DGX Gears XTRA Regulator Review
Like everything Dive Gears Express sells, DGX Gears XTRA regulators are not only a great value, but great gear. Given my experience so far, I have no hesitation recommending them to even the most demanding diver.
Tag Archives: diving equipment
Why Dive Sidemount?
Why dive sidemount scuba when there’s nothing wrong with back mount? The average recreational diver probably doesn’t give much thought to sidemount scuba. Many divers are completely unfamiliar with sidemount. Others know it as a thing tech divers do. There are, however, circumstances where the everyday diver could find sidemount scuba and attractive option. Sidemount […]
Traveling Light With Scuba Gear
How to travel with your diving equipment. Take everything you need without hassle and excess baggage fees. Traveling light with scuba gear is an art. Reasons for keeping your dive travel gear as compact and lightweight are obvious. In my case, I’ve been doing a good bit of teaching and writing in and about dive […]
My Transition to Sidemount Scuba
Sidemount Scuba When and why I became a believer in sidemount scuba. If you are thinking of making the transition to sidemount scuba, read on… It’s been several years since I first starting seeing divers using sidemount scuba. My first thought at the time was, “gee, that looks stupid.” From the beginning, I understood the […]
COSMIQ Dive Computer Review – Part I
Deepblu Introduces the COSMIQ Dive Computer UPDATE 10/24/16: The v.9 COSMIQ firmware update includes a setting for freshwater. There are a few other updates since I wrote this article. I’ll do my best to keep it up to date. Like most divers, I am an absolute dive gear junkie. I love dive gear. I love […]
SubGravity 6mm Stainless Steel Backplate Review
As mentioned frequently, the most popular local dive spot here is Lake Tahoe. We dive others fairly frequently as well, like Donner Lake, Pyramid Lake (although I personally find Pyramid creepy), and if the planets align and we get ice, several smaller lakes come into play. What they all have in common, even in the […]
Are Welded D-Rings Really an Entanglement Hazard?
In the diving community, especially the technical diving community, there are a lot of “facts” thrown around related to best diving practices, equipment, training standards, etc. If you do a little research, much of what is stated as “fact” isn’t supported with much, if any, verifiable data. There are many examples: “Bungeed wings catch on things, […]
Dive Rite XT vs. Apollo Prestige Dive Fins
Someone named Laura disagrees with me, but I have long maintained that the best dive fin ever made is the Apollo Prestige. I love it for many reasons. Being made of monoprene, as opposed to polyethylene, it a not only more durable than most dive fins, but also much snappier. That means when you put […]
Scubapro Seawing Nova Dive Fin Review
The Scubapro Seawing Nova It is with a heavy heart that I recently made my first fin change in over 20 years. For decades, I’ve been diving in what I believe is the best dive fin ever produced; the Apollo Prestige. It’s perfect in nearly every way, but when Apollo began producing their wildly popular […]
Everybody’s an “expert” on diving message boards…
Don’t believe everything you read on scuba diving message boards I hate to be negative, but some of the most ridiculous things I have ever read about diving come from diving message boards. This is especially true at the technical level. For example, I read a lengthy thread a few nights ago where someone posted a […]
Moving your dive logbook from PC to Mac
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 […]
Shearwater Petrel Dive Computer
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 Camera to Scuba Gear
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 […]
Deep See Pulse Dive Fin Review
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 […]
SubGear Cayman SCUBA Regulator Review
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 […]
Apeks Tek 3 Review
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 […]
DUI Dry Gloves, Zip Glove Review
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 […]
Top 5 SCUBA Regulators Under $200
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 […]
Dive Industry, Listen Up… Then Respond!
In an earlier post, I indicated that I’ve used the SubGear XP10 Dive Computer with my MacBook Pro, which was true at the time; however, since my decompression software runs on PC, I have always used a NetBook for everything related to diving. That way, I only take one, much smaller and way less expensive […]
SCUBA Diver’s Body Recovered in Lake Tahoe After Almost 20 Years
[wp_geo_map] http://www.rgj.com/article/20110801/NEWS/110801045/Sheriff-Body-found-Lake-Tahoe-could-from-1990s-accident If there’s one dive in Lake Tahoe that required solid buoyancy skills, the Rubicon Wall is that dive. A diver’s body was recovered last week in Lake Tahoe that had apparently been bobbing in the blue abyss for nearly 2 decades. I remember the incident described in the news story because I had recently become […]
My New Apeks TEK3 Regulators!
These are my new Apeks Tek3 regulators fresh from the dive shop on the front seat of my truck! They’ve been tuned but the zip tie on the long hose hasn’t even been cut yet. I have been planning to get my hands on Tek3’s for several weeks so I am pretty excited to get […]
OMS BC117-K 94lb Lift BCD/Wing Review
I have been using the OMS BC117, 94 pound-lift BCD (wing) for technical diving for quite some time. I’m not very active in tech diving forums, but I do haunt them from time to time, or read a thread or two when I’m looking for information. Oddly, within certain communities, there seems to be an […]
SCUBA Regulators: DIN vs. Yoke?
The subject comes up in every class we teach, at dive sites and on boats. That is, which regulator to tank fitting should I choose? There are basically two that we use in SCUBA; DIN and yoke. If you are new to this then check out what is a regulator. DIN valves (Deutsches Institut für […]
