When Tara asked me to join the #ScubaGearChallenge I was in Birmingham attending the DIVE2011 and at that point I thought it was going to be a pretty simple thing, take some photos of my gear and write a post ... when I got down to doing the task it felt like I was in for a project ... I went to my Kit Room / Work Shop / Store Room / Shoe Rack etc etc and started getting my kit out of their dry boxes and onto the kitchen table to start taking some photos ... PLEASE bear in mind 1) I'm a terrible photographer and 2) I do not own a camera - all photos presented here are taken with my smart phone .... [not an Iphone 4S with 8 megapixles & SIRI bla bla]
Where do I start writing about my equipment ... there is a lot of it ... this might get boring for the not so scuba obsessed!!!
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| The Yellow Box |
The place of honour should go to my Unit, my Rebreather .... It's an Inspiration Unit running on Vision Electronics. I went for an AP rebreather and not another make or model because of the reputation that AP has, the reliability of the unit, the level of service offered, the fact that I could get certified locally, I knew a handful of other divers diving Inpos and got very good feedback from them.
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| Vision Handset |
The Vision electronics where a must in my choice of hardware and software, as well as the (Automatic Diluent Valve) ADV and Tempstick which measures the temperature of the absorbent. In the case of the unit I have I use 1mm - 2.5 mm granule Sofnolime which I change every 3 hours on shallow (40 meter dives) or after every dive (when diving to depths of 60+ meters for over an hour). I also like the Heads Up Display (HUD) which flashes green and red lights on front of my mask, according to the signal the unit is emitting, the HUD works in conjunction with Audible Warnings. The unit runs on two 3 litre steel tanks one as diluent, air or trimix and one as pure oxygen. I also have harness with integrated weights and upgraded the standard AP wing for an OMS Tesseract double bladder Wing which was designed for rebreathers, it has a narrow channel of inflation at the topmost area of the bladder which is an advantage since it does not put any pressure on the hoses coming from the back of the Unit to the mouthpiece.
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| 3 Litre Diluent & Oxygen Tanks |
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| What's inside the Yellow Box, Sofnoline Canister & Electronics Head + 2, 3 ltr tanks and APEX first stages with Miflex Hoses |
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| Counter Lungs & Breathing Hose |
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| Intova back up LED Light Fixed to one of the Hose T pieces |
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| Inhale Hose & Exhale Hose Mouth Piece |
The next big investment after the Rebreather must be my Computers in my open circuit years i dived with a VR3 and a timer and slate with multiple dive plans - when i switched to CCR, the unit came with the vision electronics which also calculate the dive based on the diluent being used and the set points so it was a dive computer in itself. But one computer alone is never enough so I still dived with my VR3 and on more demanding dives used a back up timer and slate.
A couple of weeks my VR3 died on me and since I was on the market for a new computer I was warming up to the idea of buying a XEO Computer manufactured in Canada by Liquivision. At this stage the most important factor in the new product had to be real estate on my arm ...the VR, timer and slate where already taking up all the space from wrist to elbow. So a smaller unit was key - One of the tech dive buddies on our team had bought a XEO and when i realised how small it was I made up my mind and blew my credit card !!! (I go into more detail about the XEO on this post - Size Matters)
The XEO is really a fantastic computer, the screen and tapping functions work like a breeze and the fact that you can read it from different angles is also fantastic.
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| The XEO ready to dive on CCR with a Trimix mix of 10/52 |
While i was at DIVE2011 I had a chat with Leyla Gurr and handed in the VR3 which had kicked the bucket. A few days later Leyla sent me an email offering me a new NHeO3 unit in exchange for my dead VR + a small cost for the replacement and postage - I immediately took the offer and the unit arrived in time to be included on this post .... I haven't had the possibility to dive with this computer but I'm sure it will not let me down.
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| NHeO3 coming out of its soft case |
Moving on to more toys and gadgets .... where do I start ???
Slate and Timer - I have a normal three page slate, I use yellow duct tape and fine permanent marker to write my dive plans, which I generate on VPlanner & ZPlanner desktop software;
- Actual Dive Plan as agreed with my Buddy or Team Members
- Dive Plan with extended bottom time
- Dive Plan with lost bailout (in OC mode I would prepare it with lost Rich or Lean Deco Gas)
I have a Uwatec Depth Timer which is currently on loan at a dive buddy of mine so I got the picture off Scubapro's website -
I also have a Suunto Stinger which was my very first dive computer, now I use it as a depth timer under water and as a casual watch when going out - I love the chunkiness of it ....
Knives, I'm not a fan of large knives I keep a Technisub Mini Zak Beta knife inside its shield tucked away in the right pocket of my drysuit or semi dry and an OMS Line Cutter in its kevlar sheath secured to my chest strap on the CCR. I tend to use the line cutter more than the knife to cut abandoned fishing line from wrecks etc.
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| Primary and Back Up Masks |
Masks - two identical Mares Star masks, one of them is more modern it is made of Liquid Skin silicon which is softer then the normal silicon. The Star mask is low volume and compact, the back up is bundled up in its own strap and looped into my chest strap for ease of access in an emergency. If I lose my mask all I have to do is un-clip the chest strap and release the mask - its always clean and ready to use. 
A Jon Line always comes handy when diving in the blue and in strong currents, I have a small one which tucks itself nicely in my drysuit pocket bound with a simple rubber band. I must confess I haven't used it much, it is a small skill I need to get used to, but I have used it when the bubbles of other divers started to bother me while decompressing for 40 or so minutes ....
Where am I going??? which direction is the wreck??? The land navigation skill comes to mind when I was doing my PADI Advanced Open Water course and Martin my instructor pushed a compass in my hand and threw a smelly towel over my head and told me to navigate my way across the car park .... bad memories ...
My compass was originally wrist mounted but the strap broke so it ended up hanging off a clip, which is pretty handing since I attach it to one of the D rings off the counterlungs.
Fins Fins Fins ... I can't count the number of different models I have tried, at dive stores, borrowed off buddies, drooled online (over the Force Fins & Jet Fins mostly). But it always boils down to my trusted pair of yellow Mares Avantix 3 fins ... they come in XXS to fit my size 35/36 feet perfectly even with chuncky dry suit boots or wet boots. There is never a pair of fins that fits as well as the Avantix 3 and I know I should stock up on a back up pair because in the last ten years this is my second pair and I had to get them from a UK Mares agent who told me that XXS where not going to be produced anymore - so as stocking filler this Christmas a spare pair of fins should do nicely - yellow please.
Open Circuit Regulators I use on my Bailout Tanks - I have a pair of Oxygen Clean Aqualung Calypso Regulators which during OC diving where my deco gas regs - they both have Miflex Hoses and are identified by a Yellow Hose and Legend second stage for my Rich Gas which is normally a trimix fill and a Black Hose and Calypso second stage for my Lean Gas normally a rich nitrox. On the Lean Gas I also have a low pressure inflator which i can either use on my dry suit but can also double up as a back up for the diluent inflator on the CCR counterlung. Both regs have submersible pressure gauges on short hoses. As bailout tanks I have two aluminium 7 litre tanks (which are in need of a paint job or else the more fashionable stainless polish finish). I use cambands and clips from AP diving and attach the tanks to my uppermost D ring on the outside of each counterlung and D rings on my waist band - this system will be changed to something similar to side mounting ... but I need time to make the change and test the system during easy shallow dives.
And then there was Light - I have a pretty nifty torch these days .. its from an Italian company called FA&Mi or FAMI and its one of their MultiStar umbilical cord range with rechargeable battery pack. This is the first torch I bought which can be called a primary light - had a smaller FAMI torch from their pocket range (but it was't an actual pocket torch) nevertheless I flooded the thing and the agents in Malta gave me a very good price on the Multistar - so now I own a professional torch!
On every dive I go I have two boxes, one is a water tight box which I take at dive sites and boat dives and it keeps spare cells and batteries for the CCR, spare batteries for the VR, XEO and back up torch as well as intermediate pressure gauge there for safe keeping.
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| Water Tight Box with Emergency Spares |
Then there is my little green lunch tool box which has everything from cable ties, screw drivers, shifting spanner, allen keys, drysuit wax, zip silicon, normal silicon and o2 grease, duct tape, rope, clips, bungee rope, regulator spares, O rings, first aid kit .... etc etc etc. I also own an Analox Helium and O2 analyser which has a Peli Box all to itself. When going on boat dives I like to take my money mobile and car key in a dry bag and this nifty one from Aqualung does the job.
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| My tool box, Helium and O2 Analyser, duct tape and permanent marker as well as my dry bag for mobile & keys |
One last thing I carry is a small net bag with silicon, o2 and my short rope with loop and clip. The bag is always tied to the tub I carry all my gadgets in, that way it's always in the same place. The CCR requires alot of time to prepare and get ready before every dive but no matter how many checks I run at home, I always recheck everything and run the test all over again before getting into the water and if something / anything is off then I drop out of the dive. I keep the reg dust covers from the first stages and the cylinders caps in the same bag together with the Solenoid protector from the CCR. The rope is used to tie the Unit to the boat and the black mares mat acts as a small carpet when changing into my exposure suit.
All of toys and gadgets are tucked nicely into a Sofnoline Tub "Reuse & Recycle" taking up very little room and can easily be smuggled on the rib / dive boat without being told off for bringing a box on the boat ... It's not a Bag !!! it's not a Box !!! it's a Tub :)
Finally we come to Exposure Suits I have always dived in Aqualung Suits, wet, semi and dry and I will only change if I find a Whites Dry Suit under the tree this Christmas ... but lets get back to what's in MY dive bag and not what's AT my favourite dive store.
I'm currently diving in a Aqualung Blizzard Pro Dry suit which fits me perfect - just like a wet suit ... I'm very happy with it and if I wear a heavy pair of socks then the boots aren't too big. Its 4mm compressed Neoprene with hard boots and latex wrist and neck seals. As a base layer I have one set - Fourth Element Thermocline Explorer longjohn and long sleeve top. |
| Poncho Towel, Hood, Thermocline Top, Ninja Gloves, Thermocline Long John - I wear Hello Kitty Socks which are not technically diving equipment therefore could not be included in the photoshoot. |
The Dry Suit comes with it's own hood, size small for a small head ... I also have a pair of "Ninga Gloves" stole that term off Tara also from Forth Element they are the 3mm size small. I recently purchased a poncho towel which is proving to be very handy when changing at dive sites ... it covers all the bits and keeps me warm.
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| Soft Weight Belt |
I think this pretty much sums up my Dive Bag for the time being ... I do leave some stuff at home - That's my open circuit gear which from time to time I might use - though come to think of it, I've owned the CCR for just over two years now and I can't recall any diving I've done on OC since then ... I'm such a hoarder.
Custom Divers double bladder TCW Wing with sport harness and stainless steel back plate + soft back cover. I used this on twin 12 litre steel tanks.
As primary and secondary Regs I used Legend LX ACD Supreme which I have to say have never let me down, they are serviced and certified yearly at the agents by the technical Guru Jason at M & A. I have been considering using these regs on my bailout tanks. The Primary set has a long hose, low pressure inflater and SPG from Suunto (from my recreational diving days).
The Secondary set has a second stage on a standard hose with a bungee that goes around my neck and an LPI for the second bladder.
The Secondary set has a second stage on a standard hose with a bungee that goes around my neck and an LPI for the second bladder.
I own a brand new 7mm semi dry which was cordially replaced by Aqualung since my original one developed a defect, the new one was shipped to M&A a few weeks ago and hasn't been used yet, thus it is homed in my wardrobe ready for next summer season. I had grown very fond of the semi, I like it's girlie touches and due to its anatomic design it fits like second skin.
When I'm cold I wear another Forth Element layer from their Proteus range I use the 3mm short john, it also helps to get into and out of the semi.
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| The Manifold on my Twin Set |
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| 12 Litre Steel Faber Tanks from Aqualung |
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| 7 Litre Ali Tanks used as bailouts or deco tanks |
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| This is actually one of the buses I would have travelled on a 45 route |
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| Map, A St Paul's Bay my home, B Bus Terminus Valletta & C Dive Centre at Marsascala |
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| Will and my Mares Bag |
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| One of the Boxes and 2 tubs of Sofno |
Now the Mares dive bag doubles up as a hiding place for one of my cats, Will or Grace and my equipment fits in two deep boxes and one recycled Sofno Tub excluding tanks & lead of course. They all pile up in the back of my Honda - no more seat collapsing :) and the car is high enough for me to done my unit and walk away without breaking my back!!!
Links to other Scuba Gear Challenges;
Dive Mistress .... The one that got us started http://www.divemistress.net/tag/scuba-gear-challenge/
Andy .... The Deep Sea Diver http://iarediver.blogspot.com/2011/10/whats-in-my-dive-bag.html
Suzy .... The Squirrel http://suzywalker.wordpress.com/2011/10/25/whats-in-my-dive-bag/
Clare .... The Bunny http://divebunnie.blogspot.com/2011/10/what-is-in-my-dive-bag.html
Excellent post Ka!
ReplyDeleteI think you have the most stuff in your dive bag by far; and the only RB diver - what an honour! :D
You definitely are a hoarder; i half expected to see your original BCD in there.
You also seem to get a lot of stuff replaced - not jealous at all! ;)
I can't even begin to imagine how you would go diving by bus ...
Hey Andy - well I did for the duration of the course & I was already buying equipment so ever few weeks the bag just got fuller and heavier :)
ReplyDeleteWith regards to my old BCD, its still alive and working underwater, its being used by another female diver until she gets her own .... re-use recycle :)
i like the flower on the semi dry !!
ReplyDeleteyou got a bus in your dive bag as well?
ReplyDeleteCool and that i have a nifty present: How Much Is Home Renovation planning a home addition
ReplyDelete