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Self Sufficient Diving
It’s never a good thing to go diving by yourself. Although there is a speciality under most sanctioning bodies for solo diving; if you can help it, dive with a buddy. Now, I’m not saying that you and your dive buddy have to be attached to each other’s hips, but it’s smart to dive with […]...
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Comfort Under Water
The number one rule to scuba diving is never stop breathing. The second rule; and one that I believe is unwritten; is your comfort underwater. This is paramount, and something that I am seeing in the industry as overlooked at times. Properly fitting equipment that you, as a diver, are trained on properly is vitally […]...
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Equipment… It’s only what you use to breath underwater…
All too often I see divers treat their equipment as if it’s really not responsible for delivering air to them at depth. It’s interesting how some of them boast about the dollar amount on their equipment and then turn around and seemingly destroy their equipment. Not saying anyone is made of money, but seriously; when it’s your life underwater, you would think some would take special care of their equipment. But, all too often, I see divers completely disregard this simple ideal...
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Distractions Under Water
There are lots of things going on underwater while you’re diving. Your buoyancy, your breathing, your kick cycle while you’re navigating to that supposed treasure spot. It’s all happening at once, and the last thing you need is another distraction. Then it happens, your camera floods; and to add a sense of panic to this hypothetical, so does your light. You’re at 22 metres (72 feet), and the whole purpose of diving (to photograph part of reef in deep water) just flooded. ...
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Review: The Lois Ann in San Diego
“People come from far, far, far away to find their dreams, chasin’ down these meteors and comets called dreams, in the sky of life. There are certain hot spots where these meteors and stars have a tendency to fall; and legend has it that California is one of those spots. I believe that to be true…” – Mos Def It isn’t often that I quote hip-hop artists, but I feel that Mr. Def’s lyrics in this case happens to dead on correct in my opinion. Especially when...
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Weather… “It’s raining. Are we still diving?”
Weather. One of the biggest factors on whether or not a dive is going to happen. If you’ve been diving for a bit, then it has happened to you; a dive cancelled (or at least the scare of cancelling), because of weather. Big swells, lightning, heavy rains, strong currents, and high winds are just some of the weather issues that will cancel a dive. So the big question is when do you cancel the dive? How high is too high when it comes to waves? How strong is too strong when it comes to current...
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Diving Within Your Limits
I’m currently reading Shadow Divers, by Robert Kurson. It’s a very well known book in the dive community; it’s very well written and I recommend the book to any diver at any level. The book; if you’ve read it then you understand why it pertains to this topic; chronicles the discovery and subsequent dives by several divers of a WWII German Kriegsmarine U-Boat off the New Jersey shore line in just over 200 ft of sea water. Some basic dive physics are discussed by the authou...
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Gear: You get what you pay for…
When it comes to gear, saving money is not always the best answer. I say this in the nicest way possible; but unless you have a friend, a collective discount program with your club, or key man at your local shop or centre; then I’m sorry to tell you, but you will probably find few major discounts on equipment. That’s right, I said few, actually close to none. They just don’t exist at the retail level. Let me be clear. Scuba Diving is a equipment intensive sport. And if you want...
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Sharks; feeding frenzy…
Sharks swim all over this earth’s oceans and interact differently in the environment; feeding, brooding, range, and life spans all vary between the species. In contrast with popular fiction, shark behaviour, and feeding habits also vary between the species. One thing to remember about sharks is; if you saw it in a movie, it’s more than likely bad science and not indicative of true shark behaviour. Almost all sharks are carnivorous, although hunting and feeding practices vary between ...
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Sharks; fish with cartilage…
The first thing everyone should know about sharks is the most basic and primarily the most important; sharks are chondrichthyes, meaning their skeletal system is made up almost entirely of cartilage; not bone, like most fish. They share this characteristic with rays, skates, and a few crabs, snails, and cephalopods. This is very important information in relation to the sharks’ ecology in this planet’s oceans. Physically speaking, today’s modern sharks bear striking resemblance ...
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Sharks; an introduction…
There are several different species of animals that roam our oceans that are considered dangerous to humans. Thanks to a few recent media sensationalisations; species that were previously not considered dangerous, now sadly are. At the top of this list is the shark, a creature that has been immortalised in science fiction movies, and even a few documentaries; that portrayed the animal to be easily prone to violence, bloodthirsty, and human hungry. Besides Polar Bears; I personally know of no oth...
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Shark Week Disapointment
Shark week has progressively become a violence ridden bite fest year by year. It seems the Discovery Channel wants the viewing public to see sharks as violent predators that will “eat” divers… I’ve heard it from people before; they won’t dive in the ocean because of “sharks”, and how dangerous they are. I’m not kidding, I know divers that won’t dive salt water because of sharks and other fictitious man eating creatures (like the giant squid f...
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Shark Week Is Upon Us!
Ah, that time of year has come again. Everyone’s favourite (according to the ratings) show to watch on the Discovery Channel. The popularity of this venerable week named after the most infamous of apex predators had strangely humble beginnings on the Discovery Channel; but nonetheless evolved into a behemoth of a show itself. In 1987, the Discovery Channel ran a week long special on an apex predator that has become feared, popularised, and studied by the general public. Shark Week has sinc...
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Freshwater experiences…
Freshwater diving can be incredibly rewarding; not better than saltwater; simply as rewarding as saltwater. There are many places to dive freshwater around the world, but I specifically want to focus on an area on the Arizona/ Nevada border in the United States. Running from Hoover Dam to Davis Dam, it sits at an elevation of about 647 feet above sea level, and encompasses some 28 thousand acres of freshwater as a reservoir created by the Davis Dam. Although the water here eventually flows south...
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Mohave Boat Diving Opportunity
Dive Shack USA of Bullhead City, AZ is taking divers into Lake Mohave to dive several boat wrecks north of Cabinsite Point. For those that have dove Lake Mohave and Cabinsite Point you know how awesome the dives are with the bus, van, boats, buoyancy course and other underwater objects; so these dives will be as equally awesome! Dives are planned either the 12th or the 13th. Please contact Jerry Portwood for more detailed information at: 928 – 404 – 1527 info@diveshackusa.com Dive Sh...
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Surface Air Consumption (SAC) Rates; Breathing…Underwater!
Surface Air Consumption Rates are the rate that a diver depletes his/her cylinder (regardless of the mix), and although the majority of divers will never use it, there is actual math to determine a diver’s rate. Most dive computers today already calculate this, and some even display the SAC rate inside one of the modes of the computer, most are simply downloaded with all other pertinent information of the dive onto a personal computer. Regulators are designed to give the contents of the cy...
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Archimedes’ Principle: Whatever Floats Your Boat…
Archimedes Principle is understood by every sailor, boat owner, and scuba divers the world over. It is a physics law that governs buoyancy and object displacement on the water. It is a simple principle that can simply applied. The law is expressed mathematically thus: buoyancy = weight of displace fluid This means that any object may buoy itself positively if the objects displaces more weight than the objects weighs. This applies to gases and liquids as well. If an object buoys itself by displac...
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On Boyle’s Law and other things…
Boyle’s Law is a theory on the effects of pressure upon a compressed gas, and although the name of the theory and it’s general application to SCUBA diving is very well known among divers all over the world, its’ actual parameters, I believe, has escaped many recreational divers today. There are many different formulas and theorems of physics and chemistry that diver’s understand basically, but the advanced concept behind many of these knowledge stems, seems to have been l...
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Phoenix, AZ area PADI member forum
For those professionals who may have missed the PADI member forum in March, all PADI Instructors and Divemasters are encouraged to attend the PADI Member Forum on June 26 from 7-10pm at All Wet Scuba, the only 5 Star CDC in Arizona. You will receive important updates and industry news. For more information: Please contact Brett Borcher at 480-491-5357 or at All Wet Scuba located @ 1006 E. Warner Rd. Ste #112 Tempe, AZ 85284...
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Win a Datamask!!!
Courtesy of All Wet Scuba, Tempe Arizona: Attention animal lovers! Come out and support Valley Dogs Rescue! $5 donation gets you a raffle ticket for a chance to win an Oceanic Data Mask ($1,500 value). The raffle will held at the store on Tuesday, September 3. Stop by the shop and help out a great organization! For more information check out Valley Dogs at http://www.valleydogs.org/default.html Visit All Wet Scuba for more info at 1006 E. Warner Ste 112, Tempe AZ 85284 or call the shop at: 480-4...
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