Search results

Contact Divers Alert Network, aka DAN. They are the goto people for questions about medical issues and diving.

BCDs are pretty rugged. When my Maui dive season ends in late March I just do a thorough rinse inside and out, then store it with a shoulder dump valve removed so the inside of the bladder will be dry. I fold it up tightly and store it inside a bin. Hanging it and partially inflating it might...

A white paint pen is an easy and relatively permanent method for fins and BCD. I only need to touch it up every couple of years.

CCX2, start with your 4# at 15', with 2000psi in an AL80 in freshwater. My recommended adjustments are: The 2000psi weigh 4 pounds. +4 adjustment so you can surface under control with near empty tank. You were at 15'. You need to be able to slowly ascend to the surface. +1 pound to make...

Lots of good advice above. My additional tidbit it to try and stay neutrally buoyant throughout the dive. The simple test for this is to stop swimming and see if you maintain the same depth. Many divers unknowingly go around negatively buoyant, continuously finning to maintain depth. When...

Not all dive environments are the same, so there isn't a universal rule. I always have a Trident FM36 "orange garbage bag" surface signalling sausage. Heavy plastic, 88" x 6" diameter. It is simply a long plastic cylinder, without any valve, and can only be used on the surface. I encase...

Before applying a lighter to a bi-focal mask, I recommend trying the less dangerous method of using my favorite defog solution --- 50/50 mix of 91% isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) and Johnson and Johnson Baby Shampoo. If your problem is an oil or grease film left over from the...

Google "torpedo scuba flag float". They are popular with freediving hunters. Riffe makes a very nice one for $200!. I have one of the $40 plastic inflatable torpedoes and am very happy with the low drag. Technically, it may not meet your state regs -- mine has an 8" flag rather than the...

Based on observations while on many dive boat trips, divers have problems with AI computers much more often than they do with simple SPGs. I suspect that the vast majority of "failures" aren't really failures of the transmitters, but are instead simply a dead battery. I typically run my...

Maui dive boats will rent you a wetsuit, but since you already have all your other gear I recommend that you go ahead and buy a wetsuit. A 3mm full wetsuit would be good for most tropical locations, including Maui. Charlie

I try very, very hard to find a freshwater rinse soon after diving -- before anything dries out. Saltwater rinses off easily. Encrusted salt crystals or even just a light film of dried saltwater is much harder to remove. Charlie

My only BCD failure in 13 years was the stainless steel wire for the shoulder dump corroding and breaking. The problem hasn't happened again since I stopped hanging the BCD upside down. When leaving a BCD stored for several months in a Maui condo I remove the dump valve to let the inside of...

My third light is a tiny 2 AAA light. Without any other divers around you will be amazed at how much you can see using just moonlight. And my "4th light" is my dive computer backlight. In reality I can safely abort the dive and return to shore with no lights at all, so at some point adding...

I do solo night and dawn dives in Maui, with no extra equipment other than adding a light in addition to the one I always carry. My only problem so far has been getting a parking ticket for having my car in the beach parking lot after hours.

For this confirmed warm-water-wuss it is 77F+ 3/2mm with a beanie 70+ 5mm <70F, buy an airline ticket to somewhere else. :). New divers thrash around more and generate more body heat, and also tend towards shorter dives. So thinner wetsuits are OK and have the advantage of less...

I rarely use the side window, and instead just hold the compass below me so that I can see the compass card. I use neither the lubber line nor the numbers. One method of using the compass is a very numerical, mechanical method of using headings, recirpocal headings, etc. Another way is a...

One Maui boat has a real recall system. It is an under water speaker/siren. Fortunately I've never seen it used other than when it is lowered into the water to use the attached microphone to listen to whales during the SI.

. I notice that I consume more air when chilled. I assume the body increases metabolism to keep the core temp up, thereby indirectly increasing air consumption.

Another thing about SE Florida is that there is a lot of high speed boat traffic running pretty much on top of the reef that parallels the shore. And bubble watching / surface cover by a boat doesn't work well with several groups in the water -- with some of them quite a ways apart because some...

I'll be in Kihei January 5th through March 29th and go shore diving in S. Maui several times a week. PM sent w/ contact info. Charlie