Happy Wednesday, folks! The weather here has turned from snow to slushy ice rain. Pretty soon I might be able to go diving here after all! Need your link fix? I got your medicine right here…

Ever wonder how aquarium curators / researchers get into it? The New York Times has a profile of a shark researcher at the New York Aquarium. He used to be in an 80’s hair metal band!

Bonaire won the prize for best overall diving from Scuba Diving magazine. I’ll wait while you recover from the shock. (This is the 9th consecutive year Bonaire has claimed that prize)

Thailand is closing dive sites to allow the coral a chance to recover from bleaching. This obviously hurts dive business, but many question what good prohibiting diving will even do? It seems like yet another case where policy doesn’t line up with the science of the situation.

Read about one of the guys who recovered the bell from the Andrea Doria. As part of the crew that retrieved it, he gets to keep it for about 6 months, then it goes to the next guy. If you want to read more about the Andrea Doria, read my review of Deep Descent and see if it interests you.

Have you sent your submission in yet for the contest? If not, go to this page and read all about the chance to win some prizes! Entry is easy, just tell me about some cool stuff you’ve seen while diving!

No, I’m not going to try to sell you dive knives in this post. In fact, if I was a dive knife salesmen, this is the last post I would write.

I read something interesting in a dive book, it might have been Deep Descent: Adventure and Death Diving the Andrea Doria. They mentioned something that is a bit of a mainstay in technical diving:

Never buy an expensive dive knife.

The reasoning is that if you drop an expensive knife, you are likely to go after it. In tec diving, this could mean your life. And working with a knife underwater, especially with gloves on, has a high likelihood of droppage.

I suggest that this “rule” should be extended to recreational diving. For the same reasons, and for one more:

There is very little you will need to do with a knife that requires an expensive one.

If you’re trapped by a fishing line, a cheap steel bladed knife will cut it just as effectively as an expensive high-grade alloy.

I imagine most advantages of an expensive knife are in the longevity. This is a good consideration when buying anything, but I still say go with the cheaper options. A little care can go a long ways to increase the knife’s lifespan, and no piece of equipment is worth your life.

The other day I harped on the pains of dry suit diving. One of my complaints was that after all that effort, you’re still not all that warm.

Diving Unlimited International (DUI) read my thoughts, but only a long time before I had them. They’re introducing a new line of electrically heated insulation for drysuit diving.

Initially I was a little frightened at the thought of electrical equipment—wires, batteries, etc.—strapped to my chest underwater; who knows how batteries respond to pressure. But I suppose this is what they’ve worked out in the lab and field testing.

If you’re interested to try it out before they unveil the new line later this year, go to the next DUI DOG Rally in Portland, CT, October 2-3. Notify them ahead of time and you might be able to try out one of them.

I’m not much of a wreck diver, and my experience is quite limited. Nevertheless, a recent article in the PADI publication The Undersea Journal caught my attention.

The article is about wreck diving, and an insert gives what author Ty Sawyer calls “15 hot wreck diving destinations.” I thought I’d share them here with you, in case you are looking for travel inspiration:

• Truk Lagoon, Chuuk
• Scapa Flow, Scotland, United Kingdom
• Great Lakes, USA / Canada
• Iron Bottom Sound, Solomon Islands
• Espirito Santo, Vanuatu
• Kwajalein Atoll
• South Florida and Florida Keys, USA
• Palawan / Coron / Cebu region, Philippines
• Bermuda
• Bikini Atoll
• Grenada, Lesser Antilles
• Vancouver Island, Canada
• Labuan, Malaysia
• United States Virgin Islands
• North Carolina, USA

I like this list for its variety—it has something for everyone, no matter where you live.

The article highlights a few noteworthy wrecks. These are the SS Yongala in Queensland, Australia, the Fujikawa Maru in Truk Lagoon, Chuuk, the SS President Coolidge in Vanuatu, the Antilla in Aruba, The Zenobia in Cyprus, and the USS Saratoga in Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands.

Check out the article for a longer list of “other wrecks not to miss.”

Photo by Misserion

Snorkels are considered a core piece of scuba gear. Mask, fins, and snorkel: the three items every beginner starts with. We take this for granted, and dive away with those plastic tubes strapped to our head. After a while, though, we start to question the utility of a snorkel. When diving the smooth Caribbean waters, for example, is a snorkel really necessary?

At this juncture, there are a few paths the blossoming diver can take:

• Keep the snorkel. Your first option is to heed your training and continue to dive while wearing a snorkel at all times. Sure, it can be uncomfortable in a current, but you rest easy knowing it’s always there.
• Exchange the snorkel for a pocket snorkel. Your next option is to remove the snorkel from your mask. Aaah, how liberating! There are times when you may need a snorkel, so for those situations you carry a foldable pocket snorkel in your BCD pocket. In an emergency, it’s only a zipper away.
• Ditch the snorkel. Look out, divers, this future tech diver means business! The last option is to ditch the snorkel completely. I don’t imagine anyone throws their snorkel away, but rather keeps it in their gear bag and wears it on a case-by-case basis. Choppy waters with low viz? Bring the snorkel. Bonaire shore dive? No thanks.

If you find a snorkel uncomfortable, I think carrying a pocket snorkel is your best option. I don’t own one (yet), so I wear a snorkel based on the dive conditions. However, be aware that some dive operators may not let you in the water if you don’t have a snorkel. For this reason, you should always carry a snorkel with your gear.

What do you think? Are snorkels for sissies, or would only a fool go in the water without one?

Photo by chrisada

We have a quick tip today about cleaning O-rings.

It can be very easy for dirt and lint to hide on O-rings. The grease practically acts as a magnet, letting dirt easily stick. If you’re not careful, a few well-placed pieces could even compromise the seal on your equipment—a costly oversight.

To minimize these chances, try cleaning your O-rings on a white (or light-colored) surface. The white will contrast with (most) dirt, making it easier to identify and remove.

Click to enlarge
This picture shows the same O-ring, with lint, on a white surface and a wooden tabletop. While difficult to see on either, the dirty is slightly more visible with the white background. This tabletop is fairly light, so the problem gets even worse with darker surfaces.

The other day we talked about cycling wetsuits to give new life to old wetsuits. I briefly mentioned throwing out those super-old wetsuits when they get replaced by old wetsuits.

I was thinking about it, and maybe you don’t have to throw them out after all. Here are three ideas to consider before throwing it away:

• “Recycle it.” Before throwing it away, consider donating it for recycling. This can be something like Rip Curl’s Project Resurrection, where old neoprene is recycled, or something like A Warm Current (website currently down), who take old gear for kids.
• Use it for patches. While a few key areas may be worn out or torn, much of the old wetsuit probably has usable neoprene. Keep the suit around and cut it up for use as a patch when necessary. We’ll cover patching wetsuits in a future article.
• Make something out of it. A lot of things are made out of neoprene. For the artistically inclined, cut up the old wetsuit and make yourself something like a cellphone, iPod, or even a laptop case. Get creative!

I think at least one of these ideas should appeal to everyone. There’s no point dumping neoprene in a landfill, especially when it could have new life in several different ways.

The day will come. Your brand new, off-the-rack wetsuit will one day just not keep you that warm anymore. It’s time to buy a new one. Don’t feel bad, you got a good 4-5 years of diving out of it; the investment has been well worth it. Besides, a new wetsuit won’t set you back that much.

Just one thing remains: what do you do with the old wetsuit? Structurally it’s still in decent shape, so it’s a shame to throw it away. The good news is there’s a reason to hold on to it. Keep the old wetsuit, and use it for situations where it’s warm and the poor insulation won’t make a difference. Things like training in a chlorinated pool or shore diving in very warm water are perfect.

There are two benefits from keeping an old wetsuit in the closet:

1. It extends the life of your new wetsuit. By not using your new wetsuit in the pool, you save it from some harsh chemicals that will age it faster. Ditto for the wear and tear that comes any time you wear a wetsuit.
2. It extends the life of your old wetsuit. Finding new uses for old things makes you feel good. You’re keeping your neoprene knickers out of a landfill just a little bit longer.

Eventually it will get so old that it’s not even appropriate for a swimming pool. By this point you should’ve gotten a long life out of the wetsuit, so you can throw it away with peace of mind. You may even be due for yet another new wetsuit, so you can continue this cycle indefinitely.