Apr 29
Apr 24
To divers, traveling on airlines with tons of scuba gear is almost always a pain. Add a rebreather and it can get even more complicated. You have weight issues, extra baggage fees and the fear that something will get broken, stolen or confiscate.
I saw this on San Diego Tech Diving and Rebreather World and it’s an excellent run-down of all the issues.
I work for the airlines in the US, so I will try and throw in my 2 cents.
- TANKS. you can travel with tanks (ill advised) as they can be siezed by TSA without warning and you will not get them back. They must be checked, valves removed, with absolutely nothing blocking the tank opening. They can be asses even about clear packing tape over the opening, or they can be cool. It is anyones guess. Pre-ship or make arrangement at your destination for tanks.
- SORB. Easier to pre-ship. There has been discussion on another forum about putting all of you sorb in a Kitty Litter tub and checking it in as baggage. Probably illegal but who knows. There are MSDS sheets you can print out and attach to your sorb tub. BUT while passengers have followed all of the rules on taking sorb on the plane the TSA has still chosen to confiscate it. You have no recourse for the confiscation, it is gone. Make back-up arrangements at your dive destination for SORB purchase.
- Rebreather. Carry on what you can, the delicate parts, the computers whatever you don’t want the baggage handlers or TSA rooting through (without your presence), possibly stealing or confiscating. Double check the allowed carry-on weight allowance.
- Check you airline website for weight restrictions for both carry on and cheaked baggage. All airlines are different and they change all of the time. Weigh you bags at home and work out the weight distribution before you get to the airport.
- I took my KISS CLASSIC as carry on baggage the last time I travelled, with my computer, DSV, put other parts in my scrubber. Just be prepared to take it all out and show them EVERYTHING.
Sometimes it is just easier to ship everything, with insurance.
Apr 21
I was poking around the interweb and I stumbled upon this SCUBA regulator mouth-piece: The Manta-Bite. Apparently, it’s designed to be placed in your mouth and then the “manta wings” create a water barrier.
This would allow you to relax your bite on the mouth piece and in theory make it more like breathing with your mouth slightly open.
The picture to the right shows how you pinch the mouth piece before you shove it in your mouth. I’ve read of people using these to protect their airway should they passout underwater. The thought is that with this type of mouth piece you wouldn’t lose the regulator as your jaw relaxed.
Maybe it’s comfortable but to me, it looks like it might rub my gums raw, I’d need one to review.
$39.99, available in Clear, Green and Black
Apr 17
I LOVE my iphone but I miss have a scuba diving decompression program on it. Having this I can plan my technical dives on the device that I always on me, my cell phone.
I used to have jdeco on my Blackberry, and before that I had DivePlan on my Sony P800 and way before that Decoplanner on my Palm. But when I moved to the Iphone, I had nothing and I so I had to go back to my PC/Mac based decompression program.
However, on the horizon there is now hope: IphoneDeco.com. The site just went up and announced the development but not yet released version of a decompression program for the Iphone/Ipod Touch platform.
From www.iphonedeco.com:
iPhone Deco works in conjunction with MyDecoPlan.com to bring an interactive, intuitive approach to dive planning for the iPhone. Open Circuit, SCR & CCR Dive Planning With Buhlmann/GF and VPM/B - Coming in June 2008!
MyDecoplan.com will give you a sneak peak on what they thinking. I can’t wait until June.
Apr 15
David Gallo shows jaw-dropping footage of amazing sea creatures, including a shape-shifting cuttlefish, a pair of fighting squid, and a mesmerizing gallery of bioluminescent fish that light up the blackest depths of the ocean. He focuses on the work of two scientists: Edith Widder at the Ocean Research & Conservation Association, and Roger Hanlon at the Marine Biological Lab.
Apr 15
Bikini Atoll the sight of the famous US hydrogen bomb tests should be some of the more radioactive places on earth. One would expect a vast waste land both above or below the water.
However, this isn’t the case, Bikini’s coral reef is flourishing with life. The coconuts are radioactive as they absorbed the cesium and other particles in the soil but the background radiation in the sea is the same as anywhere else in the world.
You can dive Bikini’s coral reef and it’s nuclear fleet; a set of test ships blown up to see the nuclear affects of a nuclear attack on warships. However, it’s very expensive.
Apr 14
This website/blog is written by and for woman scuba divers. It features trip reports, photos, tips and gear reviews that focus on women who scuba dive.
Pretty cool idea as most of the dive industry is male-focused.
Apr 14
Red, the HD camera company owned by the founder of Oakley Sunglasses, has announced a new smaller version of there amazing camcorders. The Scarlet, shoots in the REDCODE RAW HD, up to 4096×2304, which is beyond current HD and is more in line with a 35mm film camera.
Translation: Awesome looking HD-video that should look as if it’s shot with a 150K camera.
The target price is rumored to be around $3,000 USD and should be ready sometime next year…or whenever they ship it.
Also, it should be a great little travel camcorder due to it’s size. The only thing missing is an underwater housing for it which I am sure could be built by Gates or Light and Motion.
Here is the page: http://www.red.com/nab/scarlet
Apr 10
This is very cool. A Iraq war veteran loses a leg while sweeping for IEDs but learns to scuba dive in spite of it.
…part of a group of 14 soldiers with war-related injuries participating in Warrior Dive through Tuesday….
Apr 09
Divers have discovered an unusual flat-faced fish with forward-looking eyes that may represent an entirely new piscine family. This fish was first found by scuba divers, off the Indonesian coast, and may represent the first new family of fish discovered in the last 50 years.