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I have shared air with a diver a couple of times on the way back to the mooring on HMAS Brisbane. Since we were still at 20-ish metres, and I preferred to ascend on the mooring line, I thought it best to save their air for the safety stop where their consumption would be less. I have seen SPGs...

Can't help you with mounting twins to a soft-pack Ranger, but I do use a Ranger wing on a Zeagle backplate in a more conventional BPW setup. Works great. I wasn't sure that an 18lb donut would be big enough, and I knew a 60lb doubles wing would be way too big...and the ranger is goldilocks for...

I've recently been through the same decision-making process, for exactly the same reason. Although I dive in relatively warm water, there were many times over winter when a 5mm plus a hood wasn't cutting it, and I had come to hate the lack of flexibility in my elbows and knees with a 7mm. I...

I'd be in a drysuit, no question. I was in a drysuit in 21C a couple weeks ago, and everyone else on the boat called me a wuss. I was the only one that wasn't cold after the second dive though....no more wuss comments then. I was even chivalrous enough to lend my undergarment jumper to someone...

I will sometimes enter the water with fins in my hand, particularly if there is a queue of punters forming and I'm cutting-in so there is a DM in the water first...saves stalling them while I put my fins on. If everyone else is still in their seat, I'll usually put my fins on at the gate. I once...

Brisbane has some amazing diving, and winter is the best time of year! If you want to dive Moreton Bay, Big Cat Reality is fantastic. Big Cat will usually do a couple of dives of Flinders Reef, and then if conditions are good enough, they try to get to some of the amazing sites on the eastern...

Overall, I prefer the design of the Shearwater. It's a beautiful piece of kit, and looks like a work of art. The Cobalt isn't bad either, but the Lynx doesn't quite get there as far as appearance goes imo. I know Atomic puts as much emphasis on form as functions so I assume that you won't adopt...

I hadn't heard, but that is very interesting. Although I probably would have leaned toward a Petrel over a Lynx, it's an interesting development. Seems like Mr Huish is making some quite astute acquisitions...

If cost is a factor (and I assume it is, since you bought a second-hand drysuit...like I did :-) ), there are a couple of options much less expensive than Xerotherm. You could try Colleen at Wicking Long Underware , or the guy on evilbay that has a thread in this section (under "cheap...

It's not uncommon for proficient divers in warmer water to use their BC at the surface, and simply dump all the air from their BC on descent and dive with it this way throughout without needing to adjust. I used to before I was DMing, and I miss it! It's a mark of perfect buoyancy, which is...

Aaaaarrrrggghhhh...me too! Desperate to replace my old clunker, but uniform requires either Suunto or Atomic, and I can't bring myself to buy a console!

In my recent search for fleece drysuit undergarments, I decided xerotherms would be perfect. I also decided they were too damn expensive, so I started looking for alternatives. I came across a lady in Idaho who makes thermal underwear from Polartec Powerstretch. Now they don't have the pretty...

Typically rental suits are budget-focused suits. Since a store may purchase several dozen at a time, and they're used mainly by students and inexperienced divers (and probably get treated like anything rental), they get turned over fairly often...so cheap is important. You usually see standard...

Yongala consistently rates as one of the best dives in the world...

That was my thinking...less than half the price of xerotherms or equivalent. I did email Ron, he recommended 100g Thinsulate, but I am slightly concerned about being too warm in 70F water... Dave

Sorry to gravedig this thread, but I thought it better than starting another... I'm about to pull the trigger on a set of Ron's undergarments, but I have never dived dry before, and need some advice on undergarments... I am leaning toward 100g thinsulate (under a trilam), but I'm worried about...

Hi Rich, I made this enquiry of Zeagle when I was looking at gear. IIRC, their advice was that it is possible with doubles, as the bolts sandwich the BCD between the plate and the tanks. Not possible with singles though, I believe. I ended up putting a ranger wing on a Zeagle backplate, and...

Rhino, I am a relatively similar size to you, and I only bought tanks when I started my DM training. I went for 15l Faber steels, and have never regretted it. I was conscious that, using smaller tanks, it was possible that I could be on the low side on an ascent, and that could pose a problem if...

I agree with Keith. Only a fool would try to manage an unconscious patient alone when help was available. That said, the SSI "Stress & Rescue" course is as much about managing your own stress as rescuing divers. I am unsure how the curriculum compares exactly with PADI. This is probably more...

Great, more R&D space sounds promising! Still desperate for a wrist-mount Cobalt... ;-)