Category: Gear Review

My compressor and fill panel setup (updated)

macado

Not a lot has changed with my compressor setup. I’m still running my Alkin W31 compressor and have about 250 hours on it. I bought it brand new in mid-2019. So far the only maintenance I’ve done is regular oil changes and filter changes. Full disclosure: I did have 2 issues. The 240v to 12v transformer on mine failed (broken wiring/ bad contact) but Alkin shipped me a new one overnight. Also the pneumatic valve on my autodrain was sticking closed but that’s more general maintenance. It was very easy…

ScubaForce SF2 Rebreather Demo at Hathaway’s Pond

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Hathaway's Pond

SF2 Rebreather Demo I finally got the chance to do a nice demo on the ScubaForce SF2 rebreather with Alex Dulavitz of East Coast Divers.  My friend Luigi was also doing a demo on the unit as well.  Additionally, Aleksey joined us for a swim around on the pond on his Prism 2. I will admit I have been intrigued by the unit for quite a while.  A backmounted counterlung unit providing good flood tolerance with a clean profile, simple setup, and good engineering.  At least on initial appearance these…

Fantastic visibility on wreck of Pinthis

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Tied into the Pinthis, seas were glass

I had nothing on my schedule for Sunday and no definitive dive plans. This is one of those rare times when it pays off to keep your last minute options open. I was talking to Heather about something unrelated and she mentioned she had a last minute cancellation on her Sunday trip to the Pinthis.   Of course I immediately jumped on the spot. The Pinthis is one of my favorite New England wreck dives. The Pinthis was a steel coastal oil tanker that that collided with the steamer Fairfax…

Gear Review: Light Monkey Bailout Attachment System (BAS)

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When I was at Beneath The Sea (BTS) I stopped by the Light Monkey booth to look at some new products. Consequently, I purchased the Light Monkey Bailout Attachment System (BAS) for use with my rebreather.  Now I’m finally getting around to writing a quick review. I know it’s ultimately just a bunch of bungee, webbing and large rings but I think it’s a pretty slick setup.   All things considered, it’s compact, unobtrusive and the large rings are easy to find and manipulate with thick dry gloves. You can…

Review of Thermalution Heated Vest (Yellow Grade)

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Thermalution heated vest

I wanted to wait a few months before finally writing a review for the Thermalution Heated Vest.  On a whim I purchased the Thermalution Heated Vest (Yellow Grade Plus) with the wireless remote controller.  I’ve been looking into getting an active heating system for use under my drysuit for some time but it has been hard to stomach the costs when I know the incredible markup on a lot of dive gear. The Thermalution heated vest is an intriguing one.  Thermalution is a Taiwanese company / manufactured vest that is…

Fall first-stage rebuilds that are O2 “clean enough”

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I discovered that my car battery was dead Thursday morning before work so I figured I would work-from-home and use that opportunity to do something truly productive. I figured I would catch up on a little scuba gear maintenance and rebuild some regulators, specifically first-stage rebuilds. All in all, it was a very productive day. I rebuilt a bunch of my regs that were well overdue.  I have a bunch more that I’ll save for a rainy/snowy day sometime this winter. Why Rebuild Regulators? My philosophy for most regulator rebuilds…

Review of DeepBlu COSMIQ dive computer

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Deepblu COSMIQ on safety stop with a ceiling (deco stop)

I wanted to write a short review of the new DeepBlu COSMIQ dive computer since there is really not a whole lot of information about this computer on the Internet. A month ago I signed up to be a DeepBlu Ambassador so that I could evaluate this dive computer. The retail price of $299 puts it at a very competitive price point compared to other dive computers with color screens on the market.   It is also pretty small, slightly larger than most Android or Apple watches.  I could see…

Gear Review: KUBI dry gloves system

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It’s been a year since I purchased a set of KUBI dry gloves.  I figure a year is plenty of time to run them through their paces and give an honest review.  From what I gather it’s a pretty popular system in UK/Europe but not so much in the United States.  Anyway, that seems to be changing fast..  I can’t say for sure how many dives I have with them since I switch back and forth between wet and dry gloves depending on the water temperature but I would conservatively…

How they “fix” split fins in Mexico

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I was looking through some old photos from a few years ago in Cozumel and stumbled across these gems.  One of the instructors I met, actually he might have been a DM, I don’t really remember..  Anyway, he wasn’t very happy with his split fins so he simply went to a local cobbler and had them sew a piece of rubber onto his fins to “unsplit” his split fins. I simply title this masterpiece “How they fix split fins in Mexico” or “Fixing split fins.”      Just another great…