Technical Diving is a Discipline Like most serious tec divers, I read everything I can get my hands on related to the topic. I comb the Internet looking for anything new that will make my own diving a little safer. Naturally, there’s no shortage of opinion, and I am often stupefied by the things I […]
Should no-decompression diving be renamed no-stop diving? Earlier, I was semi-involved in a discussion about terminology regarding no-decompression diving, or diving within the no decompression limits (NDL) that define sport or recreational diving. I suggested that every dive is a decompression dive. I’m not the first to make that assertion. The theory goes like this. […]
Dive planning I recently came across John Chatterton’s blog. You might know him as the host of Deep Sea Detectives. For the last several weeks, I’ve been thinking about dive planning and how to convince my recreational students how valuable it is to follow an established dive plan. Then, I read this post by Chatterton: […]
Dry suit inflation Whether using air or argon, for most dives, I prefer not to use my back gas to inflate my dry suit. Using helium mixes, it’s not optional, but even on air, it often makes sense to use a separate dry suit inflation system. For example, earlier today, I did a simple dive […]
Online dive logs In the early days of dive computers, uploading dive data to a personal computer wasn’t even on the radar. My first dive computer was an Oceanic Datamax Sport, a solid computer that was compact, easy to read and simple to operate. It would store quite a few dives, but didn’t provide a […]
Sort out dive log computer compatibility problems and getting your old dive computer data into your new software. Tell me if this sounds familiar. You’ve been using a particular dive computer for quite a while, and have hundreds, if not thousands of dives logged using the software it came with. Now, you’ve decided to move […]
Review of the Shearwater Petrel Dive Computer I’ve owned and used a number of dive computers over the years. The most recent of these was the Subgear XP10, I bought a couple years ago as a simple Nitrox computer for sport dives. Before that, I had an old Oceanic Datamax Sport for that type of […]
Mounting a GoPro to Scuba Gear recently got my hands on a GoPro Hero video camera. I honestly never gave GoPro much thought since I am in the media business and use a lot of high end video gear all the time. Underwater, I’ve been shooting with a slightly outdated Sony HD camera in a […]
Scuba diving specialty certifications every mountain diver should have. As much as we all love to get into the deep blue, warm water of the tropics, for most of us the majority of our diving takes place near where we live. I feel lucky in that great diving is close by. Lake Tahoe is just […]
Dive fins have undergone a revolution in recent years. In addition to countless designs using every material imaginable, split fins, fins with hinges, unique venting options, spring straps and every shape imaginable dot scuba diving self propulsion landscape. Despite the incredible range of options, a few of us divers simply want a fin that will […]
About a month ago, I decided it was time to think about replacing my old Poseidon Cyklon 300 regulator with something a little more up to date. About the same time, I learned that the SubGear Cayman is actually one of Scubapro’s most popular and reliable regulators, but with a different cover. مراهنات كرة القدم […]
I’m not sure if the world needed another free classifieds website or not, but here’s one more. I mostly created joeuw.com as a test related to another project, but now that it’s finished and live, I really like the site and would like to see people use it–especially after looking around at the few scuba gear […]
Over the weekend, I taught two classes, a PADI Drysuit Specialty Course and a PADI Altitude Diving Specialty Course. Being near Lake Tahoe, both are popular courses, so I spend a lot of time in Tahoe’s frigid water. On Saturday’s dives, we were fighting 80+ MPH wind gusts, and the beach looked like a hurricane […]
Apeks Tek 3 About six months ago, I made a regulator change on my technical rig from Poseidon to Apeks. My Poseidon regs (Cyklon 300’s) are close to 25 years old, and while they’re still exceptionally good regulators, the hose routing sucks, and getting parts has become a hassle. For sport diving I use an […]
I recently had a conversation with a technical diver who explained that his “backup” depth gauge and timing device was his older sport diving computer in gauge mode, but that the screen would occasionally “go dark” during a dive. A little bit stunned and bewildered, I asked if that didn’t make him at least a […]
Any time of year, Lake Tahoe is a great place to dive. We brave the cold water to experience Lake Tahoe’s amazing visibility, and fabulous underwater topography. Many of Tahoe’s dive sites, like the Sailboat in Hurricane Bay are located on drop-offs that reach into extremely deep water. Diving these site safely requires skills beyond […]
I finally found 5 minutes to upload 30 seconds of video from last month’s Kona dive trip. I’ll eventually find time to put up something a little longer, but if this sequence doesn’t make you wish you were there, I don’t know what it’ll take. This was, I believe, our 5th dive. We had large […]
Last week, after literally thousands of dives in drysuits, I decided to buy myself a little something for my birthday; dry gloves. Specifically, I bought DUI Zip Gloves in the standard, heavy duty (blue) version. I know DUI was/is changing to black, so mine may have been hanging around the shop a while, but I […]
The first time I planned a dive trip to Hawaii, I had divers saying things like, “Well, the diving’s not that great in Hawaii,” or “Hawaii doesn’t compare to the Bahamas,” or some such criticism. So, my expectations really weren’t that high. Turns out, these divers either know about places I can only imagine, or […]
This is Sierra Diving Center’s 2011 pumpkin carving dive in Lake Tahoe, CA. The dive took place as October’s fun dive. It is something on an annual tradition. We had about 8 divers ranging from newly certified open water divers to tech divers and instructors. Everyone had a good time. The weather was perfect and the […]
SCUBA diving in Lake Tahoe is very popular. The water is clear and generally calm, although it’s a very big lake and can be pretty rough when the weather is bad. The thing about diving in Lake Tahoe, though, is it lies at a little over 6200 feet in elevation. That means for the purpose […]
http://news.yahoo.com/scuba-divers-left-behind-florida-172315719.html Scuba divers left behind in Florida It seems like every other year or so, we read this headline about SCUBA divers somewhere in the world having been left behind by the dive boat. There they are bobbing in the abyss, waiting for someone to motor along and pluck them from Poseidon’s grasp. It amazes […]
For many, Fall means hanging up the swim fins until warmer months next Spring. Sure, you can always take a vacation, but even that leaves an awful long surface interval before the snow melts. With that in mind, let me offer a few tips for making year-round diving not only possible, but fun. 1. Embrace the season. […]
Top 5 SCUBA Regulators Under $200 People have been asking me to rate low-priced regulators for a while, so I’ve gathered up a few of my favorites and listed them here. Keep in mind that these or other good, low cost SCUBA regulators are likely to be available at your local dive shop. Please support […]
