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totalnewbie posted:My vision is god awful and I have snorkeled with some cheap generic lenses and I could still barely see. Talk to your dive shop first. If you're simply far- or nearsighted they most likely have premade lenses that are close to what you need. If you need more advanced lenses they can most likely outsource it to an optician. If you go to an optician yourself they most likely have no idea about dive masks and will quote your something outrageous for custom lenses.
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Nov 26, 2012 20:33
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ljw1004 posted:I wear daily-disposable contact lenses for diving (and open water swimming). I'm a little surprised that daily contacts aren't more commonly suggested. Is there any reason to prefer prescription masks over contacts? Collateral Damage fucked around with this message at 11:32 on Nov 27, 2012 |
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Nov 27, 2012 11:25
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I dove in a dry suit in the Mediterranean when it was 26C in the water. It's just handy to always use the same equipment.
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Oct 17, 2017 18:42
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redreader posted:There was a guy diving with us in hawaii who didn't bother with a wetsuit. Just fins/bdc+tanks etc, / mask. Not even a shorty or anything. Swimsuit and a surfing second skin/shirt or whatever they're called.
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Oct 17, 2017 21:50
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The best way to carry scuba tanks in a truck bed is to stand them upright and strap them in tightly, as such: If you don't have anything to strap them to lay them down at the front of the bed, bottom side towards the cab. Either way you load them drive as if you were carrying bombs, because you are.
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Nov 6, 2017 23:31
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I'm having a crown made in a couple of weeks and that it will trap air under water is my biggest fear about it. 
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Nov 8, 2017 21:40
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If possible I'll take a nap between dives.
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Dec 3, 2017 23:37
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Pay And DIve I think it’s hilarious that Padi has a separate course and certification for recreational nitrox diving. It's literally five minutes of explaining what partial pressure is and how to calculate your maximum depth, then showing how to use an oxygen analyser. All dragged out to about two hours. Which should really be part of the basic course, since it's all safety related and you should always analyze your gas even if you're diving air.
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Dec 4, 2017 09:37
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You can get a basic dive computer like the Mares Puck for like $150-$200, but as long as you know what you're doing you can get by just fine on a timer, depth gauge and table for recreational diving. Even if you have a computer you should know the limits of your dive, because computers can and do break or get lost.The Electronaut posted:Does any organization collapse EAN into OW? The one I'm certified with (SwedTech) covers EAN in their Basic course. You also learn to dive with a single stage rigged according to technical practices i.e. longhose and backup. Collateral Damage fucked around with this message at 16:24 on Dec 4, 2017 |
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Dec 4, 2017 16:21
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Pirate Radar posted:make me go It's like "My computer broke 10 minutes into the dive. Without it I don't know my current limits so I have to abort the dive and surface" vs "My computer broke 10 minutes into the dive, but I noted my maximum depth and bottom time before the dive so I know I can stay down for 30 more minutes."
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Dec 5, 2017 16:41
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Buy right away: * Mask, gloves, boots. They're cheap and don't take much space, no reason not to buy them. And having stuff that fits you well takes away another stress factor. * Cheap open-heel fins that you'll replace with jet fins down the line anyway. Or try to find a pair of second hand jet fins. * Wetsuit. See above wrt fitting, also rental suits are gross. Fairly inexpensive, and if you mostly dive in warm water you can get away with a thin shorty or even just a rash guard. Skip the snorkel, it's a pointless item that nobody actually uses outside of the PADI OW course and is more hassle than it's worth. Buy when you know scuba is the thing for you and start going on serious trips where diving is the main purpose. * Computer. Potentially pricey, but you want to have one that you're used to and that has your own profile and dive log. * BCD or plate+wing. * First/second stage regs.
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Feb 13, 2018 15:37
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MrYenko posted:The holy war has arrived.  That's why I said to wait until you're properly into diving. Ideally get a chance to try both and see what you like. 
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Feb 14, 2018 19:29
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EugeneDebsWasCool posted:Mini Trip Report Great pictures, too!
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Feb 15, 2018 08:54
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DSLR housings are a hefty investment (Usually $1500+), and lugging a big camera rig around under water is a an entire set of skills in its own. At the hobbyist level the GoPro really is the go to solution. There are tons of accessories for turning the humble gopro into a capable underwater camera. At the bare minimum you want a filter mount with color filters and some kind of handle that lets you mount a light to it. There's a pretty good starter guide here: http://www.divephotoguide.com/underwater-photography-special-features/article/guide-gopro-underwater-accessories/. You also want some software to post-process your images for improved composition, white level correction, etc. GIMP is free and capable enough. Quick guide for color correcting images with GIMP. e: I should mention that the starter guide was written a few years ago. One of the main things is that backscatter now makes a two-filter mount called the FLIP6 which is great because it lets you have a color filter and a macro lens attached at the same time. Collateral Damage fucked around with this message at 13:26 on Feb 16, 2018 |
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Feb 16, 2018 13:15
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If I'm doing three dives a day I'm usually using all my available surface time to eat and sleep.
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Feb 16, 2018 23:42
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4 a day is pretty exhausting, and really only doable if you're diving close to your base camp or from a liveaboard, otherwise packing up your gear and traveling to/from the dive site eats too much time. Collateral Damage fucked around with this message at 13:35 on Feb 17, 2018 |
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Feb 17, 2018 11:14
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My tech diving group isn't exactly macho. Dorky I'll concede though.
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Mar 21, 2018 23:53
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If something doesn't feel right, abort. Stubbornness and "don't want to waste the dive" is what gets people killed. Didn't you do a breath check before jumping in?
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Jun 8, 2018 00:06
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I have a simple uwatec bottom timer that I think I paid <$100 for that shows depth, dive time, surface time and temperature. It also keeps a dive log. It plus knowing my ndl time enough for most non tech dives, and I still wear it as a backup on tech dives.
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Jul 15, 2018 16:59
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Breathing under water is completely unnatural to us and holding your breath under water is an ingrained reflex. I had a similar issue the first time I tried SCUBA where I'd involuntarily hold my breath as soon as I went under the water, and I couldn't force myself to breath through the reg. What helped me was first spending a few minutes just breathing through the reg on the surface, then walking into the water and dipping my face slowly down towards the surface, breathing slowly and calmly as I gradually put my face down against and eventually under the water. It took me maybe half an hour of convincing my dumb reptile brain that it's possible to breathe under water and I could relax fully submerged.
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Jul 20, 2018 13:18
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let it mellow posted:Huh, is a computer really a first buy now? I know tables aren’t taught anymore, but if someone isn’t sure if they are sticking with diving, they should buy a mask and computer? Once you've decided it's something you want to do at least semi regularly, add your own fins, gloves, boots, computer, wet suit and so on. Also I really dislike the idea of "I don't need to know tables, I have a computer.". You should at least know between thumb and finger what's reasonable NDL/deco values given your previous dives so you can spot if the computer is giving you odd values.
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Jan 8, 2019 11:24
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Only buy a snorkel if you intend to go snorkeling. I really wish PADI would stop teaching that you should dive with a snorkel because it's pants on head retarded to carry stuff that you have no use for under water, especially as a new diver.
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Jan 8, 2019 17:08
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Pham Nuwen posted:The cheapest Hero7 only lists 1080x60 on the specs page... If you shop around you can find a Hero 5 or even 6 Black for not much more than a new Hero7 White, and the 5/6 Black have better specs than the 7 White.
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May 8, 2019 13:16
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Wrist straps suck to put on and take off under water. I use the floaty handle because I don't have a light yet, but I quickly replaced the wrist strap with a bolt snap. I clip it to an elastic band on my wrist when using it, otherwise hang it up on a chest D-ring.
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May 20, 2019 14:52
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My first underwater rig was just a GoPro with the underwater housing. Later I jury rigged a light for it by finding a piece of L shaped plastic and sticking one of the adhesive mounts to it, then attaching a cheap backup light with a hose clamp on the other end. It was janky as gently caress but worked surprisingly well. Really you can't go wrong with starting out with a GoPro. You can upgrade it gradually with lenses and lights as your needs evolve and budget allows. But as Icon says, equipment is secondary to skill. You should be comfortable enough in the water that you can maintain good buoyancy without having to think about it.
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Dec 12, 2019 13:05
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But it's another argument for always carrying an SMB and a light.
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Jan 8, 2020 11:12
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I don't find staying upright on the surface to be any more annoying with a wing. But I also use a dry suit almost exclusively.
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Feb 2, 2020 19:17
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"Shoot to the surface if you have a problem" is a really bad thing to teach anyway. The sooner you learn to solve the problem under water instead of giving yourself the bends the better.
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Feb 17, 2020 05:05
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One of my close friends is a technical diving instructor and tells me one of the biggest hurdles with people new to advanced diving is making them unlearn all the bullshit they've been taught by PADI.
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Mar 1, 2020 17:25
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let it mellow posted:I'm a PADI rescue cert and would love to know what the bullshit is, so I don’t accidentally kill someone when I dive I don't have experience with SSI/NAUI so I don't know if they teach the same thing.
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Mar 8, 2020 17:32
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I start pretty much every diving trip with having to patch a new pinhole in my drysuit.
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May 31, 2021 13:22
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I use thumbs up in my surface life all the time and I've lost count of how many times I've accidentally given someone the thumb up under water when I meant to signal ok.
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Jul 16, 2021 09:22
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I mostly take pictures of my dive mates because then at least the person in the picture will be happy. Then they'll show those pictures to other people who don't care.  But yeah most of the stuff I take under water ends up on a USB hard drive and never looked at.
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Oct 1, 2021 09:43
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mobby_6kl posted:As for site reviews, I only managed a few dives on Malta. Rozi and another wreck IIRC, and it was meh. Like the wrecks are interesting but it takes a while to get there and there's nothing else going on. No complaints about water though, nice temperature and visibility. Good site for a check dive since it's easy to get in and out, but yeah by Maltese standards it's a bit of a trip if you're staying in Valletta.
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Dec 23, 2021 15:02
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If buying new, a dry suit starts at about $1200 and only goes up from there, even more so if you're not a standard size. A quality suit can easily run you 2500-3000. And the zipper and neck/arm seals require regular maintenance. It's not something you buy as a new diver. Even as an experienced diver it's something you have to run the numbers on to see if it's worth it over renting depending on how, where and how frequently you dive. I've been diving for 15 years and have dived dry almost exclusively for almost ten of those, but I don't dive often enough to warrant buying my own so I just rent.
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Apr 2, 2022 13:36
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Alan and his crew are great people. My group goes to Malta pretty regularly and we use TechWise every time.
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May 24, 2022 11:10
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I've done both. When I was there in April it was unfortunately too windy to do boat dives, and we had to re-plan a couple of our shore dives because the sea got rough where we had originally planned to dive.
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Jun 8, 2022 14:33
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That's just the default expression of morays. It's either that or surprised Pikachu.
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Sep 17, 2022 13:48
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From what you describe it sounds like they did what they could given the circumstances, trying alternative dive sites and ultimately offering a refund. Unfortunately weather and water conditions is something you can't do much about and some times it's just going to be a deco day spent at the pub instead. It's a bummer when that happens to be on your first dive ever. A wet suit is always going to be very snug. As long as it doesn't hinder the movement of your arms or legs it's probably not too small, but it takes a bit of practice to get in and out of one without struggling. There's no shame in getting someone else to help. I've visited Iceland a few times but I've never dived there. I'd love to some time, the Silfra rift is said to be amazing.
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Aug 13, 2023 13:15
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Glad you had a good dive, and it sounds like you had some good instructors who could explain what was going on. One thing to remember when adjusting the bcd is you have some inertia in the water, so inflating or deflating it won't have an immediate effect. If you're sinking and inflating the bcd you'll sink a little bit more before you stop, depending on how deep you are. And putting a finger against something to control yourself isn't the end of the world. Swimming angled up is a common new diver issue as well (and why we lovingly call new divers seahorses). When you feel like you're swimming horizontally you're probably not, and when you feel like you're struggling to look straight ahead is when you're actually horizontal.
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Aug 16, 2023 11:35
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