Under Construction
My Dive Kit!
Kats top 5 dive products:
- 1: Bowstone low pocket weight belt
- 2: Fourth Element thermocline explorer
- 3: Tusa expert zoom split fins
- 4: Oceanic 3mm front entry wetsuit
- 5: Pulsar NX14 dualtime watch
| Oceanic Islander BCD | V.
light weight for travellling (esp with the aircraft allowances),
comfort is hard to find as a small lady, and this was perfect.
The BCD is very hard wearing, and hasnt discoloured at all in the year Ive owned it (but then it is rinsed after every use). The weight system is magic (I can get upto 6kgs into the pockets), however it relies on you setting the weight pre-donning equipment, so you have to lift the weight to put it on. (Some of the other integrateds allow removal of weights to don gear then fit once standing.) The overall position in the water when diving is a dream, the wing is tiny and allows a very streamlined energy efficient dive. I love it for photography and passing through small arches or wrecks. The buoyancy is very stable and easily controlled. The only criticsm of the jackets position is that on surface swims the diver is positioned lower in the water than in a standard BCD; (typical of all wings), this can limit swimming over corals or urchins that are on shallow reefs as entry to dive sites. It also has a tendancy to push you forwards (into your buddy) on the surface, so you have to keep correcting this with gentle finning, which can be annoying when instructing students. My size small jacket will lift me a 12L steel cylinder and 12kg in practice. This limits its use as a jacket with a drysuit, fine most of the year, but when diving in 2 undersuits Dec-Feb in Scotland/Fresh water, I need to up the weight to 15Kg/add a pony. You can get by with this jacket by using your drysuit as an inflation device, but thsi is probably not the wisest safety option - just incase you get a leak. The jacket is perfect though for all those who love a little UK stuff in the finer weather, and mainly dive abroad. The small size and neatness of this jacket makes it a perfect travel companion, and extremely comfortable, leaving you with a full range of movement, that a standard BCD would restrict. The larger sized jackets may be less limiting, as will have a larger bladder and thus air capacity. Should point out that Oceanic provide loads of D-ring attatchment points too, for all your dros, which is magic. Its in really useful places too - so thankyou Oceanic. They also have grommets for BCD knife attatchment, which I find useful. Covered by the oceanic lifetime warantee if you keep your reciept. The crew at Oceanic are most helpful, and will repair most things FOC. Oceanic have now brought out the new Oceanic Islander 2 - the only feasable difference is a new chest strap. If you like the style but require more lift from a jacket (i.e. drysuit diving in UK and larger frame size than me), the AP valves 'Buddy Tekwing light' is very similar, and a useful alternative. |
7/10 | |
| Oceanic Eos, FDX10 and swivel 180 octo | The
Eos has a very large oversized and easy to use purge button, it is soft
to the touch and not stiff (like other brands) making it easy to use
with gloves. The breathe on these regs is really nice, if you
set
the venturi on plus, they practically breathe for you. The
downside to this of course is that in cold UK waters they have
a
tendancy to freeflow on this setting. This is
however easily
avoided by changing setting to the minus, but this produces a harder
breathe. You can get around this by jumping into the water on
minus, then changing it during the dive gradually to plus, but as an
instructor when you tend to take your reg in and out for student demos,
this isnt always wise. Its a real shame actaully, as the regs
are
simply perfect in warm waters, but once the water hits 8 deg C or lower
here, I seem to have no end of problems. Oceanic offer the lifetime warantee, and free service kits on there regs, which results in a massive discount (at least £35 a year), on other companies. They have also offered to correct free-flow problems by tightening the internal spring on the venturi (something which I have not done as yet). The swivel 180 octo is fantastic for the traveller, where space and lightness is essential. The breathe again is really nice, and the purge button is large and easy to use. The reg is also useful in an emergency as works perfectly in either the correct/upside down position. The connector provided by Oceanic (magnetic) is rubbish though, but its only £2 for a standard gd one. I probably wouldnt buy this octo again purely because students cant easily identify which way up the alternate reg should be - in Oceanics case, this is irrelavant, but for training purposes where students will use other brands it is an important feature. Apart from that its a gd little octo, and this ones never free-flowed dispite cold waters. Its very streamlined, and molds/rotates easily into any handluggage for travelling, or onto your BCD for maximum efficiency (streamlining), and to prevent damaging the reefs. Ive had the set just over a year, and never had to get a spare part or had any equipment failures (except the odd hose). Its easy to take apart and reassemble, especially useful when traveling. The weight is kept to a minimum which is another handy feature, and to be fair, they look quite stylish. An expensive reg set, but the breathe makes it all worth while. |
8/10 | |
| Tusa expert-zoom Splits | I love you! Nice and light, maximum water efficiency, and no cramp. I replaced the tusa finstraps with spring straps to aid getting in + out the water quickly. These are very speedy fins, and have gd blade positioning for both underwater use an surface swimming. They are very hardy little fins, not sure how old mine are, Ive had them a year but bought them 2nd hand for £10 off ebay - a definate bargain. The fins work well for both normal finning, frog-finning (forwards and backwards), and dolphin kick. Not so gd in currents, but then no split fin is. The split also makes it easy to cram these fins into a tiny dive bag for travelling, without deforming there shape. Lets hope Tusa bring out some new colours and apply this to the split range. | 9/10 | |
| Forcefins black | Used once, never again. Definately a try before you buy item. Lots of my friends love these, but I jsut can't stand them. Never had so much back ache after a dive. Yes its true, per kick you go quite a way for the effort, but I just couldnt get to grips with the leg positioning to make these efficient. It seems that you need to have a 45 degree angle swimming position to use these fins rather than horizontal. hmm. The only gd thing was realtively easy surface swimming, but even then, with a bouyant bootie rather than a drysuit, these are too light to get into the water and make no comparison on the Tusa fins. Please don't put them on my Xmas list! A very expensive fin, and defo not my cup of tea - sorry force fins! | 1/10 | |
| Silicon Spray | Budget DIY shop spray, a little squirt into the fin pockets makes them really easy to get on+off when wearing a drysuit. | 10/10 | |
| Bright Weights tanks weights | Well
at first they look a novel idea, and then you try to stick them on your
tank - heres where the problem starts. The cam band doesnt
like
going over 2 lumps of lead funny enough! So after giggleing
it
around you get it all to work and get in the water. Theses
weights are actually a dream, they take the weight off your belt giving
you a far more streamlined position, and a very comfortable
dive,
as the weight is higher and compensated by the BCD in the exact place.
These weights became even more useful when adding a pony set
to
your gear. You can strap 2 weights down one side of your
standard
cylinder to offset the weight of the pony, so theres no more rolling,
or compensation with your body position that would clearly be bad for
your back. Again theres always a downside - everytime you
change
your cylinder you have to take the weights off, restrap them on and all
the rest. It is hastle theres no doubt about that, but for a
comfy dive, or a long dive they are definately worth it.
Its also another place to put weight, so you dont have to use
a
weight belt, or if you dont have integrated - they are however
not
easily dumpable weights - so bear this in mind in an emergency.
This is though a benefit in that Ive never lost a
bright-weight -
they are very secure. Finding a stockist isn't easy though. Again I tried these curtusy of ebay, but if looking for spares or a new set they are quite hard to comeby - a shame really, coz they have some quite cool features. Especially for those who dive with pony sets infrequently, and thus find them a pest with unballanced weighting. Of course if they come up on ebay again they are a very cheap way of obtaining lead if you catch them on a bargain night. |
7/10 | |
| Ankle weights | An easy way to cheat at fin-pivots in a drysuit as a beginner. As less of a beginner, they become very useful as weights to finetune buoyancy (as they are available in half kg's), clip around reels when measuring things underwater, attatching around students gear for extra weight, and attatching to cameras. You can also take the ingots out and sew them ito your BCD arm straps, for finetuning buoyancy, or sew onto the back of your BCD to offset the weight of a pony bottle. | 8/10 | |
| Scubapro shot pouches | Decathlon special £3.50 per Kg - periodically in their sales. Seems to be a finer shot in these pocuhes, so it moulds very closely to your body shape. The pouches are also waterproof so you can quickly dry them, and dont get any staining from the lead. What more can I say - its lead. | 10/10 | |
| Lump lead | Its
lead ok! Contact Frank (see links), cheapest lead man I know.
Offers uncoated or coated. The covering is good
quaity and
doesnt crack. Prices start at = £3kg Not as nice as the moulded shot bags in terms of comfort, but suits divers using a standard belt system. |
8/10 | |
| Bowstone weight belt, low pockets | Extremely comfy belt. The pockets are deep and the band is above the pockets. This means that the lead is not pushed into your body, and the band can fit snuggly around your waste, adn easily be manipulated, changed size etc etc. The weightbelt can be altered both at the back and front, to get maximum comfort so you can position the pockets exactly where you want them. The pockets are positioned away fromt eh wasitband so you can actaully get into them and remove or add weights during a dive if necessary - (useful as an instructor), this is not possible with most belts. The pockets divert the weight away from the belt, and allow them to rest away from the body eliminating bruising and discomfort. the belts are resonably priced at approx £25. The pockets also have built in holes to allow easy drainage and quick dry. They are hard wearing, and mine shows no wear/tear after 1.5years with exception to minor scratching on the buckle. | 10/10 | |
| Beaver weight belt | Awful piece of kit - most uncomforatble thing in the world. The band centres the pockets, thus pushes the weights physically into your body, causing more bruising than a standard weighbelt as the pockets prevent the weights from moulding to you. The pockets are also placed in awkward positions if your my size, like right over your hip bones causing large bruises. It also pushes the lead into your suit causing compression of the neoprene decreasing its warmth. Wore once, and never again unless really desperate. | 2/10 | |
| Diamond 5mm Neoprene Drysuit | <£30 on ebay, needed a new wrist seal, and some lemonjuice of the zip, but no other repairs. Kept me dry this year - bargain! | 7/10 | |
| Northern Diver CNX drysuit, (front-entry) | Ok,
so a new suit for me (Jan 2010). (£199, direct from ND).
Initially you take it out the box and it looks great, then
you climb into it -so far so good. Then the fun bit, having never
used a front entry suit before I soon realised I wasnt the 'double
jointed' neck type. I stuggled into the new arrangement, and
zipped it up - fit was really good, and suit is very comfy. I
then tried to get out of it. 30 mins later, still stuck with
everyone laughing as the all black penguin is stuck with neck seal over
eyes in stitches of laughter asking for help - this thing needs some,
practice. Finally with a little assistance - freedom! Nah, at first this suit really takes some getting used to, but the quality of the suit looks quite good, and the fabric is very flexible. Having now got into the suit a few times, its actaully not that bad to get in + out of. I would say that the configuration of the zip doesnt make the suit totally selfsufficient to get in+out of though, as the last 3 inches of the zip I find hard to reach/pull. Having the zip across the front of the suit means that you get extra flexibility across the chest and arms, allowing you to complete reg recovery (method 2) by reaching back to the tank valves with ease unlike in a standard suit. The suit comes with a shoulder dump (which I have never used before), so this will take some getting used to too. - Irl let you know what suit dump I prefer in the near future, but cuff dumps can be fitted for £15-20. There is an inbuilt suit pocket on the right leg, at a sensible height to be used, with hook attatchment for a torch/other gear. The seals are made from quite thick latex, which is more comfortable and less cutting than on my previous suit and therefore far more comfy - all depends if it leaks though. I took the suit for its first pool dive on Jan 11th and appeared to come out dry. I look forward to testing this suit properly at Stoney in the near future. I thought that the suit being thinner neoprene that my previous would be less buoyant, but I am not convinced by this. I needed 7-8 kg to be properly weighted (without undersuit) in the pool, it will be interesting to see how it compares on a longer dive in Stoney (with an undersuit). | Too early to judge | |
| 4th element thermocline explorer | Love
this suit. At first the suit seems very tight and a bit
awkward;
I was left in the shop wondering whether I liked it at first as it
lacks leg zips, and feels very snug when new. Alas, if you
persevere and put it into the water its a dream come true, it slakens
immediately and becomes figure hugging. Strangely enough you
can
buy zips from beaver £4 each for the legs, but you wont need them,
unlike other wetsuit fabric, the fleece stops it sticking to the body,
so it is easy to get on+off. The fleece also keeps the body
dry,
so you don't get those suction properties, or suit rash. The suit is designed to be either a drysuit undersuit or a wetsuit. Magic hey - serves 2 purposes, 1 for UK diving and 1 for abroad! As a wetsuit the suit performs incredibly well offering maximum warmth for such a light piece of kit. Moreover one can simply toss it into the washing machine post dive. The suit is neutrally buoyant (unlike most wetsuits) and thus allows a huge weight reduction, which is great for air efficiency underwater. The suit after 1 use is incredibly comfortable, and leaves the skin completely dry post dive. As an undersuit the suit is equivalent to the xerotherm range in terms of warmth. I tend to wear it with the longsleved top over it (in UK waters). Again the suit is very figure hugging making it wearable both under your drysuit and on the way to and from the divesite without looking like Mr Blobby. For such little thickness its very warm, and traps sufficient air to make you warm, but not loads that you need a huge drysuit, or lots of extra weight to compensate buoyancy. The suit is sleeveless which gives maximum free range of movement, and allows you to layer with other bits of the range. |
10/10 | |
| 4th element thermocline longsleeve top | Top comes true to size as a t-shirt, but if you want to wear it over the explorer suit go up 1 size. Similar comments to the explorer suit, a wonderful piece of kit. Extremely warm, with great range of movement, and leaves the body dry even if using as a wetsuit, or if your drysuit leaks. MC washable, and fast dry. Can be worn with explorer, or seperate with trousers/shorts. I do find that the neck seal can be a tad tight sometimes though once pushed down under your drysuit seal. | 9/10 | |
| 4th element thermocline shorts and vest | Items come true to size, and are very comfortable. They are actually very nice pyjamas too! The gear is great as it is very warm, yet quickly wicks moisture away from the body to stop you sweating and getting either over hot/cold. I like wearing this combo either under the explorer (when really cold in a drysuit), or for pool diving in the UK as a wetsuit. In the summer months the set can be used on their own under a drysuit, and are great as you don't have to undo everything when getting changed or between dives when needing the loo. | 9/10 | |
| 4th element arctic range | The
arctic range is fantastic for anyone investing in an undersuit for UK
diving. It amazes me how wearing something so thin, keeps you
stupidly warm and toasty. The suit is well fitted, and
wearable
away from the divesite without looking silly. The sizing can
be a
little strange, certain parts of the range come up tight so its
advisable to try things on before you buy, as this range doesnt change
shape post wear. Again fully MC washable, and even survives
the
tumbledrier. I really like this gear, but if cost is a concern, the thermocline is a better deal as you can use it as a wetsuit too should you go on any holidays. The Arctic range though is slightly more comfortable when wearing as normal clothes in the car as slightly thinner if you only require an undersuit garment.. Major note though - the socks are amazing - every drysuit wearer needs a pair!!! --> so thin, yet so warm! |
10/10 | |
| 4th element explorer skin suit | The skin suit is very tight fitting compared to 4th E's other sizing. Please try before you buy. The suit is really nice, made with fleece lining again. The suit is suitable as a wetsuit in warm waters, or can be doubled under the 4th E explorer suit, or another wetsuit. It makes getting in+out of gear easy, and doesnt restrict movement like other skin suits as it lacks arms. The garment keeps its shape, and is easy to get on+ off even when wet, due to the fleece keeping your contact skin dry. The suit is really nice, but I dont think its worth the normal price tag. I got one off ebay from a shop closing down and paid £45. I dont think I would be happy paying any more than this - but it is a nice suit. The full explorer suit, rather than the skin suit is a far better buy in my mind. | 7/10 | |
| Tusa wet boots | Very comfy little boots. Approx £20, and well worth it. I really don't like zips over my ankle, and these are just perfect. the booty is tall enough to avoid fin bruising/rubbing, yet small enough that it doesnt make your feet highly floaty allowing you to get a ncie body position, and easily surface swim. Ive had these boots for 1.5 years, (using them approx twice a week), they still look in good shape, and I have no reason to replace them anytime soon.. The boots come up fairly true to size. The boots are quite slim fitting allowing a good fin fit, similar to that of my drysuit boots (which means I can wear the same fins, and don't have to change the straps - which saves a lot of hassle + expense). | 9/10 | |
| Oceanic front entry 3mm wetsuit + shorty | Okay
so not the cheapest westuits on the market by any means, but they have
a fantastic fit for small but tall lady divers. For an off
the
peg suit I coudln't have found a better fit. I've had this
suit
combo for 1.5 years, used reguarly (at least once a week in the pool,
and on many holidays), and they have survived. The orange
shorty
is now starting to fade just a little in colour, but the navy full suit
still looks prestine. I must confess to allowing them to get
sunlight damaged in June-July months full sun egypt - but they
survived. The suits have also survived the washing machine -
although this is not reconmended by Oceanic. The front zip is
easy to get in + out of, and the suit is well moulded for a feminin
shape. The suits are warm, and layer well, although I'd
reconmend geting the shorty size bigger than the full suit -
just
for comfort and flexibility. If diving in summer UK or
Nov-Dec
Egypt, you can layer a skin under the two suits, or better-still, use
the explorer by 4th E, to get a really warm combination. By
buying 2 suits as a combo you get complete diversity of warmth, rather
than purchasing a 5mm suit. On warmer dives just wear 1
piece,
colder, then add a bit. Oceanic have now brought out a similar suit as a semi-dry, this suit looks fantastic - Ive yet to try it, but the shaping is the same, and no-doubt it will be extremly comfy, yet offer more thermal protection to those who feel the cold. |
10/10 | |
| Oceanic lycra skin suit (rear entry) | This suit makes the world of difference when having to get in + out of wet westuits. It is a very comfortable suit, of generous size, and flexibility. I paid £20 for mine, and it was a definate bargain. I wouldnt want to pay much more for the item as it only lasted 6 months before the zip failed. But definately a worthwhile item if you are doing holiday trips abroad where you are doing more than 2 dives per day, and thus always getting back into wet gear. The suit is also helpful at speeding up the time it takes to get out of your wetsuit post dive, so you can be first in the queue for the toilet/cafe/compressor station. The suit doesn't offer as much thermal protection as the 4th E though. It is very light, machine washable and is suitable for squshing into various shapes to fit your lugagge. | 7/10 | |
| Oceanic Geo | Great
little computer for the money. It may not have quite the
style
and expensive look as the sunto stinger, but its a lot cheaper and does
exactly the same job. Its also a similar size and thus can be used as a
normal watch too. Nitrox compatible, and USB downloadable.
The software is free from Oceanic website. The Geo
comes
with a lifetime warantee - the most important feature of the product. I
was unlucky enough to have a failure due to a faulty repair at a dive
centre, despite this 1 call to oceanic, a few days leter brand new PC -
you simply can't argue with that. The PC is easy to use, easy to follow underwater, and switch between modes. The screen is easy to see on both night and daylight dives. The PC comes with an expanding strap for drysuit use FOC in the box - a very useful item which fits in seconds. The PC also allows manual battery changing, which is useful when on holidays abroad. The lifetime warantee does however include free batteries and O-rings for life if you get them from your dealer (but you still have to pay for fitting (approx £10 a year)). I paid £140, 1.5years ago, and have been a very happy customer. |
8/10 | |
| Pulsar NX14 dualtime watch (leather strap version) | Nice little watch. Compatible to 100m's. Spare batteries/fitting are unfotunately only obtainable directly fomr Seiko/pulsar. Useful timer features, and alarms. Very clear dial that glows in the dark for a substantial time, there is a very adequate back light too. Figures are easy to read, and time keeping seems reliable. Has both an analog (with second hand) and digital display (inc secs). Allows multiple timezone loading, and multiscreen times/alarms. I paid £30 in the Debenhams sale, and was so impressed I bought a spare off Ebay. Terriffic watch, thats very comforatable and light to wear for the functions it offers. Would say it has a unisex appeal despite officially being a mans watch. Only criticism is that the black number encryptions around watch face do rub off with chlorine contact, but they are etched deeply into the steel, and thus are still clearly readable. I've taken the watch to 40m's and had no problems with it. Scubadiving is listed as included useage on the product guarantee. | 9/10 | |
| Candles | Yes, Co-Op candles have the upperhand here. Box of 10, tall 7 inch by1 inch diameter candles for £1. Enough wax to last a lifetime for drysuit seals. Works fine! | 8/10 | |
| Hose covers | Its a controversial subject at most stores whether to cover hoses or not: the cover may hide potential problems to the diver, but then again also protects hoses from damage. I personally like these covers, the various colours make your gear different from everyone else and when leaving gear in rinsepool tanks it stops people pinching it by accident. It also makes me as an instructor very obvious, and the covers make my life easy when retrieving various hoses when practicing skills with students. I also find that the covers make the hoses more slippy, and stops them kinking or getting caught up. I do feel that the covers offer good hose protection, and these covers cover the whole hose when compared to the standard spiral ones. The hoses are stretchy and available in various colours and are very cheap, the standard pack covers 2 short hoses (e.g. your 2nd stage, and BC hose),or 1 long hose, e.g. your SPG/Octo hose . I attatch mine with standard electrical tape, and the covers can be recycled onto new hoses should any hoses need replacement. | 9/10 | |
| Lumbros Diving reel 40m | Nice compact little reel, with sufficient hand space to hold when wearing gloves. Mechanism is smooth and easy. A good budget reel for SMB use. | 8/10 | |
| SMB | Good seal mechanism, rarely flops over. Seems very sturdy material, and case is easy to attatch + of adequate size. | 9/10 | |
| Fuji f50 and underwater housing | Hmm,
well when working this is a superb camera set.
I have now
successfully just broken my 2nd one, not sure how as they are always
really well cared for, but never-the-less both have ended up with
electrical faults somehow. The first one has been covered FOC
by
the warantee, we shall see what Fuji say this time re its current fault
with the LCD display only working when it feels like it. Despite my current technical issues I've taken some magical shots with this little beast and would buy anotherone. It is so easy to use, and a nice size for traveling with. The buttons are large enough to easily use with gloves, and the auto settings come complete with an underwater mode which to be fair is very good. The camera can also be manually white ballanced with ease underwater. The case is very efficient and durable and spare o-rings are readily available although I tend to only replace mine once every 6 months. The camera has a large screen which will also show up histograms and picture reports whilst underwater so you can play with your images. It has an easy playback feature which again can be used underwater. The battery life is quite good and will do approx 2hrs on 1 full battery. Spare batteries are available from fuji for £30, or cost £3 from ebay (but these tend to have a shorter life of just 1hr. - certainly sufficient for most dives though). The camera has a gd quality video mode, however this cannot be set to auto white ballance/fish mode and needs to be altered post dive via PC software. The camera is 12 MP, and can take both SD and XD cards. Although both are compatible, XD cards seem to function quicker in the camera and reload time from 1 preview image to standby is quicker. That said, when working normally the camera takes about 5 secs from image preview to standby with an SD card. The preview time is set by the user, so if you want maximum reload time you can simply turn this off and not preview images post shoot, or turn it to a minimal time frame. I have recently fitted a 2ndhand strobe and arm to this camera. The flash auto-triggers the strobe with no problems what-so-ever, and produces some really lovely macro shots. Attatching the strobe arm to the camera is an interesting one as it doesnt appear to have a standard fitting. The screw system is normal but the plastic moulding on the case causes agro, but this is soon overcome by using a 1p piece with a drill hole through it, just to stop the rocking caused by the plastic seam. The camera does not need additional lenses for nice images, however for those with a keen interest with the really tiny macro stuff a converter lens is available from 'fantasea' so you can then add additional fantasea lenses that are cheaper than from fuji direct. |
8/10 | |
| Ikelite strobe | £25 of ebay, working well, and easy to use. (I wont bother you with model no.s as it is a slightly outdated piece of kit that they nolonger produce). Newer models allow flash intensity to be altered underwater. | 8/10 | |
| Mini square CD mirror | Free with packs of playing cards. This buisness sized freebie plastic CD/mirror is fantastic as a surface signalling device incase of emergency. | 10/10 | |
| Whistle | Just incase! | ||
| Pocket rescue mask | Just incase! | ||
| Strobe (red) | Durable little strobe, very useful on night dives, but lacks intensity for much use the rest of the time. Comes complete with batteries, adn is very easy to use. Useful to attatch to dog when walking at night on field as an alternative use. Approx £10. | 5/10 | |
| Delta pocket knife | Fiddly to keep taking apart with tiny allan keys (which instructions reconmend between every dive to allow it to dry out and prevent rusting), however the knife is a usefull size (slightly larger than a typical bcd knife), the blade does rust to an extent (minimal), but the knife edge itself keeps sharp. The attatchment system works well with pocket grommets, but comes also with many other attatchment systems in its box, so is really easy to apply to your gear. I particuarly like the knife security yet easy access with this knife set (even if wearing gloves). Approx £25, quite a good bcd knife, Iv'e been pleased with it so far (used for approx 8 months). | 7/10 | |
| Strap on knife | So uncomfortable as far too big around ones leg. The knife rusted immediately too, despite being greased, and chipped all along the blade within 8 weeks - v. dissapointing. | 2/10 | |
| Pagasus torch | Dinky little torch, great bargain at £7 off ebay BNIB. Takes 4 D batterys, very light torch for travelling (esp with batts removed). Intended use as a backup/spare torch, but gave a better light output than most other torchesavailable to hire as primary beams abroad, and thus now used as a primary light source. The batteries can be difficult to remove from the unit, but can be achieved with a subtle bash on the floor, the light unit has survived multiple night dives, in both salt and fresh water, and has never flooded or required new O-rings in 1 years usage. The replacement batteries are however easy to fit, but with no instructions as to battery direction and a very odd unit configuration it is worth writing in tipex correct instalment on the side. (It sounds stupid I know, but as the batteries are not the easiest to remove, its v annoying to get it wrong.) That said, you can get 3 hours burn time off duracel new batts, and about 2hrs off rechargeable batts. The on/off switch is easy to use underwater, with or without gloves. A useful torch for nightdives, or as a camera aid for lighting up rock crevices or macro objects. The torch also has an easy attatchment point for string, and comes complete with wrist strap. | 8/10 | |
| Swim ear | Good product for waterlogged ears after multiple dives | 9/10 | |
| Earex | Good product for sore ears (providing ear drum intact). | 8/10 | |
| Lycra swim hat | Available from 75p, for those with long hair, this makes getting in + out of a hood very easy, and stops getting them little fragments of hair all over your face preventing a good seal on your mask. A good buy. (Do not confuse with a normal latex hat, that sticks to neoprene hoods). | 10/10 | |
| Alliance and leics travel insurance | Free 'Direct current account', complete with free travel insurance that covers scuba diving to 30m's in Europe (that also covers Egypt). Upgrade available to cover divers to 40m's for £9.99 a year. Worldwide upgrade also available at very resonable rates. | 10/10 | |
| Rav 4 | Where would one be without a relaible car suitable to take all that clobber! | 9/10 | |
| Travel companion 'Poppy' | Great hand warmer and face washer post dive! | 10/10 |
See the links page to connect to sellers