Dive Kit

While working one day a guy came up to me and asked if I would be interested in any diving kit, to be honest I was not at the time very interested but after 5 minutes I was a little more that interested.
It turns out this guy thought he would love to dive but had never tried before. Now the interesting bit is that the people who he was talking to basically talked him into buying everything and I mean everything even down to BCD wash and anti fog for his mask in a tube.

Ask any group of divers and they will all say that the regs they are using is great. I am the same having used a Poseidon Jetstream for the last 7 years with no bother. But when I dived with the Beuchat VTR80 I could not believe how bad they were. Maybe I am missing something with the description as it says they are made for cold water, but does that exclude temperatures above 18º, maybe they are not made to work in temperate climates.

If the reg has one saving grace its small compact and light, but after that it’s all downhill.

I am a huge fan of AP Valves and the famous Buddy range of diving equipment and in particular there range of BCD’s and Wings. Within our small diving club I can count 4Commando Jackets and 5 Tek Wings, you may ask why and the reason is very simple Buddy have a reputation of being tough, well made jackets that are not going to fall apart after a couple of years hard diving.

This is such a cool little gadget, and fantastic value for money – every diver should have one!

It’s no substitute for medical oxygen in a diving emergency, but maybe a can of oxygen should be in every diver’s personal kit?

Broken fin straps are a pain! In fact, they’ve cost me two dives over the years. And yes, I know, I should have been carrying a spare.

My most recent break happened at the end of a dive, so whilst I didn’t miss out, it did make me determined to solve the problem once and for all.

Amazon have some great stuff available for divers, and we’ve put a selection together for you in our very own Gordonisimo Amazon shop.

You can visit it here: Gordonisimo Amazon Shop

Crazy Scuba has been part of the Gordonisimo site since we launched, and I was surprised to receive an email from the team there the other day to tell me the website is up for sale.

Owner Britt Ross emailed us to let us know that after 25 years as President of the company, he’s decided to sell up and go and work on the family cattle ranch in Texas.

I recently took possession of a Greenforce dive lamp for the first time and I’ve been delighted with it!

The Greenforce comes in a strong and durable briefcase, which looks something like a laptop case, and immediately became the storage space for my dive computer and log books, as well as the lamp.

The model I have is the 12 volt, 30 watt halogen lamp, and I prefer conventional lighting to LED as the light seems more natural underwater.

The Greenforce system uses a cylindrical battery pack, and the bulb head can be either attached directly to it, or via an umbilical cable, with both components coming as part of the kit.

I’ve tried both, and prefer the umbilical set up, with the battery pack attached to the cylinder – it means the lightweight head clips to my jacket and I can use it without even unclipping, as it’s exactly where I need it to be. It also puts the heaviest part of the unit onto my back which seems more stable.

In terms of lighting performance, the Greenforce is good, but not the best. My old Kowalski seemed to give a broader, brighter light – the Greenforce is a little too focused for me. It’s exceptional when looking at a specific object, but for scanning a cave or a wreck, not as good.

After more than 200 dives, my trusty wetsuit finally gave up on me. This happened on what I would describe as the “posterior” seam and caused much amusement from my buddies!

I had decided it was time to convert to a semi-dry. Although I generally dive in water that’s never cooler than about 18 degrees, my blood has been thinned by living for years in the tropics.

After some research I went for the Mares Isotherm, which comes in a 6.5MM thickness, and having completed a dozen dives I can now report my findings.