The cable still has to be made and tested regardless of what anyone says. Only when it works properly does it work. Hire (....consult/discuss, same thing) anyone that you please and the end effect is still the same. No one can guarantee a life expectancy without actually using it in the field and I do believe you pointed this out in an earlier post. "As has been said very many times before, there is a very big difference between just not observing any problems and thoroughly testing your systems to ensure that it works under all conditions - including extremes and error cases." Plus, I hate to say this, but the competitors, in my line of work, from larger companies make the mistake that the cable manufacturers know what they're doing when they construct their umbilicals. Needless to say, having more knowledge and an aptitude for doing more learning and more work pays off in the long run, as my company's umbilicals have yet to fail in the field. I mean when a large company's umbilicals fail after a week....on a 100 million dollar contract.... come on. This is what is expected and I guess people try to put themselves into cubicles and avoid work.