adamgreen•26d agoMost Upvoted

Kirby Morgan vs Ocean Reef: Which one do you actually swear by?

Ive been diving for about 5 years now and finally swapped from a Ocean Reef Neptune to a Kirby Morgan 17 last season. The difference in comms clarity is night and day especially when youre on a job with heavy current and need to hear the tender. The KM is pricier but after a 3 day pipeline inspection gig off Port Fourchon my ears were actually sore with the Ocean Reef. Any other guys find the KM worth the extra cash or do you stick with something lighter?

4 comments

4 Comments

patriciareed9d ago

Stick with the KM but check your damn fit first. Lisaf38 nailed it with the ear seal thing, people sleep on that way too often. I fought with a Neptune for two seasons before realizing my head was just sitting wrong in it. Once I swapped the pads it was bearable but still not as good as the KM in rough current.

evan_burns959d ago

Funny how this same lesson applies to so many things beyond helmets. Saw a guy at the gym the other week blaming his running shoes for knee pain when his form was just off, swapped out the insoles and suddenly he was fine. Same with office chairs people drop a grand on a new one when adjusting the lumbar support and armrests would have fixed it. It's like everyone's first instinct is to throw money at the big dumb thing instead of checking the small stuff that actually matters.

rileyp4926d ago

Man that sore ears thing is real, I had the same issue with the Neptune on a week long job in the gulf. The KM17 fixed that completely, but honestly I think a lot of people sleep on how much the helmet fit matters too. If your Ocean Reef is too tight or the ear seals are worn out you're gonna get that ache no matter what. A buddy of mine swapped to a custom fit kit on his Neptune and it helped a ton for half the price of a KM. But yeah, the comms clarity difference between these two is massive once you hit any kind of current or background noise.

lisaf3825d ago

Oh man you are so right about the helmet fit! I see so many people blame the headset or the radio when really it's just the way their dome is sitting in there. The ear seals thing is huge - I had a buddy who was complaining about pain for weeks and we finally realized his seals were like three years old and totally flattened out. He swapped them out and it was like night and day, plus it cost him like twenty bucks instead of dropping cash on a whole new system. And yeah the comms thing is wild, I've been in situations where the Neptune was basically useless in heavy current but the KM just cuts right through.