St. Nick's Stocking Picks!
Christmas is about faith and expressing love in the form of hugs, cards, cookies and gifts. Some people feel stress over the gift part. The good news is that the easiest people to shop for are scuba divers! Diving is equipment intensive and gear is always evolving.
If your divers already have all the primary pieces (mask, fins, snorkel, BC, regulators, cylinders, computer), consider stuffing their stockings with accessories. Many items cost less than a good restaurant meal and add safety, comfort and functionality.
Cylinder Keychain with O-Rings & Pick
A clever addition to this longstanding favorite is a soft brass pick to extricate worn o-rings without scratching your equipment. The pick is built into the base which screws into the cylinder and seals with an o-ring. Attaching one to the zipper on your dive gear bag keeps it close and ready to save a dive.
There are two o-rings of sizes R-003 for SPG spools, R-010 for LP hoses, R-011 for HP hoses, R-014 for yoke fittings and R-112 for DIN fittings. The "R" indicates butyl rubber intended for air service. Add some Viton o-rings (e.g. V-010) if you dive Nitrox.
Lights come in handy even if you aren't a Night Diver. Reefs and wrecks are replete with hiding places for interesting flora and fauna. Small LED lights are as powerful now as huge incandescent D-cell lights were 15 years ago. Here are two good options.
The Underwater Kinetics Mini Q40 has been around for nearly 30 years. Its latest version, the MK2, has 250 lumens, depth rating of 500' and a five-hour burn time on four AA batteries. It has a travel-friendly weight of only six ounces and comes with a mask strap for hands-free operation. The Mini Q40 is made in the USA.
The Dive Rite BX2 light is small yet powerful and tough. Its Cree XP-L LED produces 1,000 lumens and has a 10,000 burn life. The BX2 is depth rated to 492' (150m) and has a 10,000-hour burn life. It can be handheld, helmet mounted (often used in pairs) or worn in Dive Rite's Quick Release Mount which frees up your hand for other tasks.
You can even shoot GoPro video with the BX2 by using an optional light diffuser. I use these as my backup lights when cave diving. The BX2 is made in the USA.
At $12 the Dive Rite wrist slate is a terrific gift. Its curved 4" x 4" shape conforms to your arm and is secured with two bungees or a 12" Velcro strap. The carbon stick pencil requires no sharpening. The slate has three pages to carry decompression tables, site maps, notes on flora and fauna, or to calculate your SAC rate. (More SAC detailed dive planning in future articles on tech diving!)
Sometimes hand signals just can't convey a diver's thought. Writing your message on a slate leaves no doubt as to your intent.
Gloves and hoods help retain heat, prolonging your dive in cooler water. They come in various thicknesses from 2mm up to 7mm. Some gloves have leather palms which come in handy while diving wrecks. (Some reef sites discourage wearing gloves to reduce temptation to touch sensitive marine life.)
Unless you have short hair, silicone mask straps often grab hair upon removal. Mask straps covers eliminate that pulling sensation while keeping your mask securely positioned on your head during the dive.
A sharp cutting device is a necessary tool every diver to extricate oneself from an entanglement. We also encounter netting and fishing line while exploring reefs and wrecks. Popular reefs are often choking on abandoned nets, snagged line, sinkers, spinners and lead weights. It is richly rewarding to collect this detritus. An efficient collection technique is for Buddy A to cut the line while Buddy B stuffs it into a catch bag. (Please use a lift bag if you collect more than a pound or two.)
I favor a line cutter over a knife; the blade is recessed for user safety yet razor sharp and slices through line with ease. You can change the razor blade in your line cutter in less than a minute unlike a knife which requires regular maintenance to remain effective.
Reef Safe makes only biodegradable products that are safe for sea life while soothing your skin after a long day on the water.
Coming in January
If your divers already have all the primary pieces (mask, fins, snorkel, BC, regulators, cylinders, computer), consider stuffing their stockings with accessories. Many items cost less than a good restaurant meal and add safety, comfort and functionality.
Cylinder Keychain with O-Rings & Pick
Photo: Innovative Scuba
Concepts
Concepts
A clever addition to this longstanding favorite is a soft brass pick to extricate worn o-rings without scratching your equipment. The pick is built into the base which screws into the cylinder and seals with an o-ring. Attaching one to the zipper on your dive gear bag keeps it close and ready to save a dive.
There are two o-rings of sizes R-003 for SPG spools, R-010 for LP hoses, R-011 for HP hoses, R-014 for yoke fittings and R-112 for DIN fittings. The "R" indicates butyl rubber intended for air service. Add some Viton o-rings (e.g. V-010) if you dive Nitrox.
Lights
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| Mini Q40 MK 2 mounted in hands-free mask strap Photo: Underwater Kinetics |
The Underwater Kinetics Mini Q40 has been around for nearly 30 years. Its latest version, the MK2, has 250 lumens, depth rating of 500' and a five-hour burn time on four AA batteries. It has a travel-friendly weight of only six ounces and comes with a mask strap for hands-free operation. The Mini Q40 is made in the USA.
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| Dive Rite BX2 1,000 lumen LED light Photo: Dive Rite |
You can even shoot GoPro video with the BX2 by using an optional light diffuser. I use these as my backup lights when cave diving. The BX2 is made in the USA.
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| Miflex Xtreme braided hoses come in many colors. Photo: Tara McNaylor |
Color Change Kits
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| Express your personality with color. Photo: Tara McNaylor |
Tuxedos and scuba gear come in, well, usually black. But fashion has come to dive gear. Scubapro offers color change kits for its Hydros BC and options to change the cover on some regulators including the popular S600.
What else can you change from basic black to your favorite color? Just about anything including mouthpieces, hose guards, hoses themselves like the MiFlex line of braided hose, exposure suits, cylinders, cylinder nets and valve caps, snorkels, masks, and weight belts. Some manufacturers even make BCs and wings in pink such as the Dive Rite Travel EXP which offers 25 pounds (11kg) of lift in style while weighing a mere 2.4 pounds (1.1kg).
Wrist Slate
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| Dive Rite 3-page wrist slate Photo: Tara McNaylor |
Sometimes hand signals just can't convey a diver's thought. Writing your message on a slate leaves no doubt as to your intent.
Reels and Surface Marker Buoys
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| Dive Rite safety spool with stainless steel bolt snap Photo: Tara McNaylor |
All divers who play in the open ocean need a reel and surface marker buoy! The Dive Rite safety spool with 125' (40m) of orange high visibility line is a bargain at $16. It comes with a high quality double-ended stainless steel bolt snap for attaching to a lift bag or to a surface marker buoy (SMB). These two items are necessary anywhere the potential for currents exists such as the Atlantic coastline down through the Florida Keys. If separated from your boat you deploy your SMB to signal the boat crew to your location, then utilize the line to maintain consistent depth while completing your safety stop. Cave divers employ these reels as safety spools to recover a lost line. Like all insurance, you hope you'll never need it but you are grateful if you do.
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| Photo: Scubapro |
Comfort
Gloves, hoods and mask strap covers are some low cost items that measurably increase a diver's comfort. |
| Soft neoprene mask strap cover Photo: Tara McNaylor |
Unless you have short hair, silicone mask straps often grab hair upon removal. Mask straps covers eliminate that pulling sensation while keeping your mask securely positioned on your head during the dive.
Cutting Devices
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| Line cutter Photo: Dive Rite |
I favor a line cutter over a knife; the blade is recessed for user safety yet razor sharp and slices through line with ease. You can change the razor blade in your line cutter in less than a minute unlike a knife which requires regular maintenance to remain effective.
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| Reef Safe products are safe for sea life and biodegradable. Photo: Reef Safe |
Be AWARE and Care
Project AWARE has raised the alarm on mankind's impact on the aqautic realm. Here are two products that are helping to meet that challenge.
Products from Reef Safe include soothing Eternal Summer after-sun moisturizer and Burn Cooler, pure aloe renourishing gel that feels so good if you neglected to wear sunscreen.
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| Scubapro Flashy LED underwater beacon Photo: Tara McNaylor |
The Flashy from Scubapro is a small flashing LED light that you attach to your scuba unit for easy buddy awareness during night dives.
The Flashy is a smart, economical method of replacing those plastic single-use chemically activated lights. The Flashy will flash for 12 hours at a maximum depth of 330' (100m).
Miscellany
Zippered logbooks, bumper stickers proclaiming the dive life, drysuit zipper wax, mask defogging solution, mugs, glasses, and jewerly portraying sea life are some of the many small items available for your diving loved ones at Bubbles or Not. Support your local dive shop and surprise your divers with memorable, practical gifts they'll use all the time (unlike the ugly sweater you wear only when Aunt Betty visits). |
| Proclaim your diving lifestyle with a choice bumper sticker. Photo: Tara McNaylor |
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| Zippered logbooks safeguard your diving memories. Photo: Tara McNaylor |
Excellent article! I have bookmarked Project Aware and will look there for ocean friendly sunscreen!
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