Eric Keibler will be offering an Open Water Side Mount course in June. This is a 3 night class with one to two days of open waters. It is intended for open water diving, not side mounting in caves or wrecks. You will find it to be an easy way to extend your bottom time.
If you would like to find out more, please send Eric a note. Or, if you are ready to sign-up just send Eric an email or sign-up now through our on-line system.
Pete Nawrocky: Pete is the Sales Manager for Dive Rite and is best known for his willingness to share his passion for diving with others. Pete has established quite a following of divers who enjoy his affable approach to teaching and Pete can be found at least once a month in the water with a group of divers who want to learn new techniques or try new equipment. Pete makes it a point to dive with all of his clients as often as possible; believing that diving is what builds lasting relationships and after all, is what draws everyone to this unique industry in the first place.
We are pleased to welcome Larry Elsevier to our monthly Club Aquarius meeting on 28 April 2011. The meeting is open to everyone. This month we will be meeting at the Black Labrador, 4100 Montrose. The meeting starts at 7:00. We are asking for RSVP’s so we know how many people will be joining us.
Larry is currently the Sales Manager for Cochran Consulting, manufacturers of the Cochran diving computers. But Larry’s love of diving started long before his move to Texas. As a commercial urchin diver and dive store owner in the Seattle area, Larry was the first dive facility outside of Key West Florida to offer nitrox to his divers and commercial clients. He operated one of the the largest Nitrox blending facilities in the world and pioneered the use of liquid oxygen in gas production.
Larry’s love of diving took him all over the world and he simply loves talking about diving with everyone he meets. An unassuming personnality Larry is a go to guy when it comes to diving technology, especially dive compuaters. He and Mike Cochran became friends when Larry was selling the then new dive computers in his store and their friendship continued until Mike talked Larry into mneung to Texas.
Larry believes that the Cochran computer is simply the best unit on the market and he is willing to tell you why without a lot of sales speak. Come visit with Larry and find out more about these incredible dive computers and the technology behind them.
Part of being a self-sufficient diver is having the necessary redundant life support equipment and safety equipment on with you on a dive. This does not mean that you carry everything in your dive bag underwater with you, but rather, the items you need to execute the dive you have planned safely with back-up and safety equipment that you believe you will need or may need on the planned dive. The items a technical diver might carry are:
To safely carry these items underwater, you need to be able to store them out of the way. We do this using bungee or inner tube on the straps for some things, bungee on the sides of the plate and or under the plate for others.
However, there is only so much room on the plate and straps, so adding pockets will give you more room to stow the equipment you have decided to carry. There are a number of pocket styles that you can use with your kit. The most widely used pockets are those that fit on the harness waist strap. Horizontal pockets are the most traditional and are designed to carry flat items like slates, wet notes, small lights, whistles, etc. Traditionally, they are not wide or long because of the limited “real estate” on the waist strap. I am a fan of horizontal pockets but I do not carry too many items in a pocket.
Another pocket style is a waist pocket with a vertical orientation. These can either be thin like the horizontal pockets or bellows style pockets which expand to allow for more items to be placed inside. Again, you still have the problem with limited “real estate” on the waist strap. Some divers like vertical pockets and on some dives I have added a small spare mask pocket to the waist strap.
Dry suit divers discovered a solution to this lack of room on the waist belt years ago. They added thigh pockets onto their suits. You will now see wetsuit divers adding pockets to their suits as well. Of course, if you have multiple suits you have to glue pockets on each suit. One other thing to keep in mind is when your suit wears out, you have to cut off the pocket and re-glue it to your new suit.
The major problem with pockets on your thighs or hips is drag. When these pockets are full, they add about two to four inches to your profile. But remember, everything is a compromise and if you need the space, they are great to have but there is a trade-off.
Before deciding which system is right for you, you need to decide what items need to fit in the pockets. Do you need to carry flat items like slates and tables only or do you want to keep a spare mask and SMB handy?
My personal choice is a horizontal pocket on the waist strap with the addition of other pockets as I need them. While I have pockets on my drysuit, I only use them for small items like spare spools. Your decision may be different based on your style of diving and how you want to store your equipment for a dive.
A: The key question that I had to answer before I began using a rebreather was, “Why do divers die on a rebreather.” The short answer is rebreather divers die when they forget or stop believing that the laws of physics apply to them.
Q: But when the above mentioned have failed for one reason or another, the next law implied should be survival. Would not the presence of a partner/buddy in close proximity of you, help?
A: Rebreathers are not complex machines but they do require one to setup them properly. Most accidents can be traced to actions or inactions on the surface. Even that, most times does not kill divers, it then takes ignoring warning signs. Generally a rebreather setup properly just works. Monitor it and you will be fine. From the accidents I have been able to research 99% have been diver error. When I use my rebreather I always tell myself the laws of physics still apply to me and complacency and stupidity kills. The definition of an accident is the lost of control. Typically there is a series of events each of itself not causing a loss of control but together causes an accident. Breaking the chain of events prevents the accident. When using a rebreather this is done by paying attention and following your training.
Q; When I dive with my partner/buddy, I have to be honest, I feel as though I am somewhat responsible for his safety, and he mine.
A: When I dive with someone I tell them that no matter what, I am coming back safely. Implied by that is I will drag their sorry butt back also, but I need to know where they are at.
