Search results

Double 12 litre 230 bar diving tanks, set up in DIR style configuration. The tanks are 13.0kg (each), so ideal for UK inland and sea diving. The tanks are from 2005 are have not had a recent inspection so this would be needed, but they are in good condition having been used for only around 50...

I'm planning to give Tank-Ha a go - they seem to be about the only one that does Cozumel diving direct from Playa del Carmen with their own boat. I'm hoping to go in the next couple of days (typing this from the Playacar Palace in PdC :D ). I'll let you know what I think - hey, I'm here till the...

Hi, Just a quicky - does anyone know whether it's best to take a DIN or INT regulator to Cuba.

I'm off to Cuba in a couple of weeks and was advised to take my own regulator (though I don't want to drag all my kit out there). Should I take my DIN or INT regulator? Also, I'm staying in the big resort area (Varadero) and wondering if anyone has recommendations for dive companies, places...

I suspect this may be more of an American tort law thing. Over here in the Netherlands it's far more relaxed - I've never even been asked for my Nitrox c-card to get fills. The place I normally use doesn't even have a log for you to sign.

Well, a couple of dives on one day is certainly not going to be enough to get you to a high level of bouyancy competence if you are not almost there to start with. It may well be enough, if you have a good instructor, for you to learn what you need to go away and practice afterwards in order to...

For doubles (and twin valve singles) the key phrase is "in and down". All hoses should run from the first stage downwards and towards the centre of the rig. This means all hoses are tucked as much as possible out of the way which both increases streamlining to reduce drag and reduces the risk of...

Well, PPO is pretty easy - the calculation is simply the percentage of oxygen multiplied by the absolute pressure - so, if you are at 20m you are under 3 bar of pressure (I assume you are familiar with this from your OW course?). Now, if breathing air you are breathing 21% oxygen x 3 bar of...

What? No-one ever taught you to do a buddy check? Which agency did you train with?

Nice to see some dive ops do this - I had a rental SPG sticking on a dive; it showed 100 bar and then 10 mins later still 100 bar until I thumped it and it dropped to around 70. Afterwards I told the guy from the dive shop (Davy Jones on Gran Canaria); he hmm'd and it just ended up going back on...

The very first step in the shutdown drill is to test your backup regulator - thus negating the possibility of shutting down the right post with the left already shut down. Actually, a pre-drill check that all valves are fully open wouldn't be a bad idea either though I don't think it's part of...

I think that means pretty much everything except some Poseidons. Yes, you want a reg that freeflows if it fails - with a tec DIR setup you will just shut it down anyway.

I'm not sure I agree with this idea - a safe dive does not have one diver following the other for the simple reason that the leading diver will not notice quickly if the following diver loses contact. If you run out of air and turn to your buddy behind - that is not the time to realise you've...

Uh-oh - getting your reg serviced just before a vacation always seems the best way to start your vacation with a faulty reg. Dive shops seem to break regs more efficiently than wear and tear ever does... Just make sure you do a couple of dives between servicing and leaving for vacation.

Kind of a old thread - but I've used Recreational and Technical Scuba Diving Equipment - Technically Excellent Kit in the UK and it all went fine. They're a bit orientated towards the tech end of the market but have a pretty good range of stuff and are fairly well known in the DIR community.

Quite simply, this is one of those things you should review before the dive - especially with an unfamiliar buddy. I would say the normal protocol is a one minute search followed by an ascent (personally, I'd make a 1 minute safety stop if the dive was to more than 18m). But, before the dive...

I'm thinking about taking a year or so out and working as a DM somewhere tropical (already have my DM qualification and some leading/teaching experience). Given the importance of language skills in the job and that I speak English and Dutch I guess the Netherlands Antillies would be an obvious...

Little bits of grit, and even salt crystals, are great at causing LP inflators to stick open. If you're setting up you gear on dirt or on sand beaches be especially careful that none is getting into the ends of the LP hoses before you connect them. Personally, having experienced this once with a...

Bingo! Sounds just like me after I completed the DSAT class. DSAT contains nothing about different kick types - certainly not the back kick which is essential to being able to do controlled ascents with decompression stops, while staying with your team/buddy. Also, in my DSAT class valve...

Sorry, but this is really back to front. No-one should be passing a Tech course until they have the skills to make the dives (and this was my problem with DSAT - that most people seem to pass while still being way off on the skills). I wonder how many people straight off a DSAT tech course could...