If you plan to be in the Seattle area late next month, you might want to stop by Underwater Sports' 28th Annual Divers Fair sale. Scheduled for the weekend of July 28-30, customers can save up to 50% on every imaginable kind of dive gear from companies like Atomic, Apollo, Atlan, Cetacea, DeepSee, DiveRite, DUI, Harvey's, High Tide, Ikelite, JBL, Light & Motion, Mares, McNett, Northern Diver, Oceanic, OMS, O'Neill, PADI, Pelican, ScubaPro, SeaLife, Sea & Sea, SeaSoft, Stahlsac, Trident, USIA, Underwater Kinetics, Viking, XS Scuba, and Zeagle.
According to Calvin Tang, who attended last year's event, "this is honestly, hands down, the best time and place to gear up - especially if you've recently got into scuba." In fact, this year's sale features over 100,000 items, including thousands of regulators, thousands of suits, thousands of computers, and hundreds of tanks. Calvin claims the best part of the event is that all the reps show up to answer questions and to demonstrate their equipment.
Sadly for me, the Fair couldn't be much farther away and still be in the same country. This is too bad, especially since I dropped my reg off to be serviced this week. Upon seeing my vintage Dacor unit, the repairman's eyes popped out of his head and he reminded me that Dacor's replacement parts are hard to come by. Depending on the news he gives me, it may be time to buy a new reg. I could certainly use one at 50% off. Maybe Calvin can buy me one and ship it to me.
I went to the Scuba Show in Long Beach on Sunday, checked out the exhibits and ran into some friends. I've been planning on going to the yearly Scuba Show for 5 years but something always comes up. This year, I put the event in my calendar and made myself go to it.
Southern Californian's define everything on not how far away something is but on how long will take you to get there. This is because we are very proud of our traffic, and I can report today that we had a good traffic day, so I arrived in Long Beach in short order.
The conference costs $9.00 to attend per day and I got my money's worth.
I recently got some new stereo equipment. My old stereo equipment still works great, but it was too big and ugly and bulky for our new house. So what did I do with all the old equipment? Naturally, I shoved it into the laundry room, where it has sat for the past few months. I’ve made a pact with myself that if I haven’t gotten rid of it by the New Year, then I have to donate it to a worthy cause. (And, no, another shelf in the laundry room does NOT constitute a worthy cause.)
Evidently, Vicky Roberts had a similar issue with her scuba gear. She believes that as people upgrade their equipment, they wind up with surplus equipment that is still quite usable. According to the Cheshire Online, Vicky's research found that bidding and auctions tend be a turn-off, so she set up Scuba Kit Market for people to buy and sell their gear. The website doesn’t use auctions, bidding, or charge a commission (unless you sell an item). Rather, the price you see is the price you pay and includes delivery and VAT. (Yes, the site is based in the UK.) There isn’t a ton of gear on the website yet, but I think this sounds like a cool way to buy (selected) gear, although, frankly, I’d be wary about purchasing certain used gear, online. A little cautious investigation might reveal some good deals, however.
On one end of the gear-configuration spectrum is the average recreational diver, who carries what he (or she) needs, often zip-tied to their BC or stuffed into pockets, sometimes trailing behind them on a lanyard, and sort of clumsily floating through the water. On the other end of the spectrum are WKPPHogarthian divers, who believe in configuring their gear in highly specific ways to achieve the best results possible and who frown upon unapproved configuration deviations. Somewhere in the middle of the spectrum are technical divers, who aren’t as rabid as WKPPers, but who typically pay a lot more attention to their gear configuration than rec divers so as (for example) not to get wedged in a cave or entangled in a wreck. Cuz that’d be a good way to ruin an otherwise nice dive.
If you’re interested in how some tech divers like to configure (or “streamline”) their gear, check out Global Underwater Explorers’ website. Their Anatomy of a Tech Diver pages are chock full of gear and gear configuration tips, including explaining what a manifold is, and giving pointers on how NOT to incorrectly route hoses. Some of the information might not interest you, or surprise you, or you might not even agree with it. (It's still highly prescriptive.) But the average recreational diver will almost certainly learn a little something. Personally, I learned a lot more about how technical divers urinate underwater than I thought I would when I woke up this morning.
Manufacturing recalls happen all the time, some you can ignore, some you can’t . I always like to take a look at Scuba equipment recalls, mainly because scuba diving equipment is Life Support equipment and when you think of it that way, you don't want to screw around life support equipment. Some of these are old, some more recent but this list is mainly for you who have never stopped to think that anything other than cars, tires, or coffee makers could have a recall.
The HALCYON BCD Stainless Steel Power Inflator is one that I own and stopped using after it kept auto-inflating at depth. At time of the recall, they didn't have enough in stock, so I replaced it with an old plastic one and forgot about it, until today. Maybe I'll dig it out of the scuba shed and send it back.
A good interview with deep wreck diver Teresa Telus. Telus is pretty much regarded as one of the worlds leading women deep wreck divers.
In the interview she talks about her work, rebreathers and her efforts to dive the
Britannic
in 2003. She also worked on some National Geographic films, whihich of course, would be amazingly cool. I was surprised in the inteview to see how recent she actually became a hard-core diver. She only started in 1993 after learning how to glide. An adventuresome woman, to be sure.
After posting about Aquaseal’s Repair Adhesive, I started thinking about things scuba divers should bring with them to make their dive experience better. (No, I wasn’t thinking about swimsuit models – although that’d be good, too!) I was thinking more about practical items for repair, safety, or emergency situations.
When I dive, I always take my lunchbox-sized dry box and stuff it full, with one caveat: if it doesn’t fit, it doesn’t go. I figure that anything I need I can buy at my destination, so I avoid wasting time and space packing unnecessary items. But is that a smart way to build a Save-A-Dive Kit?
I found several Save-A-Dive packing lists, from Northshore Frogmen, Lloyd Bailey’s Scuba, and Huron Scuba. The lists are good, but – my gosh! – they’re so long. (Do I really need to carry a spare mask, a sample size of shaving cream, a spare watch, or spare weights?!) I also found some pre-packed Save-A-Dive Kits available commercially, ranging from $17 to $35. Whereas the homemade kits seemed to have way too much stuff, the commercial packs seemed woefully understocked. I’m interested in learning what you think the “necessaries” are that divers should be certain to have with them. Alternatively, if you think the above lists should be “perfect as is,” let me know.
My mother worries when I dive.She knows I’m enjoying myself, but she’s frightened every phone call may be our last.For those of you with like-minded family members, I found a nicely-written editorial discussing safety and scuba diving, which every diver’s mother should read. Maybe there’s a new argument you can glean to assuage some nail-biting.
The editorial is posted on the front page of The Scuba Guide, which is a neat resource that must be new(-ish), based on the relatively small number of comments readers have left (AHEM!).Once the site gets more content online, I'm betting it’ll be a good resource.One concern: the links labeled “See our choices for… [e.g., regs]” are advertiser’s links and are not based on objective reviews. Naughty, naughty . . .
Paul Osmond has 15 years of diving experience, including lots of wreck diving in Canada’s icy waters.In Cold Comfort Part 1, Osmond explains why he likes ice diving; the perils of diving in cold water; and the importance of staying warm.Personally, his argument about why ice diving can be superior to warm water diving did not sway me (sorry, Paul), but I was intrigued by his comparison of ice diving in Canada and cave diving in Florida.
Cold Comfort Part 2 discusses the kind of equipment required for icy conditions (e.g., “things to look for in good underwear”) and concludes with tips about carving the diving entrance.Overall, two very well written, informative articles, neither of which will EVER convince me to go ice diving.But if this sounds like your bag, man, then read away.Oh, and keep in mind that reading these few pages does NOT make you an ice diver.Get the proper training if you want to dive in these extreme conditions.
This is a reminder that OceanFest is in Ft. Lauderdale this weekend, Friday - Sunday.OceanFest features more than 200 dive and adventure sports related exhibits under giant tents on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. (Read: if the exhibit sucks, you can easily go for a swim.)In addition to dive exhibits, there will be food and beverage vendors, music, fashion shows, free seminars, and more than $20,000 in prizes given away.Tickets are $7 per day, but if you’re a DAN member, you can download a coupon for $2 off the admission price.I’m checking out OceanFest: I think it’ll be fun, informative, and a great way to spend some time outdoors.If you’re in the area, you should come, too.
Oceanfest 2005 is April 15 – 17 in Ft. Lauderdale.If you’re interested in equipment, destinations, or accessories, and you live in South Florida, this is the place to be.Over 200 exhibitors from all areas of diving and related industries will be present.In addition to the dive exhibits, there will be vendors featuring Bahamian and Caribbean style food, live music, and free seminars discussing everything from sea turtle conservation, to visiting Grenada, to “What the Traveling Diver Should Know,” a talk given by a DAN spokesperson.Admission is $7 per day, or $16 for a 3-day pass.I’ll buy conch fritters for the first person who finds me and shouts “Divester Rules!”
If you plan to be in the Seattle area late next month, you might want to stop by Underwater Sports' 28th Annual Divers Fair sale. Scheduled for the weekend of July 28-30, customers can save up to 50% on every imaginable kind of dive gear from companies like Atomic, Apollo, Atlan, Cetacea, DeepSee, DiveRite, DUI, Harvey's, High Tide, Ikelite, JBL, Light & Motion, Mares, McNett, Northern Diver, Oceanic, OMS, O'Neill, PADI, Pelican, ScubaPro, SeaLife, Sea & Sea, SeaSoft, Stahlsac, Trident, USIA, Underwater Kinetics, Viking, XS Scuba, and Zeagle. .jpg)
I went to the 
I recently got some new stereo equipment. My old stereo equipment still works great, but it was too big and ugly and bulky for our new house. So what did I do with all the old equipment? Naturally, I shoved it into the laundry room, where it has sat for the past few months. I’ve made a pact with myself that if I haven’t gotten rid of it by the New Year, then I have to donate it to a worthy cause. (And, no, another shelf in the laundry room does NOT constitute a worthy cause.)
WARNING: Broad generalization to follow…
Manufacturing recalls happen all the time, some you 
A good interview with deep wreck diver 
After posting about 
My mother worries when I dive.
Paul Osmond
This is a reminder that 
Oceanfest 2005
