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202 feet, off of Tolandono Is. Indonesia, and it's nothing to brag about, because it's such a stupid thing to do. i was seriously tipsy at around 165 fsw (140, no problem), but i remember planning to descend to that last sloping shelf before the wall, while inflating my BC as i went, to...

did 50 dives using the DIR spring straps on my Twin Jet Graphites with pleasant results. I can get my fins on faster than anyone else on the boat and get them off fast as well. If you do get spring straps, make sure they are not too tight. Those things can really skrunch the fin against your...

DIR (which is an acronym for "doing it right") is often associated with a particular gear configuration, but it is also a sort of philosophy or mind set that seeks to keep things simple, reliable, safe (as humanly possible) and most especially, to solve problems before they arise. In the DIR...

never been nabbed by any Ballistid. I did get my walloped in the face and my dome port bumped by a pissed off blue shark once, and i've had garibaldi boss me around, but thankfully, no attacks by Titan triggers. That tip on giving 'em your fins though, sounds like a great idea!!

what sorts of mixes & deco schedules do you guys use on the E. Fitzgerald? 530 ffw sounds like it is pushing that envelope! Oh yes, and one other thing about Everest, and most dive sites for that matter, is that the weather plays a critical role! Get caught at 8000 meters when the jetstream...

Actually, one of these days, i'd really like to do the Colorado River with Drew's Dam Divers. I hear that is a blast. Any decent telephone-fishing in that thar freshwater lake?

Halcyon or Dive Rite wings that is! It would be interesting to know what sort of physiological effects the pigs had suffered. Also, it would be interesting to see what sort of effects would be manifest in an organism more like humans...say for example, those genetically engineered mice or...

seriously tho, anyone who thinks that just about any type of hunting is easy has been spending too much time watching TV and not enough time trying to walk through the woods quietly while constantly reading the wind direction. Spearfishing and lobster grabbing ain't necessarily easy either. As...

There is a "Fundamentals of DIR" course offered by GUE. It seems roughly akin to AOW. Buoyancy, trim, finning (including alternative kicks) communication (hand signals...boy there sure is a lot of 'em and lights), more buoyancy, more trim, S-drills, valve-shut offs, more buoyancy and trim and...

i put a set of spring straps on my Twinjet Graphites last Sunday and discovered that there were no problems with chafing on my Achille's tendon and the things were quite comfortable and stable in the water, and easy to use on the boat, with thick gloves and all. One place on the West Coast...

the one thing that tends to limit depth in an unforgiving way is oxygen toxicity. If the partial pressure of O2 rises much higher than 1.6 than one is playing Russian roulette. Here in Southern California, we recently lost a diver who was doing an air dive to 280-300 fsw. The max depth on air...

For what it is worth, the XL-Jets really are larger and as such, should provide more thrust. That is the argument of some of us DIR folks anyhow. Of course, GUE and the DIR proponents strongly emphasize having a high level of physical fitness which would definitely be needed if a smaller...

i was under the impression that rapid descents at least with helium based mixes were correlated with High Pressure Neurological Syndrome. Of course, this may not be a problem on the standard tropical vacation dive to 60 fsw.

check out the book: Coral Seas by the Australian Marine biologist/photog Roger Steene. Every picture in that book was taken using a single strobe mounted directly above the camera (at an adjustable angle of course). With enough skill, one can use even a smaller ikelite type strobe (Substrobe...

i think that 100 dives really isn't enough, especially 100 dives in benign warm-water conditions. Try 100 dives off of New England or the Scapa Flow or the Pacific Northwest or Southern Calif in the spring plankton. Then, i feel that one could be ready for Tech. Looking back, in retrospect, i...

in say, an overhead environment such as a cave (big or small) or a wreck penetration if one of the manifold valves has been rolled off. Of course in So Cal, the number of decent penetrable wrecks can nearly be counted on one hand, but there are numerous small, tight caves chock full o' pacific...

here in cold, murky (well, now the water is actually clearing up and 100 foot vis was had last weekend) Southern Cal, a goodly number of people are at least, adopting the DIR config kit. It really is versatile and works in a great number of environments. I'll be trying mine on some Indonesian...

maybe you could get a hold of George Irvine and get his opinion on things ;-) yeah, most of my diving is solo (hunt and photog). Not that i'm gonna waste my money on a new patch, unless the boat operators insist on it!

now, cut the politics and stop ribbin us poor, thin-skinned DIR folk ;-) seriously though, the DIR kit seems to work for me even when hunting Calico Bass in thick kelp forests off of San Clemente Is. If one is interested in getting into mixed gas and OE, one could check http://www.gue.com...

i used to religiously wear a snorkel on every single dive in every part of the world, because my original NAUI instructor said to. Then, when the paradigm shift caught up with me, i was used to swimming on my back (and making a beeline for the boat was never a problem...just use the sun...