Search results

One of the reasons for my diving in freshwater rivers is to observe the aquatic life there. One of my two BS degrees is in zoology. I've seen redside shiners spawning, photographed the river sculpins, gotten closeups of crawdads (crayfish), and the Western Pearlshell Mussel spawning. That's...

I’ve been diving rivers all my life (many decades). Here are a couple of YouTube videos which will describe some of my diving. From a safety perspective, I dive a float, and always carry my dive knife (BFK) on my leg sheath. Any cutting tool has to be immediately accessible, because of...

Check also to see whether your mask is over that area, and may be pinching off the sinuous opening. If its strap is too tight, it could be causing the problem. If the skirt goes over that area, try switching to a different mask (the old oval masks are usually sealing above that area). SeaRat

This type of snorkel was also marketed in the USA, and as a kid I bought one. I did not like it, as I swam and snorkeled in rivers with high currents. The tube right under the mouthpiece would bend in the current around my chin, and that bend would cut off air flow. That made it harder to...

Okay, I’ve done some marathon fin swimming, but not to this extent. Can you imagine wearing goggles continuously for 12 hours and 23 minutes. Today’s plastic goggles would be hard to take for that length of time. These goggles look very comfortable, and probably have glass lenses, and not...

These look like the Cressi fins too. When were these produced? SeaRat

This mask looks a lot like my White Stag mask. I’ll look closer later to see if the details are correct, but it may be that they made some masks for White Stag early on. John

What I wrote above was specific to a second stage ice-up and free flow. I have a Sherwood Magnum Blizzard regulator from the later 1980s that has two copper vanes inside the mouthpiece which are screwed into the top of the second stage valve, which transfers the heat from the diver's breath to...

Well, I cannot say much about the Apex regulator, as I have not seen this one. But maybe knowing something about why free flows occur in single hose regulators will help. There is quite a pressure drop from the IP to ambient pressure, along with a lot of flow. Both contribute to temperature...

It’s kinda funny, but there is nothing on the Force Fin website about them ceasing production. https://forcefin.com/ SeaRat

Wow, there are still a set of the Navy non-magnetic doubles around. Here's a photo of that kind of set I took in 1967 while attending the U.S. Naval School for Underwater Swimmers at Key West, Florida. USS Divers waiting by John Ratliff, on Flickr

No, because I like to use the J-valve, and no one any longer carries the "L" shaped metal piece with a hole in it for the rod to be captured by the band, I simply used duct tape to secure it to the side of the tank. What you cannot see is that the area where the J-valve rod is going along the...

I have a set of small AL tanks with the solid manifold on them. Here's what they look like: IMG_1460 by John Ratliff, on Flickr Seal Fins at High Rocks by John Ratliff, on Flickr But...I just yesterday spent most of an hour trying to get them back together. Getting that second cylinder to...

I did find this entry with a search on the internet. Well, this was probably a one-off situation, caused by a jump from height off a boat. But I wanted you to ba aware of the potential problem. This is a pretty extensive thread, and it is worthwhile to read the entire thread. SeaRat

My parts for old Dacor comes from E-Bay, as there are many Dacor regulators on sale there, cheap. Dacor made its regulators to last, and an annual service is rarely needed for any Dacor regulator. If you look at the way a first stage is made, both piston and diaphragm regulators (Dacor made...

You might try modifying your Mares fins to a scoop fin design. Your avanti quattro fins have a dead spot just beyond the toes, which increases the load on the knee. I've worked on this concept for decades, and the scoop design is more efficient than a straight blade, or even the Quatro design...

‘Love it! Well, I have one other thing to add to this discussion. I have worn full face masks for decades, but in the workplace to not breath hazardous chemicals in vapor/dust form. I am looking at the design of the snorkel mask, and have three more things to discuss. —First, the snorkel...

Nemrod, I'll do you one better. I have a writeup of my dive on May 17, 2007 which used the first generation Calypso and had the second generation Calypso, with the screw-on exhaust. I actually addressed some of what you are concerned about in that dive debriefing sheet. But first, let me...

Terry, one of the best breathing rigs I've ever used is the UDS-1 system, where the first stage in built into the manifold, with huge openings into the tank. I used the Scubapro A.I.R. I with that system, with its huge exhaust. My standard single hose regulators are some of the modern Dacor...

Terry, I'm not saying that larger exhaust openings are not good, just that we did do some rather rigorous dives in the 1968 using these regulators without problems. Here are some photos of a couple of those dives, which were not shallow dives, but did use the second generation Calypso...