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Having not seen one for decades, a second Cyklon Maximum fell into my lap, within the very same month, from an occasional SB lurker, who wondered whether I'd be willing to get another one back to Reagan-era specs, after the set had foundered, coiled in a Foremost milk crate, next to solvents and...

As a biologist myself, I have run into a great number of researchers with the highest of professional standards; so too have I encountered those, who are would nicely fall into that derisive "public" ilk of that chart -- venal, cynical, negative, contrary, speculative, subjective; often working...

But that's just it: Exley's Basic Cave Diving: A Blueprint for Survival came as a product of simple self-regulation and not some top-down message from Sacto or Sinai . . .

Everything is a calculated risk -- who knows whether a crosstown bus has your name on it? I knew a couple of über-trained cave divers, years ago, who spent thousands of hours dedicated to that pursuit who, nonetheless, succumbed to accidents, one fatally, in a cave complex in Spain, over twenty...

The scuba agencies are simply clubs, regardless of any other pretensions that they may possess -- regardless of their capabilities to issue laughable vanity patches for jackets. I cannot recall the last time that I was required to show a C-card for an air-fill, anywhere in the state; and that...

Why do divers eat seafood? Because pasta puttanesca doesn’t really work without anchovies or an ai ricci without sea urchins . . .

We were using either the metal or rubber Poseidon antifreeze caps, with vodka, six months or more out of the year, without issue; and back then -- parts hard to come by -- we often just flipped the tough-as-darts first stage diaphragms, to gain a bit more mileage out of them, which always...

Having winterized regulators over the years -- primarily Poseidon -- I had been wondering whether anyone was still using silicone oil for antifreeze purposes, akin to the "Mares MR16 / V 16 Cold-Water Diving Kit" that I had recently seen listed, on a popular auction site? It seemed definitely...

It is known as a #3587 "Restrictor screw for first stage No. 3585 Cyklon 5000" -- #12 on the diagram below; had to dig through a few of my manuals to find it . . .

If there was ever to be a memoir of life in Baja in the late nineteen-eighties to the early nineties, you've generously provided its title: Normalization of Deviance -- from obtaining O2, a dodgy trans-fill whip (which was constructed in house), and tanks from a half-assed welding shop in El...

I’d also echo Poseidon, especially for the cold PNW, when I briefly did side-mount diving, after a back injury — and managed to use all of their models interchangeably. Of the three, I preferred the Jetstream for their switches (over the Cyklon and Xstream), which ensured a leak-free surf...

Oddly enough, when we were first experimenting with various percentages / concentrations of nitrox, in the late eighties / early nineties, I don't recall that any of us were terribly preoccupied with the nature of stock nitrile o-rings or even —yikes — silicone lubricants; nor were many of those...

With few exceptions, I have always used a 7 mm suit in the Channel Islands; was quite comfortable the entire time; October is good to great diving out there -- and you'll be there for the opening of lobster season. What could be more better?

I first began diving at the YMCA, but followed up with NAUI courses in college (in reality, for access to boats as a then-starving student) and was also impressed with its comprehensive coverage of dive theory, history, and elements of medicine -- and they were the organization for scuba...

Be that as it may, Secchi are still being used in UC oceanography classes, according to my niece, who futzed with them last Winter; are still actively used in the Mediterranean; and I well know of its limited use, but brought it up, nonetheless, because "they are easy and cheap" and not eight...

The measurement markings on the line tended to clear that up a bit -- and it won't really break the bank, for the OP's stated purposes, with some portable Hach meters, that I recall using, as a lab monkey, priced at over US 7500.00 . . .

One of my first gigs out of college, was measuring turbidity / water clarity in some Northern California lakes, using Secchi disks -- black and white patterned flat plates, suspended from weighted, gauged lengths of rope. You determined the level of basic visual clarity by the disc's visibility...

I use a combination of the stock screen protectors and the AMX Technology "Aluminum Protective Case," and haven't had any issues, even with heavy, not so gentle use -- though they are pricey little things; but so was the Shearwater. I have yet to crack a screen . . .

Knock on wood, or chrome-plated brass, but I have never had a loosening issue with a properly-torqued DIN connection wheel or stem, in decades of being in the drink . . .

Yes, it makes perfect sense, especially with an increasing dependence upon electronics, which I have seen crap out at a far greater rate than any analogue equipment, over the years. I have a number of electronic devices, but always have an SPG on hand — even one with both metric and imperial...