprene and suggested he reach out to the Scubapro Rep prior to trying to fix them with superglue.
I called Scubapro when I got back to the US and they recommended taking it to a dive shop for a warranty repair. Problem is Las Cruces is the nearest dive shop and that's an 11 hour trip. I took it to a dive shop when I flew back to Virginia, but they had to ship it to California, so the process took longer than my stay.
Being modular, I opted to buy a second set of the boot pockets so I don't have to worry about down time in the future should problems arise. Plus I can use Scubapro S-Tek Pro Blade if I want to go with a neutral or negative buoyancy fin.
Scubapro Hydros Accessory Bungees are smaller than they look, but the Medium size works well for securing my action camera floatie handgrip in place. To set them up, you loop the bungee back through itself to attach to the d-ring fixation point. The center piece then slides down to clamp the accessory.
While they perform great with the grippy, foamy action camera handle, they may be less secure on heavier gear with a slick surface—like my dive light. For that setup, I’d recommend adding a second attachment point on the BCD (for example, using the metal d-rings with a snap hook on a longer lanyard) to help ensure the light doesn’t end up on the ocean floor.
ScubaPro Hydros Pro 2 Monorail (Hydros Pro2, Multi-Mount) is a must-have accessory for underwater photographers who want extra attachment points beyond the standard D-rings. I’ve mounted one rail on the left for my SMB, and the right side gives me a clean, stable spot for an action camera on the floatie handgrip.
The Hydros Pro 2 is an outstanding BCD—especially for anyone who has to travel for dive opportunities—but it’s noticeably light on storage and mounting options if you commonly dive with lots of add-ons. This monorail system helps bridge that gap and makes it much easier to carry and position the gear you actually want to use underwater.