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Buying the Right Scuba Gear For Your Diving Experiences

June 18, 2008 By

By Asanka Shanki De Silva

Have you always wanted to explore the mysterious world underwater? The ocean can be a place of murky depths, more than just literally! If the idea of exploring those depths appeals to you, you should consider scuba diving. Of course, once you decide that you are in, you have a few practical things to consider before you dive in. One is that you have to make sure that you have all the equipment.

You have plenty of options when it comes to getting the equipment, but the easiest way is to shop for it online. You can find sites that specialize in scuba diving gear. One advantage here is that you can find reviews posted by people who have used it. Unlike in a store out of cyberworld, where you have to trust the store owner's opinion - and who knows what companies he might be promoting - you can do some homework and find out what gear would suit a beginner. There are also plenty of forums where you can get plenty of advice regarding this.

You will need scuba masks, scuba booties, scuba weight belts, a wet suit, swim fins and snorkels, definitely. You might also consider getting an underwater camera - you will come across too many lovely pictures too hold in your mind, and you will soon wish you could make sure that you will never forget a single one. The usual considerations hold true when you buy scuba gear - quality, your budget, and the safety rating it has.

This is why you have to do some research. Having the right gear is very important - your life may very well depend on it. So put in that extra effort and find what is right for you. You can also opt for used scuba equipment. You will find plenty of used equipment that is in great shape and very safe.

Shanki de Silva is a professional freelance copywriter. Her expertise ranges from travel and hospitality to business and human resources. The current article is merely promotional material for http://www.scuba-necessities.com an online specialized scuba gear store.

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Scuba Divers PMS (Practical Maintenance Servicing)

June 18, 2008 By

By Darrell Young

There is nothing more important than taking care of something that will take care of you for years to come. If you let your equipment down it will let you down, that's a bare fact. Do not depend on your service tech to keep your equipment in safe working condition when you neglect to keep it clean after each use. That's kinda like expecting your auto mechanic to wash your truck after each time you drive it. Cleaning and maintenance fall on your shoulders (to a certain extent.)

From experience, this is a list I've compiled to serve as a guide and reminder to keep your diving fun, exciting, and most of all safe.

Gear Bag: This is most important in keeping your gear clean and mobile. Having wheels or straps and being durable is a must. Straps come in handy when you are doing a lot of diving from a boat, used as a back pack it leaves your hands free.

TIP; Get a big enough bag to handle all your gear without having to stuff, creating damages. And don't get a bag with any type of logo advertising scuba equipment. That's kinda like leaving your keys in your New Mercedes (Steal Me.)

Mask: Don't throw away the hard case your mask came in, its perfect for transporting and storage. Your mask, and actually all your gear as a rule of thumb needs to be cleaned with fresh water immediately after each use. Certain oils and residues are processed into the materials that your mask is made of, cleaning preserves these, something to do with defog.

TIP; During cleaning it's ok to use toothpaste that does not have any pumice abrasives, this works quit well. There is several products on the market that produce good results for cleaning and defogging, use these if you wish just before a dive and before storing.

Regulator: First stage regulators should be left on a pressurized tank while cleaning. It's very important to prevent water from entering while soaking. During soaking, work buttons, control levers, knobs or any other moving part to remove particles and debris.
Second stage regulators can be removed and soaked in fresh clean water. After drying with a clean towel, store in a plastic bag making sure the hoses are in a relaxed position. Have your regulators serviced at least once a year, or more often according to use.

TIP: Take plenty of bottled drinking water along so you'll have water to spare for cleaning purposes. Take along a big zip lock bag and put your 2nd stage and hose ends in the bag with clean water and sloush them around, empty and rinse a 2nd time, use the rest of the water for drinking and rinseing your hair and eye brows.

Snorkel: After cleaning, inspect purge for good seal, put in mouth, and place your hand over the top and suck. You shouldn't get air in from the purge or around the flex tube.
TIP: Never spray silicone on the valves or snorkel housing, it makes for valves getting sticky and the snorkel housing sticking to the side of your diving hood.

Weight Belts: Before cleaning and storing, remove weights from pockets, this will allow for drying. Store weights in Gym weight bag seperate from belt. This keeps the pockets from getting damaged in storage and transporting.

TIP: Check weight pockets and quick release system for obstruction or damage. If damaged, replace.

BCDs: Just like regulators BCDs should be soaked and rinsed in clean fresh water. If water was allowed to enter the BCD, make sure you rinse the inside of the air bladder.

TIP: Fill the bladder half full of clean water while depressing and holding down on the Oral Inflator button, release and sloush water around and drain completely by depressing the oral inflator button while upside down. Leave upside down and partially inflated during storage.

Wetsuit, Booties, Gloves: After cleaning, apply conditioner too materials found at your local supply store. This help control odors and help from fading and cracking.

TIP: To prevent sticking of zippers, apply a light coat of beeswax by rubbing back and forth. Hang your wetsuit, gloves, booties on some type of hanger that eliminates folding or creasing, and allow to dry before storage. Store in plastic bag.

Lights And Cameras: Water, sand and salt are hard on lights and cameras. Cleaning by soaking in fresh water can add to the performance and lifespan. While soaking, work all moving parts back and forth to release any salt or sand.

TIP: Allow to dry, loosen all connectors, because they will freeze up and disallowing proper usage.

This doesn't cover all your diving equipment, but I think you get the general idea as to what I'm trying to relate. Keeping your gear maintained will give alot more enjoyment to your diving adventure, than getting to the diving site, and everything goes wrong. Makes for a dull day, huh.
If any of your equipment is worn or damaged, do yourself a favor and replace or have repaired by a qualified tech.

If your looking for a lot of tips and professional advice on Scuba Diving, Trips and locations, visit me at http: http://www.scuba-pro-tips.com A lot of good advice for the Young Divers and Old, and also Women Divers. Tips for purchasing gear, used and new. Darrell Young

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Visual Tank Inspections – What Are They Looking At?

June 17, 2008 By

By Fred Tittle

Visual tank inspections are required in many places every year, in Australia they are required every 6 months, so what are they looking at when they do a visual inspection of your tank?

The first thing they will do after they empty all of the air out of the tank and remove the "head" , tank valve is tip the tank upside down and place their hand under the hole to see what comes out, hopefully just a little bit of water will come out. Most tanks that have been in service for awhile and have been refilled on a regular basis will have a very small amount of water normally less than a teaspoon and some of which will be there from the emptying of the remaining air from the tank to do the service.

Another common find is some aluminum speck's these are formed when the tank is filling they move the little bit of water that gradually accumulates and bangs the water droplets under pressure inside the tank, picture a steel ball bearing in a dryer bouncing around which will cause some small pits over time. When the pits become a certain size the tank needs to be sent for a hydrostatic test.

The next thing they will do is sniff the inside of the tank to see if there are any strange odors this normally points at a problem with the compressor filters rather than the tank.

Most tanks today are aluminum so they don't rust which was a big concern with the steel tanks and the main reason why steel tanks are going the way of the K valve. For certain circumstances they offer enough benefit to override the rust issue (steel tanks can be rated to higher working pressures & are lighter making them attractive for some specialized uses).

The tank vales are made of brass which is a softer metal that aluminum or steel the idea is it is cheaper to replace a valve than the tank. Because there are two different metals you get electrolyses in sea water this will cause the metals to fuse together. If you take the valve off on a regular basis, it is much easier to remove and the likely hood of doing damage to the value, or the tank is greatly reduced.

Another one of the checks is to look at the tank threads if there is damage beyond a certain percentage, the qualified technician will need to send the tank for a hydro, or they will allow it to continue in service based on what see. The qualified technician will measure the damage and note it on the tanks history record and keep an eye on it in future inspections.

They will also feel the water to see if it is oily this is not a good sign as it means that the filters on the compressors were not serviced enough, or the compressor needs to be serviced, which means in many cases that the compressor needs to be rebuilt.

If you own your own tanks in between your visual inspections keep an eye on your filter on your first stage, if it turns rusty or green it is a sign that the tank should be inspected. Also if you get a bad smell you need to have your tank inspected and notify the location where you got your last fills that you noticed a bad smell or taste. If you notice a bad smell or tastes do not go scuba diving with that tank! Remember only let a qualified technician examine your tanks, working with pressurized air and gases can have fatal consequences if done improperly for you, or the unqualified individual!

Fred's new project http://www.CheapCharliesHotels.com/ where he reviews cheap hotels , budget guesthouses, discount accommodations and cheap international flights, but is really an excuse to go scuba diving on vacation more, Fred is in Phnom Penh Cambodia planning his next adventure travel tour. Keep up to date with Fred and to view some great pictures go to

Fred Tittle has lived and worked in holiday vacation resorts his entire life, from Lake Geneva's Playboy Club, as a rock jock for KSPN FM in Aspen Colorado, he became a PADI Pro Scuba Diver in Hawaii, diving on Maui, Kauai, Kona on the big island, and Waikiki on Oahu. He founded Eco Adventures South East Asia in Sihanoukville Cambodia. he still teaches SSI and PADI scuba diving courses and runs liveaboards in the gulf of Thailand and Asia adventure tours, http://www.ecosea.com/ Fred is currently in Bali Indonesia

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How to Buy the Best Dive Computer For You

June 16, 2008 By

How to Buy the Best Dive Computer For You
By Eli Del

We bet you'll understand this feeling... you are 50 feet underwater and you are marveling at all of the amazing creatures surrounding you when all of a sudden you realize that your 10 minutes are up and you need to start ascending. Isn't it the most frustrating feeling? Well, what if we can make it so that your 10 minutes could turn into 15 or even 20 minutes? No, we don' t have a magic spell that will give you gills. All you need to do is buy a dive computer! Once you realize that it is time to buy a dive computer, all you need to figure out is how the find the best match for you.

We have spent hours looking for the top dive computers out there so that everyone who is really into diving can spend more time in the water. All of these computers will increase your enjoyment during you dives, whether you are a beginner or more experienced. Most of them can accommodate both Air and Nitrox dives, making them great investments because you can keep the computer for a long time and use the advanced features once you gain more and more diving certifications. So check these out, buy one and then let us know how much better your next dive is!

The first dive computer that you should consider buying is the Aeris Epic Hoseless Wrist Computer. In our opinion, the Epic has one of the best prices, the best features and the best design. The Epic is also really stylish and you can wear this while diving or while out to dinner. The best part about this dive computer is that you can program it to read from numerous different cylinders, including your dive partner's.

Next up is the Suunto Stinger Titanium. The Stinger is so high class that it is only one of two wrist computers in the world that can separate Nitrox, Free/Gauge and Air modes. If you are looking to buy a dive computer, this baby will make you very happy. This is one of the most well-known dive computers in the industry and all of the advanced features are so easy to use that even a beginner will feel comfortable using it.

Another style to read more about is the Uwatec Aladin Smart Z Hoseless Wrist Air/Nitrox Computer. Uwatec is a brand that is popular within the more experienced diving community. They even have a unique algorithm for that increases safety and maximizes your bottom time. What more could you ask for when you buy a dive computer? I guess that's why they named it the smart computer.

We can't forget about the Ocean VT Pro Hoseless Wrist Computer. You know you can trust this brand because they have worked with NASA to develop a dive computer for their underwater test facility. The VT Pro is Oceanic's best-seller and although it is similar to the Aeris Elite, the VT comes with an Oceanlog PC Interface. This feature allows you to transfer your dive data between your dive computer and your PC by when you use a USB cable to sync them up.

Last, but not least, is the Aeris Elite Hoseless Wrist Computer. You will not be able to buy another dive computer with these features at such a great price. The Elite is hoseless, PC downloadable, Nitrox compatible and has times your safety stop. Best of all, the functions are really easy to read and use.

Hopefully our review of the best dive computers has helped you gain a better understanding of what your options are and will make the process of buying a dive computer easier.

Find the best dive computer deals here.

Eli Del

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http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Buy-the-Best-Dive-Computer-For-You&id=1221440

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Do Not Buy a Dive Computer That Does Not Have These Features!

June 16, 2008 By

By Eli Del

Many people run out and buy dive computers without even understanding the function of a dive computer. Yes, they are cool and will make you look like you know what you are doing. I still think it's risky when people don't do some research first, especially considering that these wonderful pieces of technology are very intricate and expensive. What I'm trying to say is... don't be one of those people who buys one just to look cool and impress others and then finds out that the computer was not the best match for you. Take two minutes to read an article like this and then go buy a dive computer.

There are many brands and many different styles of dive computer available. In order to make this easy and painless, we are gong to spell out the features that you need to look for when you buy a dive computer. If you come across one that does not offer these functions, move on to the next one.

The first thing that you should look for is what information will be displayed on your LCD display. You will need to know what your current depth is, the no-stop time (time left at the current depth before you will need to stop for a decompression stop while ascending) and your total dive time. Other additional features that are considered a bonus are the temperature of the water, rate of ascension and the required decompression safety stop depth and time.

Another function that you will need are alerts, especially if you are in a situation where you might have forgotten information that you learned during your certification training. The alerts are built in to enhance safety and if a high-risk event occurs you will be grateful that a warning buzzer will go off. A high-risk situation while diving could be one of the following: you miss your decompression stop, you have reached the maximum depth at which the dive computer operates, you are nearing the maximum oxygen levels allowed in your body or you are ascending at a faster pace than allowed. In most cases you will not ever come across these events, but if that buzzer goes off you will be glad that you decided to buy a dive computer.

The last feature that you must have in your dive computer is the ability to read the information from your diving cylinder. Your computer should tell you what your current gas pressure is and what the estimated remaining time is based on the rate of gas consumption and available gas.

All of these features above are the most important ones and you should not buy a dive computer if it does not include them. Most dive computers will offer a lot more, but we are not going to go into those here because we want to keep it simple for you. We hope that you have learned the basics of the dive computer and that you are proud of yourself for taking two minutes to read an informative article about the product before you buy it.

Find the best dive computer deals here

Elidel

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http://EzineArticles.com/?Do-Not-Buy-a-Dive-Computer-That-Does-Not-Have-These-Features!&id=1224912

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