Category: Scuba Rants

Building a Sidewinder / Gemini rebreather clone

macado

I suppose I should start this post off with a bit of a disclaimer. Rebreathers are dangerous and can kill you without proper training, discipline and understanding. Don’t build or modify a rebreather unless you have a proper understanding of all the concepts behind everything you’re doing, even then things can still go wrong. Always know your ppO2. If you’re not sure or something doesnt feel right then there is no harm in bailing out. Plenty of really smart (and unquestionably stupid) people have died because they thought they knew…

The diving industry is one giant pyramid scheme.

macado

The diving industry is one giant pyramid scheme. The truth of the matter is the SCUBA diving industry (recreational, professional instructor and even in some cases technical diving) is one giant cluster fuck of a pyramid scheme solely designed to sell you cute little plastic cards (well ok now eCards™!) while separating you from your paycheck.

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…

Morning and afternoon charters aboard Daybreaker

macado
Daybreaker

I was scheduled to crew for both the morning and afternoon charters this Saturday aboard the Daybreaker with Matt.    The morning charter was scheduled to go to the Big Fantastic Wall (BFW) and Diver’s Choice and the afternoon charter was scheduled to go to Halfway Rock and then back to Big Fantastic Wall (BFW) again. On the morning charter we had a full boat combined with an advanced nitrox/deco procedures class being taught in sidemount. Knowing full well the amount of gear and tanks that typically ends up on…

Elusive harbor seals at Graves Light

macado

Jim needed deckhand for for his Friday morning charter out to Graves Light so I offered to jump on and crew.  I don’t really crew much on the Keep-AH anymore; I got burned out for lack of variety in scheduled dive sites and to be honest I’d rather be fun diving instead of teaching/crewing.  Still..I do enjoy diving in Boston Harbor and miss some of the regular customers. He had a customer who just wanted to hire a private guide/DM and also wanted some tips and pointers about their new…

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

macado

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…

Rebreather surgery completed, kitten even tried helping..

macado

Because my rEvodream (secondary redundant ppO2 monitor) had died on me during my last dive I decided I would do the right thing and install a new one.  When I was in Florida in March I actually bought a brand new “used” rEvodream from AddHelium because I knew my current rEvodream was acting up.  It was basically brand new because someone had removed it to install a Shearwater NERD on their rEvo. It didn’t take very long to install. Hardest part was fishing cables through. Maybe 1 hour or hour…

Why does your dive gear smell like rotting fish?

macado

I noticed a faint smell emanating from my rubermaid dive bin on Thursday afternoon that deserves some mention. Actually perhaps the rubbermaid container deserves some explanation first. In New England and I presume lots of other places rubbermaid bins tend to be the ubiquitous dive gear container on most dive boats.  They fit nicely under most dive benches, have plenty of room for storage and all of your gear can easily be rinsed and washed out inside the container.   They also help keep your car dry instead of using…

The legend of the internet diver

macado

You’ve probably encountered this person online somewhere, mostly likely on Facebook or one of the numerous SCUBA forums out there.  Perhaps you’ve caught a rare glimpse of them at a dive shop or even struck up a conversation with them in the wild.    They may well even be an “advanced technical diver” or “experienced SCUBA instructor.”  Their title and knowledge has no boundaries just like their ego. Regardless, the last place you will catch these people are actually on a fucking dive boat or a shore dive..  They’ll often…