There's a scene in Mission Impossible III where Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is rescued by pal Luther (Ving Rhames) riding a scooter under the Vatican. That was no movie-magic prop - it was the real deal.The X-Scooter is Dive-Xtras' premiere underwater scooter, or more appropriately, Diver Propulsion Vehicle (DPV). Haven't seen MI:3? Check out Dive-Xtras video of this bad-boy terrorizing fish in Cozumel and Jackson Blue Cave, FL.
Born from the minds of wreck, tech, and cave divers (while throwing in some aerospace engineers for mechanical credibility), it's crafted from aluminum and claims to be 1/3 the weight of its competitors DPVs. Not just a pretty face, it provides 60 pounds of thrust, T-handled trigger shift on the fly (sounds cool, I'm hooked), variable pitch propeller, and can travel to a depth of 600 feet. Zinc coating protects against saltwater corrosion and the short and long body lengths (interchangeable) allow the use of one or two batteries respectively. Speaking of batteries, NiMH gives a run-time of 45 minutes while Li-ion pumps out a generous 90 minutes.
Did I mention there is a full complement of accessories? Pimp your X-Scooter ride with Li-ion batteries, mounts for compass, camera, or lights, and even a travel case touted to "meet the size and weight restrictions of most airlines." I'd hate to be the guy convincing the TSA that the bomb-shaped device is, in fact, a DPV. Get to the airport another hour earlier.
You can order the X-Scooter directly from Dive-Xtras but they'll send it to a dealer near you for proper setup and training. The standard length body will cost you $3,075 and the long body is $3,275. More specs, video, and photos at the X-Scooter product page.








1. Sweet videos! Cruising along Cozumel's walls like that looks awesome. The cave video was good, too, despite the Depeche Mode soundtrack.
Posted at 8:30AM on Sep 16th 2006 by Willy