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jackyl posted:Anyone have thoughts on Honduras places and recommendations on Utila, Anthony's Key or Roatan? I'm going to do my Rescue Diver there, but we're also going to dive a bunch. My wife really wants to see whale sharks, which makes Utila attractive, but we're not sure if it's the best choice. I have been to this place on Roatan twice, so far it is only place we have ever been back to more than once : http://www.tranquilseas.com/ It's in Sandy Bay, you can literally swim off their dock to Anthony's Key resort. It's a small place so you get a lot more personalized training and diving, and the vibe there is seriously awesome. We did our open water referral dives there and some AOW specialty dives with divemaster Kent. He is a native of the island which is pretty rare there, and besides being a great instructor has a ton of interesting knowledge about Roatan. Since then we have dived with 4-5 different outfits in various places and that is still the best experience we have had bar none. I hear Utila is good for diving but not much else unless you are a big partier. Also it's a bitch to get to vs. Roatan. One really nice thing about Roatan diving is short boat rides and surface intervals on shore, not sure how it is on Utila but it's very convenient for warming up.
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Mar 7, 2014 03:25
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How many of ya's use an AIR2 or something similar? My pick list from Leisure Pro has a Zeagle Ranger and including an Alt air source on it isn't much more. I'm thinking of doing it and just be done with it. Also I was looking for a Air Integrated Computer. I'd love a wireless but they are just too much for me now. Any opinions on these? Ones 150 USD more then the other but it looks to be a bit better. http://www.leisurepro.com/p-aeraaicc/aeris-atmos-ai-air-integrated-computer-console-with-compass And http://www.leisurepro.com/p-mrspacc/mares-puck-air-computer-console-with-compass
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Mar 8, 2014 03:22
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micron posted:How many of ya's use an AIR2 or something similar? My pick list from Leisure Pro has a Zeagle Ranger and including an Alt air source on it isn't much more. I'm thinking of doing it and just be done with it. I love my zeagle ranger and zeagle octo-z. Eliminates a hose and makes you much more streamlined. It changes emergency procedures but its super easy to figure out. Love em.
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Mar 8, 2014 04:22
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I wanted to know about paths of progression, I have a PADI open water which I have had for over a decade with about 40 odd dives. I'm getting back into diving and want to progress to diving at (for now) max 40 meters and start doing wreck dives. What would the recommended courses I take be, and should I stay with PADI or go to some other organisation?
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Mar 8, 2014 09:33
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Electric Apathy posted:I wanted to know about paths of progression, I have a PADI open water which I have had for over a decade with about 40 odd dives. I'm getting back into diving and want to progress to diving at (for now) max 40 meters and start doing wreck dives. What would the recommended courses I take be, and should I stay with PADI or go to some other organisation? PADI's Advanced Open Water course will let you go down to 100 ft/30m, then you can get the Deep Diver speciality beyond that which will let you go to 130 ft/40m, and that's the limit for recreational diving. If you're going that far down, a Nitrox course probably wouldn't be a bad idea either, though the exact mix will depend on how deep you ultimately plan on going. I got back from Key Largo yesterday, logged 9 dives over the week between there and Ginnie Springs. 3/5 dives for the Advanced Open Water, and picked up a specialty as a night diver. The Ballroom at Ginnie Springs is amazing, everyone should check it out. It's a cavern that's so easy to go in and explore that there isn't any extra certification required past basic open water. 
Icon Of Sin fucked around with this message at 18:44 on Mar 8, 2014 |
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Mar 8, 2014 15:08
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Crunkjuice posted:my zeagle ranger and zeagle octo-z. How much of a pain in the butt is it to re-thread the emergency weight dump mechanism on those? The modular setup they use looks nice and all the d-rings look super duper handy, but the ripcord system they use looks like the biggest reason I wouldn't ever buy one personally. Anecdotally, I DM'd recently for a student who had bought a Ranger and the schrader valve low pressure connection on the standard power inflator (not octo integrated) had an issue where it would spin loose from the power inflator setup and cause some free flow from the low pressure inflator hose. I tried to tighten the LP connection down but all that did was force the o-ring to squeeze out the sides of the housing, since I was able to do this with no tools I assume he got a bad part. He did get a fair amount of practice with oral inflation of the BCD that day though. Going with the octo integrated onto the power inflator is indeed a sweet way to cut down on hoses. My next step is to stick a wireless transmitter for your computer on your 1st stage and you are now down to 2 hoses coming off your regulator. Electric Apathy posted:I wanted to know about paths of progression, I have a PADI open water which I have had for over a decade with about 40 odd dives. I'm getting back into diving and want to progress to diving at (for now) max 40 meters and start doing wreck dives. What would the recommended courses I take be, and should I stay with PADI or go to some other organisation? If you don't want to keep paying the PADI price every time you want to learn a new skill there are other organizations out there. SSI, SDI/TDI, NAUI, and NASE are recreational alternatives you should be able to find with relative ease in the US. GUE and UTD are things that exist too, but they are pretty strict on their training methods and gear selection; since they both come at diving from a cave oriented perspective it isn't necessarily a 'bad thing'. IANTD is another organization if you want to keep playing the acronym game. I would lean towards recommending finding the instructor(s) you are comfortable with and a local dive shop you can build a rapport with as long as they are certified from a recognized training agency. Everyone follows the same laws of physics under water and all organizations draw off a mix of the Navy Dive Manual or the NOAA Dive Manual with their own levels of safety added in. But as Icon of Sin stated, if reaching the recreational max depth is your goal then getting some sort of Deep Diver instruction is your next step. If you are set on pushing the edge of the recreational envelope by consistently hitting 40m depths then you should seriously look into getting some tech diving instruction to help you learn to manage the elevated level of risk you are taking on.
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Mar 8, 2014 20:04
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helpy posted:How much of a pain in the butt is it to re-thread the emergency weight dump mechanism on those? Not. The first time is a learning curve but I can get mine back together in a minute or two now. I'll demo for students all the time. As for the valve, sounds like a bad hose. Ive put over 1500 dives on my ranger and Ive yet to see it really start to wear outside some slight color fading. Its a tank and will outlive me. I love it to death
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Mar 8, 2014 20:09
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Argh... Ok who's got a Data Mask. If I'd like a wireless computer for 7-800 USD why stop and not get a HUD mask. My tax return is burning a hole in my pocket and I have no self control. Are they full blown computers with profiles or just air pressure and such?
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Mar 9, 2014 04:35
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My wife and I both use an air2 and love it. If you don't have a regular buddy, you need to show your buddy how it works, but it owns and I highly recommend it.
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Mar 9, 2014 06:13
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Just got back from a week end in Portofino. Dived again in front of San Fruttuoso, and had a chance to familiarize with my first air integrated computer (Suunto D4i, I'm not dumping too much money in this yet). Reading your air on your wrist is, well, much more useful than expected.
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Mar 10, 2014 13:17
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Just tallied up the total time underwater between Ginnie Springs and Key Largo, and it was just over 6 hours (spread between 9 dives). Max depth was 98 ft, though most of my dives in Key Largo were on shallow reefs and the max depths looked more like 25-30 ft. Trip highlight: diving on a reef at night, finding large sea turtles that were interested in our group and checking us out, then finding some kind of ray with a ~4ft wingspan chilling near a Buddha statue that somebody sank in the sands beside of one the reefs. Diving in the ballroom at night in Ginnnie Springs was a close second though, especially with our underwater rave (we let ~10 chemlights go right next to the grate with the outflow current, which all cycled around the room until they got caught in air pockets at the top of the chamber and recovered). 3/5 dives done towards advanced open water, and now there's a rescue diver course coming up that's starting to look mighty tempting once my advanced dives are done.
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Mar 11, 2014 02:38
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Hello there scuba thread, sorry to come in and drop some downer poo poo on you but I think you folks may be of some assistance. My sister Cara died in a car accident on her way home from christmas on december 27, just two and a half-ish months ago. She did a lot of diving in her life, though I believe it'd been a while since she had, since she went from living in miami(she went to Miami U) to living in boulder, CO. A month and a half ago we went to boulder to have a service for her there (for her friends and such who couldn't make it to new orleans for the funeral) and clean up her house. A lot of stuff is still getting sorted through and we came across her scuba gear. We don't really know what all to do with it, but to my mind, the options are - use it in some kind of memorial type way, sell it, or just throw it away. We are loathe to do the last, and happy to do the first, because man funerals are loving expensive and we don't really have anything we personally can do with it. The only piece that's been a bit of a hassle has been her regulator - it has the original box and receipt but I'm still having a hard time finding the exact model online or figuring out if it's still something people would use and if it's worth selling. So I am hoping that maybe you guys have some insight. Anyway, she bought the regulator in 2002 from Aqualung. The information on the receipt is this: Item- 1008-00 Description - Aqua Lung Cousteau Micra Adjustable QTY - 1 Rate - 475.00 That's really all I have on it. The box has '100800 Micra adj regulator' on the side. The manual, etc are still all there, though the box has obviously seen some travel time. I'm just having a hard time finding this exact model and determining if it's still usable, if I should sell it, et cetera. Thanks for any help! I can post a picture if it will help. empty whippet box fucked around with this message at 03:09 on Mar 13, 2014 |
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Mar 13, 2014 03:06
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Warchicken posted:Hello there scuba thread, sorry to come in and drop some downer poo poo on you but I think you folks may be of some assistance. goondolences.  Aqualung discontinued the Micra back in the mid-2000s because they already have a lot of regs in the market. But Aqualung does a good job of supporting their clients and providing parts, so you should shoot off an email to them. Also peruse https://www.scubaboard.com to see if there's more info on the reg. The resale of the Micra should be okay since it uses the exact same internal parts as other Aqualung models (titan and conshelf). So any diveshop monkey tech with Aqualung regulator knowledge should be able to service it. A properly maintained reg should be good to use for generations - so yes, it is still good for use or resell. The reg I use was built 50 years ago. For resale, I wouldn't expect $475 for it, maybe $200-$250 at most. goondolences again.
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Mar 13, 2014 13:56
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jackyl posted:Anyone have thoughts on Honduras places and recommendations on Utila, Anthony's Key or Roatan? I'm going to do my Rescue Diver there, but we're also going to dive a bunch. My wife really wants to see whale sharks, which makes Utila attractive, but we're not sure if it's the best choice. I have had a chance to dive on twice with Anthony's Key Resort while on a Cruise most recent was earlier in Feb. They have a pretty nice set up there from what I saw. The thing is though since they cater to cruise ships they have alot of people diving with them, on our boat alone we had like 23 people on it with 3 DMs all on the same site. The DMs did a good job of keeping the groups spread apart but as soon as one pointed something cool out (turtles in our case) there was just a swarm of divers zooming in from other groups. All the staff was awesome and one of the DMs I had from last trip remembered me by name, so that was pretty cool considering how many people they get. As far as interesting stuff we saw Moray Eels, Eagle Rays, Turtles and what I think was a Barracuda that had black stripes. Bottom is I like diving with them but if you want a more personal experience you may want to go with Suitcase's suggestion. Also I know the Carnival cruises from Galveston/New Orleans get their on Wed so their may be a day when they don't have ships coming in.
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Mar 14, 2014 10:09
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Stopped by the aquarium at the zoo, trying out the new macro lens. Waiting for the ice to thaw and summer to arrive. Probably won't be so easy when I'm in the water with them. Although shooting through glass with their weird neon lighting was challenging too.   This is how they were lit normally. 
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Mar 18, 2014 16:27
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Any recommendations on mask defog liquid? I apparently have a sweaty face or something cause my mask always fogs up while my buddy who's using the same stuff never gets foggy.
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Mar 18, 2014 23:22
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The Vikings posted:Any recommendations on mask defog liquid? I apparently have a sweaty face or something cause my mask always fogs up while my buddy who's using the same stuff never gets foggy. Not really. Like brushing your teeth, the mechanical process of cleaning is more important than the chemical. I use spit and all the divers I know do too. A good option is a spray bottle filled with 50% baby shampoo. Tips. The mask lens needs to be dry or else it won't work. If you defog on the surface then spend time on the surface it will fog. It needs to be the last thing you do before you descend. Not defog and slap it on your head for 15 seconds. Defog, don the mask, and then signal for descent. A properly cleaned mask (when new) is needed. Its not the defog liquid, its the procedure in which it's used that affects how well defog works.
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Mar 18, 2014 23:42
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The Vikings posted:Any recommendations on mask defog liquid? I apparently have a sweaty face or something cause my mask always fogs up while my buddy who's using the same stuff never gets foggy. Defoggers are surfactants. They don't really prevent fogging, they just stop the water from gathering into droplets that get in the way of your vision. Soap does the same thing...
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Mar 19, 2014 03:42
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Baby shampoo works great. Spit just doesn't work for me I've used toothpaste before too, when we ran out of baby shampoo. It did work pretty well, but I'm not terribly sure if there's any consequences to it so I'm probably not doing that again 
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Mar 19, 2014 03:47
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The Vikings posted:Any recommendations on mask defog liquid? I apparently have a sweaty face or something cause my mask always fogs up while my buddy who's using the same stuff never gets foggy. Spit, baby shampoo, or the bottle of defog goop all should work. Also if you are doing a lot of moving around and raising your body temp up right before the dive (i.e. a surface swim on a nice warm day, or standing on the boat all geared up waiting for everyone else to enter) cooling off your face before putting the mask on will help. Seconding putting it on immediately prior to descent and making sure you thoroughly cleaned the new mask before you start diving with it. Anyone else headed to Beneath the Sea at the Meadowlands later this month?
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Mar 19, 2014 04:06
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My wife and I are in Cabo, getting ready to get on the boat that will take us to Socorro - in the morning. So. loving. Jazzed. Will post photos / videos when we're back.
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Mar 19, 2014 04:11
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Cru Jones posted:Stopped by the aquarium at the zoo, trying out the new macro lens. Waiting for the ice to thaw and summer to arrive. Probably won't be so easy when I'm in the water with them. Although shooting through glass with their weird neon lighting was challenging too. They're really beautiful, especially the second. Crunkjuice posted:Not really. Like brushing your teeth, the mechanical process of cleaning is more important than the chemical. I use spit and all the divers I know do too. A good option is a spray bottle filled with 50% baby shampoo. Do you burn the mask lenses with a lighter? I've done it with a mask after an expert diver recommended me that, and it worked.
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Mar 19, 2014 12:00
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Cru Jones posted:Stopped by the aquarium at the zoo, trying out the new macro lens. Waiting for the ice to thaw and summer to arrive. Probably won't be so easy when I'm in the water with them. Although shooting through glass with their weird neon lighting was challenging too. We're going out tomorrow morning to try and find some of these critters in the wild. Can't wait, I've never seen one!
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Mar 19, 2014 12:19
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Cippalippus posted:They're really beautiful, especially the second. Nah, i just spend an episode of tv scrubbing the piss out of the lenses with toothpaste. 5-10 minutes a side of mindless scrubbing and all my masks have been good to go. I have heard of the lighter trick but i'm way too much of a bitch to throw a lighter that close to the silicone side skirt i just paid 100 bucks for.
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Mar 19, 2014 15:11
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Sup dive buddies. I've got one of those major life birthdays coming up (turning 30) and my parents said that they're willing to fly my girlfriend and I to get our AOW certifications and spend a week diving. I'm obviously excited (and grateful!) beyond belief, and figured I'd turn to this thread to get some ideas as to where we could go. For background- I've got about 12 dives under my belt and I'm very comfortable in the water thanks to years of surfing, bodysurfing and spearfishing. My girlfriend has four logged dives other than her OW qualifying dives, and she's admittedly less experienced with the ocean than I am. We live in Washington, DC, so the Caribbean (Bahamas, West Indies, etc) seems like it's the best call in terms of ease of access. I got certified in Turks and Caicos and have been diving off the Yucatan Peninsula (Cozumel) before, and we recently went diving off Isla Mujeres in Mexico and had a blast. I personally would really love to do some diving with sharks as well. Can anyone recommend something that's reasonably priced but meets our criteria?
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Mar 19, 2014 23:17
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Cru Jones posted:Stopped by the aquarium at the zoo, trying out the new macro lens. Waiting for the ice to thaw and summer to arrive. Probably won't be so easy when I'm in the water with them. Although shooting through glass with their weird neon lighting was challenging too. Here're a couple of videos of them in Kurnell's The Steps site (South Sydney). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl9RRVe7I34 (the beginning of the video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwPI-OPeADo (the end of the video)
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Mar 19, 2014 23:38
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If you want your mask to never fog up you need to light it on fire. No really, take a lighter and burn the poo poo out of the glass until basically nothing else could exist except glass, do this 2-3 thimes even. after that it will never fog again. Be sure not to melt the silicone skirt by going too fast. I usually also put water on the outside of the mask to keep the glass cool.
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Mar 20, 2014 20:38
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Are any SoCal scuba goons doing Chamber Day this year? link I did it last year and will probably do it again this year. If you are let me know which boat you're going to be on.
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Mar 21, 2014 06:35
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I had someone at the shop where I bought my mask at go over it with a lighter. Worked pretty well but I have to spit and rinse the mask right before I descend otherwise it fogs up. Probably should do it again since it seems to work better if you do it multiple times. In other news, I'm going to Seattle in May and I booked two dives for when I'm there. Just picked up a pair of F1s too that I'll get a chance to use while there 
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Mar 21, 2014 23:16
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Tomato Soup posted:Probably should do it again since it seems to work better if you do it multiple times. Skin oil does build up on lenses over time so a thorough cleaning needs to be done periodically. I do mine with toothpaste probably once a year in the middle of the dive season
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Mar 22, 2014 03:52
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Tomato Soup posted:I had someone at the shop where I bought my mask at go over it with a lighter. Worked pretty well but I have to spit and rinse the mask right before I descend otherwise it fogs up. Probably should do it again since it seems to work better if you do it multiple times. You still need to spit and rinse no matter what even with a good lighter treatment, but with a properly defogged mask one spit and rinse at the begining of the dive means a clear mask all day, when the lens isnt clean you need to continually fill clean and clear your mask even if you use spit or defogger. And If you want to put your mask on in the boat without it fogging you gotta get your face down to the temp of the water.
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Mar 22, 2014 16:01
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Thanks to everyone that responded about Honduras. Anthony's key is off the table, we're going to Utila and I am doing rescue diver. That's going to lead to three days where my wife is diving alone while I'm off doing the course, but still, I'm looking forward to it!
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Mar 24, 2014 01:19
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 I'm doing a rescue diver course next week! I'm finishing my AOW dives next weekend, or else I'm not starting it
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Mar 24, 2014 01:35
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Right on, I've read in this and previous threads about the scenarios you get doing that. Looking forward to it, actually, I was lifeguard, WSI, all that poo poo and had no issue with my real life saves and the tests, but that was a lot if years ago. Curious to see how all that plays out with diving.
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Mar 24, 2014 05:07
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jackyl posted:Right on, I've read in this and previous threads about the scenarios you get doing that. Looking forward to it, actually, I was lifeguard, WSI, all that poo poo and had no issue with my real life saves and the tests, but that was a lot if years ago. Curious to see how all that plays out with diving. Yea...I don't have any lifeguard experience. I've got BLS/CPR, and did an Army Combat Life Saver course way back when (where they teach you how to keep someone alive until a medic gets to them and does real things). What kind of scenarios do they use in the course? I had to miss the orientation for the course due to class, and I get to make it up this coming weekend while we drive to our dive site so I can use a compass underwater and play around with my buoyancy.
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Mar 24, 2014 05:48
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Why do people do the rescue diver course, other than as a prerequisite for divemaster? I never understood that.
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Mar 24, 2014 07:01
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eviljelly posted:Why do people do the rescue diver course, other than as a prerequisite for divemaster? I never understood that. I'll answer this when I get off work more fully, but one answer is its the most fun course you can take.
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Mar 24, 2014 12:51
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Talked about fogging and received an unusual advice. On top of the lighter trick, the toothbrush and all the other things, the freediver teacher told us that a sliced potato does wonders. The starch in the potato will remove a great deal of oil and fat from the lenses. Coupled with a toothbrush and possibly some dish soap, fogging shouldn't be a problem.
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Mar 24, 2014 13:09
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Crunkjuice posted:I'll answer this when I get off work more fully, but one answer is its the most fun course you can take. I've heard this (probably even in this thread) so that's one part. Also being trained in rescue techniques seems like a good idea, so why not? I figure it will also make me a better diver. Then, long term, there's a hazy plan for us to move somewhere warm year round once we're financially set and then I have a cool job I can do if I go all the way with certs. No idea if that will actually happen or not, but again, why not do it?
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Mar 25, 2014 00:33
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jackyl posted:I've heard this (probably even in this thread) so that's one part. Also being trained in rescue techniques seems like a good idea, so why not? I figure it will also make me a better diver.
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Mar 25, 2014 01:18
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