Living a Diver's Life

Gas up! Doubles and deco bottles for a Tec 45  Course Photo: PADI Fred Stratton Instructor and Technician fred@bubblesornot.com Diving Deep is about Adventure Decompression stops simply are required safety stops. Both are performed in the same manner: stop and maintain a precise depth for a specific amount of time to clear your computer or to fulfill your analog dive plan based on a chosen decompression algorithm (e.g. RGMB, Buhlman ZHL-16c) and gradient factor . Deco stops are a means to an end, the end being encounters with deep-dwelling flora and fauna and wrecks resting below recreational diving depth. Tech diving is cool...but that's not a good reason to become a tech diver. Satisfying your craving for adventure and  exploration is!  PADI Tec 45 Clearly mark cylinder contents and maximum operating depth such as OXYGEN MOD 20 Photo: Fred Stratton   We introduced you to decompression diving in the January 2019 Tec 40 article ....

Bob Bennett enjoying life below 130' on a Dive Rite O2ptima Closed Circuit Rebreather (CCR) Photo: Tara McNaylor Fred Stratton Instructor and Repair Technician fred@bubblesornot.com Close your eyes and remember the first time you breathed underwater. A brilliant, heart-pounding experience you wished would never end.  Your recreational scuba certification enabled you to venture forth into a previously impenetrable world.  The word recreation derives from the Latin word  recreare   meaning create again or renew. I certainly feel refreshed and renewed during every dive. Do you? Lost that Loving Feeling ? Do you still feel the rush of anticipation before your dives and excitment when you descend?  Perhaps you've been certified for a while and, although you still enjoy diving, you yearn for a new adventure. Do any of the following apply to you? - You've been wall diving to 130' and felt the lure  of deeper dwelling flora and fauna....

Nitrox cylinders ready for sidemount diving Image: Rose Bennett Fred Stratton Instructor and Repair Technician fred@bubblesornot.com What is PADI's most popular Specialty Course?  Good guesses would include Deep, Boat, Underwater Videography and Project AWARE. It may surprise you that the  Enriched Air Diver  is number one. Bob Bennett teaching a Sidemout Specialty course using Enriched Air. Image: Rose Bennett In this month's article we'll discuss Enriched Air's progression from commercial and military applications to widespread recreational use, certification, cost, benefits, safety, and equipment considerations. Terminology : All divers know that air is comprised of 21% oxygen (O2) and 79% inert gases (78% nitrogen  and 1% trace elements of helium, neon, argon, etc.).  Any diving gas with > 21% and < 100% pure oxygen is considered enriched air nitrox (nitrogen and oxygen). It is abbreviated EAN or EANx. The number...

Poseidon, Greek god of the sea Fred Stratton Instructor and Repair Technician fred@bubblesornot.com Several customers have asked us  "Isn't it better to immerse cylinders in water when you fill them?"   The short answer is an unequivocal no .  According to Greek mythology, the god Poseidon is responsible for ocean storms. When displeased, he strikes his mighty trident against the earth, wreaking havoc on the high seas. Of course modern sciences like meterology and oceanography clearly explain tsunamis, storms, and typhoons. Science also explains quite lucidly why filling compressed gas cylinders in a water-filled bin has disadvantages, but you wouldn't know it by surveying the scuba industry and scuba divers. Myths abound about the advantages of submerging cylinders in water before filling them. This article will burst the bubble surrounding wet fill operations and explain what divers should look for in their local dive shop's fill stati...