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MK25 are piston and they aren't sealed. I don't really know anything about piston vs diaphragm though.
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Feb 28, 2017 04:29
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So tomorrow is the first day the Weeki-Wachee mermaids are going to be at our aquarium! I'm running as a safety diver for one of their shows, then rolling directly into my own dive show right after they're done 
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Mar 2, 2017 21:51
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Icon Of Sin posted:So tomorrow is the first day the Weeki-Wachee mermaids are going to be at our aquarium! I'm running as a safety diver for one of their shows, then rolling directly into my own dive show right after they're done Are you wearing a bikini for your dive show?
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Mar 3, 2017 04:09
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What can I pick up to hold my find, booties, mask, and snorkel? My second bathroom is an explosion of this stuff.
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Mar 4, 2017 16:42
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The Electronaut posted:What can I pick up to hold my find, booties, mask, and snorkel? My second bathroom is an explosion of this stuff. If you've got a place to hang them from, this works great: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000T457FA/ I've been pretty happy with it.
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Mar 4, 2017 16:51
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Squashy Nipples posted:If you've got a place to hang them from, this works great: Cool, anything for hauling you can recommend? I still have two check out trips ahead of me for OW cert and after that not sure if I want to go down the rabbit hole of computer, BC, reg, etc... I've already done the burn money game on skydiving.
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Mar 4, 2017 17:15
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The Electronaut posted:Cool, anything for hauling you can recommend? I still have two check out trips ahead of me for OW cert and after that not sure if I want to go down the rabbit hole of computer, BC, reg, etc... I've already done the burn money game on skydiving. Sup skydiving buddy - get a gear bag, then computer, regs, bc. We use a regular old mesh sack with straps like this one
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Mar 4, 2017 17:58
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A cheap plastic bin from Home Depot is great for throwing in your car too, so your carpets don't start smelling like seawater. Also keeps your crap from sliding under the seats if it manages to get out of your gear bag, somehow.
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Mar 4, 2017 18:01
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I know a guy who is very happy using one of those blue IKEA bags. He also uses one to stand in for changing purposes
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Mar 4, 2017 19:58
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let it mellow posted:Are you wearing a bikini for your dive show? I wasn't wearing anything 😏 Shows have gone well so far! I even got a mermaid signature for my logbook
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Mar 5, 2017 00:16
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I got a mesh bag for my poo poo. It was great up until I had to lug it around during my travels. I recommend a bag with wheels, or barring that, get a collapsible hand cart.
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Mar 5, 2017 08:57
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I always struggle with gear bags. I usually carry a few 'occasional' things in my dive bag to each dive but then don't want to chuck them in with my wet stuff as it means I then have to wash them as well. I can't figure out an efficient way to do this. Also I feel the pain about washing gear as all I have is a tiny shower in my apartment. I soaked my new regs in my kitchen sink!
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Mar 5, 2017 23:18
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Red_Fred posted:I always struggle with gear bags. I usually carry a few 'occasional' things in my dive bag to each dive but then don't want to chuck them in with my wet stuff as it means I then have to wash them as well. I can't figure out an efficient way to do this. All the "occasional" stuff in my dive box gets washed every time. I'm an apartment dweller too, so I rinse everything in my shower. Not the greatest, but it works. I just got back from Hawaii! I was there for a friend's wedding, but stuck around and did some diving while I was there. I did one day of diving in Oahu, and then moved to Maui where I spent 5 days diving. Oahu had awesome fish and turtles, but the corals were absolutely thrashed. Maui was beautiful, and there was a ton more coral life, but even in Molokini it was pretty clear that there have been some huge die-offs. I asked about it on the boat, and apparently a couple of years ago there was particularly hot water of Molokini for a couple of days and they had a huge bleaching event. One of the DMs showed me a picture of huge bleached areas from right after it happened; since then the dead corals have been covered in algae so they aren't bare white skeletons anymore. It was gorgeous and I'm glad I went, but it was hard to see that so much of it had been lost.  Green sea turtle in Oahu. These were some of the biggest green sea turtles I've seen.  Wire coral goby :-)  White-tipped reef shark!  Hawaiian dascyllus, these are an endemic to the area. I think they're related to the Domino damselfish you see elsewhere in the tropical Pacific  Hawaiian sergeant damselfish pair laying eggs  Molokini reef shot (I think this was the back side). You can see some dead coral, but it's still gorgeous and full of life.  A blue jack! These guys are beautiful. Also some water droplets on my port, I had a close call with a hair in the o-ring.  I think this is a porcelain crab  Leaf scorpionfish. This guy was a brilliant white, so he must have recently molted.
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Mar 6, 2017 05:21
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That crab!  great photos.
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Mar 6, 2017 05:32
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Great photos, I agree! E: that goby pic is fantastic E2: what's your photo rig?
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Mar 6, 2017 05:42
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let it mellow posted:E2: what's your photo rig? An Olympus EPL-6 in the Olympus housing, with two Sea&Sea YS-01 strobes. Those pics were shot with either a 17mm lens or a 30mm macro (which is what I used for the crab and the goby). For the 17mm I use the Zen 7-14mm lens port for my housing. The 7-14mm lens distorts like crazy in that housing, so I wouldn't recommend that lens/port combo. I'd love to shoot wider; there's a 12mm lens I'd love to use but I can't find a good port for it. I also forgot a picture!  This picture is hot garbage because I was freaking out and all I could do was hit the video button and point the camera in the general direction. Mother and calf humpback did a swim-by on my first dive off Molokini :-) DeadlyMuffin fucked around with this message at 05:55 on Mar 6, 2017 |
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Mar 6, 2017 05:52
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MrYenko posted:A cheap plastic bin from Home Depot is great for throwing in your car too, so your carpets don't start smelling like seawater. Also keeps your crap from sliding under the seats if it manages to get out of your gear bag, somehow. You should see the bottom of the plastic bin in our car that holds dive gear for two people. It makes it easy to be lazy but doesn't completely solve the smell issue. 
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Mar 6, 2017 15:54
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Came back from our latest cruise. Dove Bonaire (2 shore), Curacao (2 shore), Aruba (2 boat). We also visited St Maarten for the second time. My favorite itinerary so far, nice islands full of Dutch peeps. If you go to Bonaire dive with VIP Diving, great company, great shop, dive master was great and very attentive, basically got a free tour of the island with him. Curious 2 Dive in Curacao was a pretty lovely operation. Happy Divers Aruba was a fast and efficient operation, picked us up from the port, straight to boat, did two dives and back in record time. Lots of trumpet fish and trunk fish. Saw three kinds of eels. Antilla is a nice wreck. Pedernalis had a lot of life including a pile of barracuda as well as a MASSIVE porkupine fish. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoxUVura1Sk&t=1s 2016: St Lucia, St Kitts. Poorer islands, less infrastructure. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfexM5OQMp0&t=1s 2015: Someone captioned this one. Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Roatan. Not much a fan of Grand Cayman, Roatan was very poor with not little infrastructure, Cozumel was a nice dive. Saw lots of turtles and rays this trip. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhIJbttIcqk&t=1s My dive computer was working fine in 2016 but its pressure sensor was shot when I took it down for the first dive this year. -2m the whole time and it crashes and reboots wiped when I try to go in to AIR mode. Suunto Mosquito from 2005. Ordered a new Suunto Zoop on clearance. cowofwar fucked around with this message at 19:55 on Mar 6, 2017 |
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Mar 6, 2017 19:50
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DeadlyMuffin posted:
I'm loving all of your pics, but this one is so good that I'm stealing it for a desktop background. Great use of back lighting!
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Mar 6, 2017 19:59
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cowofwar posted:Came back from our latest cruise. Dove Bonaire (2 shore), Curacao (2 shore), Aruba (2 boat). The dive outfits aside, what did you think of the life/reef health between those three islands? I've only been to Bonaire, so I'm curious about the others.
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Mar 6, 2017 20:43
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Just high-fiving kids through the window, no big deal 
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Mar 6, 2017 22:28
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DeadlyMuffin posted:The dive outfits aside, what did you think of the life/reef health between those three islands? I've only been to Bonaire, so I'm curious about the others.
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Mar 6, 2017 22:52
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I live in Raleigh, NC but am moving to Japan in early May and would like to get certified before I leave since I imagine the classes would be easier in English rather than Japanese. Is this something I can finish before then? Does anyone have any suggestions for good dive shops in the area? Additionally, how difficult is it to get further certified (and how long usually) for things like: boat diving? wreck diving? using trimix? Thanks y'all
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Mar 6, 2017 23:01
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Noitaroballoc posted:I live in Raleigh, NC but am moving to Japan in early May and would like to get certified before I leave since I imagine the classes would be easier in English rather than Japanese. Is this something I can finish before then? Does anyone have any suggestions for good dive shops in the area? Hey, I'm in Wilmington! We do a fair bit of training up there when the ocean decides to not cooperate with us. We're running classes up there in April, so I know someone up there is too and finishing before you leave is definitely an option! Carolina Dive Center has always been good to us up there, but I haven't heard a bad thing about any of the shops up there. You'll likely do your training dives in Fantasy Lake, which will still be chilly in April (but still very doable). There's an fb group called Raleigh Area Divers who may be able to guide you a little better than I can over SA, check them out as well. Sometimes the local shops post deals there too, on gear or classes. For your other classes, the others are easy to get into with the exception of Trimix. Unless you're doing some deep diving (~150 ft or deeper) you'll never need Trimix. Wreck diving is a specialty course offered by PADI, and could potentially be done before you leave if the weather in Wilmington cooperated with you.
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Mar 6, 2017 23:22
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Noitaroballoc posted:I live in Raleigh, NC but am moving to Japan in early May and would like to get certified before I leave since I imagine the classes would be easier in English rather than Japanese. Is this something I can finish before then? Does anyone have any suggestions for good dive shops in the area? There's time before May if you can find a class starting soon, but you should book ASAP. If I remember right you need 3 weekends or so. Boat diving: no certification needed, although the "advanced open water" class is a good follow-up to your initial certification and can cover boat diving tips. The thing that I've seen trip up new drivers is ascending to a boat is different than the more gradual change in depth you get diving off a beach. Wreck diving: no certification needed to explore the outside of a wreck. Penetrating a wreck should come *much* later, as it can be a pretty dangerous activity if not done properly. Get a few (hundred, frankly) dives under your belt first. Tri-mix: only needed if you're going very deep (~130'+). See my comments on boat diving. You might be thinking of nitrox though (which is an O2/n2 mix with >21% O2, as opposed to tri-mix where you're also adding He). Nitrox gives you additional bottom time and raises your floor, but I'd only recommend that once you get comfortable enough in the water that you find yourself limited by bottom time and not air consumption. Otherwise it probably isn't worth the money.
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Mar 6, 2017 23:56
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So I moved from BC to Ontario in 2008 and haven't used my dry suit, BCD and regs since then (9 years). I just used rental stuff on vacations. I'm moving back to BC in July and will start diving again with my own gear. What do I need to do? Dry suit has seal cancer so the latex seals need replacement. I'll have to rent a tank and throw the regs and BCD in to the bath tub to check for leaks I guess. Presumably I need to have the regs serviced. Do BCDs need to be serviced?
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Mar 7, 2017 00:54
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cowofwar posted:So I moved from BC to Ontario in 2008 and haven't used my dry suit, BCD and regs since then (9 years). I just used rental stuff on vacations. I'm moving back to BC in July and will start diving again with my own gear. What do I need to do? Dry suit has seal cancer so the latex seals need replacement. I'll have to rent a tank and throw the regs and BCD in to the bath tub to check for leaks I guess. Presumably I need to have the regs serviced. Do BCDs need to be serviced? I would take it all in to your local dive shop. BCDs don't strictly need servicing but you may as well get it tested for leaks along with your dry suit. Also the rubber might be on its way out for the o rings and other bits. No point risking your life over ~$100 it costs to service your gear when it's been that long. Usual intervals are 1-2 years.
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Mar 7, 2017 01:24
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Icon Of Sin posted:Just high-fiving kids through the window, no big deal Whats the blue cord?
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Mar 7, 2017 05:17
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Squashy Nipples posted:Whats the blue cord? My communications line. We don't have wireless, we've just got a line that plugs into a full face mask and transmits from there. The bone phones for me to hear the person on the microphone are the weirdest part, since they transmit vibrations into your skull that your little ear bones pick up on. It's like hearing a disembodied voice all around you.
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Mar 7, 2017 05:23
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My drysuit rings need replacing! The soft ring that is glued to the suit has cracks around the rim which means it doesn't seal. Anyone else had to do this? My suit is a Waterproof D7 pro. I got this suit second hand so I'm hoping it's nothing I've done.
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Mar 9, 2017 02:14
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Are those rings for silicone seals? If so not something I've had, which make are the seals? I'm assuming you don't just mean the O rings (which should be pretty easy to replace) in which case I'd recommend sending it to a service centre. If it's regular neoprene or latex seals then you'll have to replace it (doesn't sound like it's one of them though). Replacing seals is perfectly doable at home but you need a few bits and pieces. YouTube is probably your best resource for that.
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Mar 9, 2017 16:36
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They are Waterproof silicone seals. My shop said they had never seen it happen before. They are going to have to re-glue the soft ring part back on. Should be good in the end as I've always thought they leaked more than they should but was always told 'that just happens'.
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Mar 9, 2017 19:10
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Ah yeah if it's for silicone seals get a professional to do it. For the price of a long term solution it's worth knowing it's done properly. That may depend on the professional of course.
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Mar 9, 2017 21:07
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How useful is the DAN membership? I'm covered locally if I have any issues and I always get travel insurance that covers me diving when I go away so I wouldn't need the DAN insurance part.
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Mar 10, 2017 02:33
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Red_Fred posted:How useful is the DAN membership? I'm covered locally if I have any issues and I always get travel insurance that covers me diving when I go away so I wouldn't need the DAN insurance part. If you live in the US, chamber rides and the chopper ride to said chamber are NOT covered. Thats what DAN is for. And they do some great diving research, it's worth it.
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Mar 10, 2017 04:05
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I had to get insurance as part of my DMT. 75 dollars for absolute peace of mind was a bargain if you ask me. Especially since the nearest hyperbaric was a long chopper ride away. I recommend if you dive in remote areas (and it's not going to break the bank either, you're a diver ffs).
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Mar 10, 2017 06:30
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lord1234 posted:If you live in the US, chamber rides and the chopper ride to said chamber are NOT covered. Thats what DAN is for. And they do some great diving research, it's worth it. Trivia posted:I had to get insurance as part of my DMT. 75 dollars for absolute peace of mind was a bargain if you ask me. Especially since the nearest hyperbaric was a long chopper ride away. I recommend if you dive in remote areas (and it's not going to break the bank either, you're a diver ffs). Well it's mainly that in New Zealand we are covered by ACC for accidents (which includes camber visits etc.) and then when I'm travelling I'm covered by my travel insurance as I don't tech dive. This means my DAN membership would really be for the magazine and to help them do research, or are there other benefits I'm not thinking of?
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Mar 10, 2017 06:55
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If you're just doing non deco, shallow diving and have national health that covers it then no, there's no advantage to DAN membership really apart from support. On the other hand I know people who have had issues abroad and DAN have been great in helping them. I like to have the option of more adventurous diving so got coverage with DAN and get travel insurance through that for 90 days a year. That's the only definite feature where it's clearly worth it really if you've already got good travel insurance.
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Mar 10, 2017 16:02
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DAN also has a separate gear insurance policy, to cover you in case of theft or failure (like my buddy's camera housing that flooded and drowned his nice DSLR).
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Mar 10, 2017 17:19
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Yeah, get DAN. The quarterly magazine is nice, they'll cover hyperbaric chambers wherever, whenever if you need one, deal with the chopper if you get bent on the Blue Hole for example, and even insure your gear. For the ridiculously low cost, it's a must have.
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Mar 10, 2017 23:04
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