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Hey guys, I just got back from Ambergris Caye, Belize. I thought I would be diving the Blue Hole, but it turns out that's a whole day and my parents paid for the trip to spend time with me so... Anyway, did Hol Chan reserve, which was pretty cool. Saw a sea turtle eating some grass, a high hat fish, and loads of cool critters. The other spot I went to was past the barrier and I only heard it referred to as "outside," where the waves were as tall as the boat, which freaked me out a little, but once I got under it was fine. Amazing reef fingers down there, and there was some kind of rainbow fish with shimmery scales that I stared at for as long as I could without getting separated. In a way I'm glad I didn't hit the Blue Hole this time, because it's a reason to go back when I'm a more experienced diver, and I'll be able to get more out of it.
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Jan 4, 2016 22:31
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Stinky_Pete posted:kind of rainbow fish with shimmery scales that I stared at for as long as I could without getting separated. Rainbow parrotfish? If you haven't already, do some research on the Blue Hole dive before you put it too high on the bucket list. There are a lot of horror stories out there and a lot of what I would consider near misses occur due to unscrupulous operators taking people way beyond their skill levels on a dive where there isn't that much to see really. Maybe unscrupulous is not the right word, because when you have insistent tourists paying lots of money to do this thing someone is going to take them. When the time comes have a good buddy and be prepared to separate from the group if you feel they are diving sketchily.
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Jan 5, 2016 02:58
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Just got back from a trip to the Komodo Islands. Pretty cool, saw some kickin' rad stuff. Perhaps in 3 month's time I'll post photos! Highlights of the trip: Awesomely beautiful coral. Just amazing. Seeing ~30+ mantas over the course of a manta dive. Forgetting my weight belt on a night dive, not realizing I until I was in the water, saying "gently caress it" and going down anyway. I was pretty good for about 30 minutes, and felt really nimble. I had to take shallower breaths than normal but I did alright. The last 15 minutes were tough, as my tank was much more buoyant. Around the 45 minute mark I told my guide that I had no belt and needed to go up. I then did my 3 min safety stop upside down with no references other than my watch and the other divers. Fun times. Don't forget your weight belts kids.
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Jan 6, 2016 06:19
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Did you, like Douglas Adams, nearly trip over a Komodo dragon as you got off the boat?
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Jan 6, 2016 07:50
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Trivia posted:Forgetting my weight belt on a night dive, not realizing I until I was in the water, saying "gently caress it" and going down anyway. I was pretty good for about 30 minutes, and felt really nimble. I had to take shallower breaths than normal but I did alright. The last 15 minutes were tough, as my tank was much more buoyant. Around the 45 minute mark I told my guide that I had no belt and needed to go up. I then did my 3 min safety stop upside down with no references other than my watch and the other divers. Fun times. And don't forget to try and dive with as little weight as possible. (I have the kind of lung volume that lets me get away with all kinds of weighting, especially when I am not guiding/teaching. I love jumping in with no weight whenever possible.) pupdive fucked around with this message at 09:18 on Jan 6, 2016 |
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Jan 6, 2016 09:13
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The dragons I saw were all lazy as gently caress and hung out by the kitchens. Re: Weightchat I'm down to 2kgs in a fullbody 2mm suit. I'm pretty sure I could do 1.5 or even get to 1. It's also drastically decreased my air consumption.
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Jan 6, 2016 09:47
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Getting people to take weight off their belt is probably the hardest thing to get through to students. The natural human tendency is to do something when something goes wrong, so when people start to unintentionally ascend, they tend to take a deep breath, and struggle to get down. It's the deep breath and struggle that makes people feel the need the weight, nine times out of ten. If a diver needs weight, they do, but when wearing any kind of wetsuit, it should take full exhalation in a horizontal position to descend at the beginning of a dive** This is one thing that I think is lost since the long ago change from free diving to just scuba. Because one of the things free-drivers get good at is getting the exact weight to be neutral** at the expected depth, and expecting to have to use tricks to compress the lung bubble and wetsuit buoyancy to get down. Diving without weight/minimal weight forces perfect trim and propulsion to keep from unintentionally airplaning oneself up. What kind of 2mm are you using?
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Jan 6, 2016 17:11
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What are the downsides to traveling to get certified? I'd like to try diving out, but it is January and I live in Minnesota. There is a 5 star PADI center nearby, but they can only do open water in the summer -- and even then it is in a boring-looking inland lake. I'm pondering traveling somewhere tropical, but don't know the first thing about picking a destination/finding a good school, etc. any thoughts?
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Jan 6, 2016 18:12
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SuitcasePimp posted:Rainbow parrotfish? If you haven't already, do some research on the Blue Hole dive before you put it too high on the bucket list. There are a lot of horror stories out there and a lot of what I would consider near misses occur due to unscrupulous operators taking people way beyond their skill levels on a dive where there isn't that much to see really. Maybe unscrupulous is not the right word, because when you have insistent tourists paying lots of money to do this thing someone is going to take them. When the time comes have a good buddy and be prepared to separate from the group if you feel they are diving sketchily. Yes, rainbow parrotfish was definitely it! So rad. Anyway, thanks for the warning. Doubling down on the more experienced part. Also, I only needed 12lb because I didn't need a wetsuit, and wow the difference it makes is wonderful! Definitely some good motivation for getting my weight down in general.
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Jan 6, 2016 22:16
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slothzilla posted:What are the downsides to traveling to get certified? I'd like to try diving out, but it is January and I live in Minnesota. There is a 5 star PADI center nearby, but they can only do open water in the summer -- and even then it is in a boring-looking inland lake. I'm pondering traveling somewhere tropical, but don't know the first thing about picking a destination/finding a good school, etc. any thoughts? The biggest downside I can think of is the time constraint. Certification for a basic license takes about 4 days if I'm not mistaken. If you have issues with your training it may take longer, and when on vacation such an oversight could potentially mess with the rest of your trip. If however you leave a large block of time for not just training, but fun dives afterwards, such spillage would really be a non-issue. Many places also allow you to do your bookwork at home, and then do your training dives at your destination. This is great because nobody likes to do homework while one vacay. The other risk is that you may find you hate it (unlikely), in which case you'd be left bored for the rest of your trip. How far are you willing to travel? What's your spending limit?
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Jan 6, 2016 22:29
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slothzilla posted:What are the downsides to traveling to get certified? I'd like to try diving out, but it is January and I live in Minnesota. There is a 5 star PADI center nearby, but they can only do open water in the summer -- and even then it is in a boring-looking inland lake. I'm pondering traveling somewhere tropical, but don't know the first thing about picking a destination/finding a good school, etc. any thoughts? One downside would be that if you get sick or something happens that makes you unable to dive on a given day, you'll have to wait to join another training dive and that could ramp up your lodging costs. I'd say wait until summer and also just ask your local shop what there is to see in the lake, if anything. My first two open water dives from the shore were in La Jolla Shores, where there's pretty much nothing but sand dollars. But since you spend a portion of a dive doing skill demonstrations, you won't be able to see as much of the dive spot as in a post-cert dive (you'll still see a good deal of it, though), so there could be something to say about saving the good stuff for later. The flipside of it, though, is that you're going to pay for dives on vacation anyway, so you may as well pay for training at the same time. Just do what would make you comfortable. Now a question of my own: Is there venomous coral? I felt my foot scrape on something during the Hol Chan Reserve dive, and it had a big red swollen area when I got back on the boat. It's healed now, but I'm just curious what might have caused it.
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Jan 6, 2016 22:31
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First thought off the top of my head is fire coral, which is venemous. There are other species as well, some which cause mild irritation and itching.
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Jan 6, 2016 23:02
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Trivia posted:First thought off the top of my head is fire coral, which is venemous. That's it! Watch out for yellow spindly coral, folks, but of course don't touch anything in general as well 
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Jan 6, 2016 23:34
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Thanks for the advice. Given the practical concerns and how little vacation I get, it probably makes sense for me to wait and get certified locally.
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Jan 7, 2016 01:17
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If you want to dive some place warm, the Caribbean is the closest option for Americans. When I was 13 I did my first post-training dive in the Bahamas. Did a shark feeding dive, was pretty rad. If you want to see massive reefs with a shitton of fish, you'll most likely need to go to SE Asia.
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Jan 7, 2016 01:32
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Hol Chan reserve is great! We did a night dive there in addition to the day dive and saw a baby octopus, think I posted that picture here but if not I will. The Blue Hole... There are just a few outfits that go out there so your shop will likely sub you out to one of them. Yeah, we met some people on the boat that had just gotten OW certified. So much for the stated AOW minimum. As someone said, make sure you are comfortable deep and with a buddy that is also comfortable deep. It's a cool dive, but you get to 135-145 quickly and have 8 minutes there, then you sure as poo poo need to ascend carefully. And watch your air, yeah, they have spare tanks, but don't count on being able to get one since there are brand new OW divers there for some reason. I know that sounds negative and I don't mean it that way. It is a great dive day. Just make sure you and your buddy are good before you go. It's a 3 hour boat ride from Ambergris and probably the same amount of time for a chopper to get called and then come get you and take you back to a deco chamber. E: there are actually three dives. You leave at like 5am, go to the blue hole and then there are two dives plus an island stop on the way back. The second dive is called he aquarium (or maybe the aquarium was third? either way) and it's a very life filled dive. Although that's true of most of the close dive to ambergris too let it mellow fucked around with this message at 03:21 on Jan 7, 2016 |
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Jan 7, 2016 03:18
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Re: cert dives. We did all of our training in the Caribbean and regret nothing about it. We could do cold quarry dives here or do it in the BVI (scuba diver), Curaçao (OW), St Lucia (AOW), Utila (my rescue) and Turks and Caicos (nitrox). So much better to do it it warm, clear water. And yes, fire coral is the answer to the other question.
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Jan 7, 2016 04:16
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Warm water/tropical destination instructor here to answer questions! The basic scuba certification consists of three parts, any of which can be done either locally, or at the destination, but have to be done in order, generally: 1. "Knowledge Development" (reading, videos, and in some places classroom sessions) 2. "Confined Water" practice sessions (often a pool locally, avoiding environmental issues like cold, limited visibility, waves, and current) 3. "Open Water" Dives (diving with full exposure to light environmental issues like water temperature, visibility issues, waves, and current) As an instructor in a warm/tropical destination, I'd recommend to anyone thinking certified for scuba, and able to do travel to a destination, and planning to travel to do most of their dives, nonetheless getting at least #1 out of the way locally in some way, shape, or form. In the warm water, we generally combine 2 and 3 in the ocean. In cold water, environmental concerns require separating them. Also local shops are used to doing #1 and #2 and sending divers off to warm water places to do #3. There is nothing more frustrating for a student in a tropical destination, than having to hours in a classroom trying to figure out tables (in those places still teaching with them) instead being out diving in the inviting ocean. Or even worse to book a trip to get certified diving, and then find out only once they get to the destination, there is a medical issue they need to get cleared before they can do any water training. There are health issues that might need to be checked out before starting any training, and other than military folks, getting medical clearances in a couple of hours let alone a couple of days is not going to be possible at the destination. My wife and I always have our own personal students do the book reading, watch the videos, and do the health check before hand, so that when they get local, (or if they are local, show up for the first time) all we have to do is administer tests, get liability waivers signed, (which can take less than an hour all together, ideally), and then we hit the water. I am no more interested than students are with sitting in a classroom, when we can be in the ocean. One way to automize the process (for PADI students) is by using the eLearning option (which takes care of all the paperwork beforehand). Because of the way it links to a dive shop, you should ask the destination dive shop for their personalized link to the site. If you would rather do the bookwork, and then decide on the operator in person after arrival at your destination, you can just do the eLearning without a dive shop affiliation. Usually that's not a problem, but ..... (We personally do not use eLearning for technical reasons.) Rather than prattle on, and possibly use unfamiliar industry terms, new divers please ask away at what you don't understand.
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Jan 7, 2016 06:26
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pupdive posted:What kind of 2mm are you using? It's a used suit I found at a second hand shop. It's actually meant for jetskiers (and has kneepads). It's a bib and coat style, which I like a lot actually. It effectively layers the chest and abdomen to about 4 mm, and with a rash shirt on increases it to 5 (though not as watertight as a full 5 mm suit).
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Jan 8, 2016 06:44
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Trivia posted:It's a used suit I found at a second hand shop. It's actually meant for jetskiers (and has kneepads). It's a bib and coat style, which I like a lot actually. It effectively layers the chest and abdomen to about 4 mm, and with a rash shirt on increases it to 5 (though not as watertight as a full 5 mm suit). Those are the best. I wish there were more light weight dive wetsuits made in the farmer john style. I love farmer johns, a rash gaurd and a hooded vest, with the option to add on the jacket, or a lavacore hooded jersey. But they generally start a full 3 mm. You are lucky to have found one. (Actually, you are just in general lucky in diving, it seems. I get to do this for a living, but you get to do more diving in interesting places than I get to do. Keep posting your stuff. It's awesome!) pupdive fucked around with this message at 08:48 on Jan 8, 2016 |
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Jan 8, 2016 08:44
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Thanks! If my pics convince someone to start diving (or dive in a new place) then it's all worth it. Also, I'm in the market for a new mask. Anyone have recommendations? I was eyeballing this one: http://www.amazon.com/Tusa-Visio-Tri-Ex-Diving-Cobalt/dp/B000UWBIZ4/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1451728024&sr=8-4&keywords=tusa+dive+masks I like the peripheral viewports, but I'm a little hesitant as I like a big wide view lens. I also hate black skirts; I think they're terrible.
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Jan 8, 2016 12:14
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Masks are personal as heck. I cannot stand using a clear skirted mask. I cannot stand side windows. I need a low volume divided lens mask or I feel like I am diving in a Kenny hoodie. I live with a white skirt so I can hand off my mask to people underwater if they have mask problems, (but my ideal mask is a ultra-low volume, black skirt, mirror lensed free diving mask, that I cannot wear that with customers because I cannot hand a mirror black skirted mask off.) Other than fragile side clips for rental Tusa has always made the best masks, and the nice thing both Tusa and Gull do, is keep making the exact same mask without any changes for their main masks. So if you find one you like, and you break it, you can still buy it five years later. pupdive fucked around with this message at 21:22 on Jan 8, 2016 |
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Jan 8, 2016 13:53
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I lost mine  That fucker is on the bottom of the ocean. No, I don't want to talk about it. I had to use spares for a few dives. One was a black skirted split lens mask. God I hated it. I felt claustrophobic, and I could see the split between me eyes. I also noticed less view looking down, which unsurprisingly accounts for most of my sight lines. Anyone have experience with peripheral windows? I've not tried any and I'm curious if they're good, or just a gimmick. And yes, Tusa is a great brand.
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Jan 8, 2016 16:14
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Hah, yeah super personal. I've had a Mares X-vision mask for ages with a clear skirt and I really like it, recently I got an Aqualung micromask with a black skirt and like that too (super low volume is great). I've got a single pane Mares mask as well I use for pool training because it was an impulse purchase (super cheap on-line) but I found the large window didn't really give me much more vision than the split lens and the additional volume was annoying for mask clearing. It also doesn't quite fit right, so when I try to clear I find the water being pushed out just above the bottom corners so there's always a bit left at the bottom of the mask. I've used a mask with the peripheral windows once but didn't like them much. There was probably a bit more light getting in but, being used to a clear skirt, not a lot. It also felt like it added a bit to the mask volume without any obvious upside. I was cold water diving and wearing a hood though so it might have been a bit enclosed feeling anyway?
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Jan 8, 2016 18:36
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+3 on super personal preference for masks. My preference: * low volume frameless * black skirt * single window Like MrNemo and pupdive, I had a snorkelling mask with side panel windows and I found no added value to them. In fact, I found the view to be significantly worst than a low volume mask. So I am leaning towards thinking the peripheral windows are a gimmick. My mask for the past decade has been a $20 knock off of this scubapro mask. I decided to try get a mask shape like the Atomic Aquatics Venom after reading this review and grabbed this blue reef mask.
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Jan 8, 2016 21:15
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My old one was a single lens extended bottom. I DID get leaks, but that was probably because I wore it too lose. I constantly exhale through my nose anyway so clearing's rarely an issue. The reason I was looking at the peripheral windows was for more situational awareness. On a lot of dives people tend to clump and bump into others (especially night dives), despite my best efforts at distancing. I figure the added windows would help to avoid those types of collisions.
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Jan 8, 2016 23:33
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We dove our 100th dive on the Spiegel Grove today in Key Largo, it was awesome! In addition to making me feel a little like.an actual wreck diver, it made me miss not having lights when we went into the swimthroughs. It's time to get some, does anyone have recommendations for good, small lights? The main use would be daytime reef type stuff, occasional dark tunnel, and backup for night dives.
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Jan 9, 2016 22:42
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SuitcasePimp posted:We dove our 100th dive on the Spiegel Grove today in Key Largo, it was awesome! In addition to making me feel a little like.an actual wreck diver, it made me miss not having lights when we went into the swimthroughs. It's time to get some, does anyone have recommendations for good, small lights? The main use would be daytime reef type stuff, occasional dark tunnel, and backup for night dives. LEDs used to not work right unless made perfectly, and when made right, they were expensive, so it was crucial to use a brand name like UK for warranty replacement when the inevitable flood happens. Now great LEDs are cheap, so prices are way down, so the big manufacturers are getting pinched, and they have stopped automatic warranty replacements. So now I say go cheap, and live with having to replace lights or failed switch, now and them. On the low end, you have a choice of 1. twist on lights, which will eventually flood at those O-Rings since environment is right at a moving O-Ring. 2. Magnetic switch lights. They remove the flooding failure point, but replace with a magnet which will eventually fail over time as the magnet gets weaker 3. Physical switch lights. They use an environmental exposed moving O-RIng, but it is completely captured so it usually last a long time. This is the approach UK takes for most of it's lights. As you see, any of those choices has a failure point. If you can live with the light having to be replaced now and then (and you should) then shop for lights, based on size and battery choice, as much as anything. A small round LED light can fight easily in a BCD pocket, be worn on a velcro 'Goodman' handle be comfortable and not too floppy. You can also think about beam angle, but outside of video lights, it is a personal choice. I personally like a hot spot, so that daytime and night I can point out stuff, but the more diffuse patterns are more useful for night focused diving for many people. pupdive fucked around with this message at 09:29 on Jan 10, 2016 |
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Jan 10, 2016 03:52
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Well, I've gone and done it. I start DM tomorrow through a local PADI shop, and just applied for DAN's research internship starting in May. Gonna learn all the things about breathing underwater without dying in the next few months*  *assuming I get to work with DAN 
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Jan 11, 2016 21:21
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pupdive posted:
Thanks! I ended up splitting the difference between price, size, and convenience and ended up with 2 of these: http://www.diverightinscuba.com/lightsrecreationallights-drisdivegear-1kshortydivelight-p-3586.html It seems to have good reviews and is cheaper than a lot of the lights I looked at. I saw some on Amazon that were REALLY cheap but also highly suspect.
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Jan 13, 2016 04:25
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SuitcasePimp posted:Thanks! I ended up splitting the difference between price, size, and convenience and ended up with 2 of these: I have this light, it seems unbeatable for the price, but note that it's somewhat difficult to turn on and off while underwater with gloves on. I normally use http://www.diverightinscuba.com/lightsrecreationallights-ikelite-pcled2divelight-p-3812.html during the day (really quite useful to always have a light) and as a backup at night. Very easy to use underwater.
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Jan 13, 2016 04:36
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Icon Of Sin posted:Well, I've gone and done it. I start DM tomorrow through a local PADI shop, and just applied for DAN's research internship starting in May. Gonna learn all the things about breathing underwater without dying in the next few months* Please flood this thread with with interesting information. TIA.
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Jan 13, 2016 05:42
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As someone who is also looking into doing DM (barring that Master Scuba Diver) training, please let us all know.
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Jan 13, 2016 07:46
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When someone does DM there is always that "they made me do this!!!!??!!" thing, that I am actually not under instructor rules allows to tell you about beforehand. And as cool as it is to write that, it's even to cooler that I am not kidding about it. For you instructors playing along at home, respect that rule. NO PLANNING allowed before the exercise. And for you DM's try and keep in mind that it is the sense of accomplishment that people get from it that makes it a worthwhile exercise, so don't spoil it for people by telling them what you had to do. Afterwards if they finish it too, laugh about it together, but please try and keep it under wraps, because that aspect coming into it blind is an important part of the skill. It's fun, and once you master it, it will change how you look at yourself underwater. And you should master it, not just do it once to meet the bare requirement. And if you fall apart the first time through, don't get down about it, just see it as the learning experience it is meant to be. It's worth keeping in mind that that rising panicky-ish feeling is a place where student divers in training spend a fair bit of the open water course. So in a sense failing spectacularly the first time is a better learning experience than managing it without a second's thought. Though if you can manage it without a second's thought, it says something real about your comfort in the water.
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Jan 13, 2016 18:59
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Well thanks for definitely not making non-PADI instructors in this thread in any way curious about your post topic :p In other news, I'm starting to seriously think about getting a primary torch. Currently I've got a good backup type torch that served me well in tropical dives, it's a small FaMi type (actually purchased as what I thought was an awesome deal on a primary without checking the scale of the photos and was a good deal on a backup). Currently my realistic toss up is between a Light4Me like the 4Tec or a Finnsub torch. Both brands offer decent handheld primaries, I'm not sure if the umbilical option is worth it for the extra battery life or not. I guess it's also nice having the heavier part off the torch strapped somewhere rather than carrying it too. The major difference between them is beam angle and cost, Light4Me is a slightly tighter beam and cheaper but I think 6 degrees might be a little too tight for non-cave diving. Unknown quantity option is the Nanight, only mentioned as I saw it reviewed as a top new piece of kit last year in the BSAC magazine but that was fairly obviously from the list of stuff the reviewer had been sent and there seems to be little to zero feedback on the web about them. Also they seem to have open source 3D printer files for various torch parts and have open-sourced the code controlling their LED. Also the company that produce it seem to primarily be a Swedish app development company and some of the links on their site go to the wrong domain extension (.com instead of .se) so I'm left wondering if they're enthusiastic divers and developers who got super excited about open source design for dive lights or they're borderline scammers. I'm leaning a bit more towards the former which is a little 
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Jan 13, 2016 23:50
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I am perfectly happy with my $65 dive gear express light.
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Jan 14, 2016 16:44
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(just as a note, the Dive Gear Express range has gone from $65.00 to about $50.00 so finding which light you bought is a little tough.) The only 'problem' with Dive Gear Express is they move so much product that changes in LED tech and form factor happen fast, and it reflects quickly in their lines. So buying a light from them is no guarantee the same light will be there in 6 months. It's not a problem because the lights keep getting better and often even cheaper. But as above, it's not clear which light you bought since they are now center around $50.00. But it's not at al like buying a UK light like an SL4 which has been in their catalog for 25 years, with gradual upgrades from them to now to the current nice SL4 eLED light. Just thinking about how finicky dive lights were before LEDs makes my head hurt. Xenon bulbs would burn out just from getting jolted when current was running through the bulb filament, (so they had the 'spare bulb' switch). And getting multiple dive from a set of batteries was a crap shoot, so you bought new batteries for every dive on the big lights, or used a can. You kids with your fancy dancy doohickeys! When we were kids, we used to have to generate power for our dive lights by rubbing sand together, and creating static electricity. ****** Note: I say support your local dive center as much as possible so they can stick around. If you ever have to drive 2 hours to get a fill, you'll see why local dive shops matter. Having said that, with internet pressure shops cannot afford to have the some stuff around if it is not going to sell, so for most people, they have to use internet sources. I use Dive Gear Express and Piranha Dive Manufacturing myself for a lot of rental odds and sods, and they are good at shipping wherever, which helps people on faraway islands. And good things are said about Dive Right In Scuba pretty regularly, ScubaToys gets some good press too, and I have bought some rental computers from them when they were closing out old stock on Oceanic computers. And LeisurePro is worth mentioning as well. They also handle closeout lots and have some good deals. I want to say they were the first biggest internet scuba presence, but their local market in itself is huge in population.
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Jan 14, 2016 17:20
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I don't know if there are many drysuit divers around these parts but thought I'd look for some feedback. I've got a Weezle undersuit in a DUI and previously much of my diving has been in the colder months, for that it's awesome. In the summer though, especially on warm days, it's too much. I'm not in danger of overheating on a dive but I'm more than warm enough and at the surface I can't actually zip up my drysuit for fear of just sweating through the whole thing. I had a compromise last season I was here of Fourth element Artic leggings and a technical Montane smock, which was warm enough but the nylon fake fleece stuff in the smock was ridiculously itchy under pressure. Anyone have experience with lighter thermals or even using hiking gear as an undersuit? I'm half tempted to get a snugpak thinner jacket as it's the same company that does Weezle filling and it would be dual purpose for being out and about in the colder months.
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Jan 17, 2016 19:17
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MrNemo posted:I don't know if there are many drysuit divers around these parts but thought I'd look for some feedback. I've got a Weezle undersuit in a DUI and previously much of my diving has been in the colder months, for that it's awesome. In the summer though, especially on warm days, it's too much. I'm not in danger of overheating on a dive but I'm more than warm enough and at the surface I can't actually zip up my drysuit for fear of just sweating through the whole thing. I had a compromise last season I was here of Fourth element Artic leggings and a technical Montane smock, which was warm enough but the nylon fake fleece stuff in the smock was ridiculously itchy under pressure. Anyone have experience with lighter thermals or even using hiking gear as an undersuit? I'm half tempted to get a snugpak thinner jacket as it's the same company that does Weezle filling and it would be dual purpose for being out and about in the colder months. I've had a couple of late fall dives in two layers of wool and one layer of fleece. It works for a 30-35 minute dive for me when the water temp is around 6-10 degrees Celsius. And I get cold fast, so if you're one of those that go into blizzards with a wifebeater and pyjamas pants, I guess you're good. But that's been traded for a Santi BZ 400 undersuit. Because gently caress freezing. I'd rather be quick to get in the water and have a long, comfy dive than freezing the last 15-20 minutes.
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Jan 20, 2016 14:47
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| # ? May 5, 2024 23:43 |
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And We are off to Bonaire, whoop
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Jan 22, 2016 21:46
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