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OP joined Scubaboard in 2002, last seen in 2009. Wonder where he is now? Did he perish in an uncontrollable feet-first ascent?! I never took the course, just bought the suit and practiced a bit in shallow water. That was an eye opener: folks could get in real trouble if they weren’t ready for...

For most of my life I never carried or needed a knife, just lucky I guess. Last three years I’ve had an old-school Scubapro short sword with a chisel tip, I find I use it all the time. Good for holding position in current without touching the rock with my hands, banging my tank to annoy my...

I own my Al80s because I bought six of them for $50. Not each, $50 for all half dozen, including the air inside. (‘95 was a very good year…) Couldn’t afford to not take that deal at the time but aside from cost I don’t see any advantage to them. If I can ever land a deal on some steel ‘huns I’ll...

I like big steels and I cannot lie. Am I big? Am I thirsty? Don’t ask why! I understand steel ‘huns are expensive to buy and slow to fill. I’ve been looking for a deal on a pair for a while now, they’re scarce too. I’m willing to pay for the privilege because I want deco, fatigue, and the boats...

If you’re diving off a Ridged Inflatable Boat, ALL your weight needs to be ditchable! I’m happy enough to lift your rig up over the pontoon for you, I’m happy to lift your weights too, my back and I are not-so-happy to lift your weights, tank, and everything all in one go. For myself I’ve...

Lead isn’t a precious metal but it’s precious enough. Your local scrap dealer will give you $0.50 / lb for you to put towards your new store-bought weight belt. If you’re keen to get your hands dirty with a fun technical project and show off your one-of-a-kind homemade castings, by all means...

Wetsuit diving in the PNW. I did that for years after certification, I don’t anymore. Doubt I’ll ever see another square table again, not a complacency issue though. If anything I find myself pushing the limits a bit harder these days…

I’m pretty close to my ideal dive setup already. The Perdix was a chunk of change but I’m happy with it. Freedom Plate and VDH wing was a great idea. Drysuit is low-end but it fits and does everything I need it to. Actively looking for second hand steel ‘Huns but my Al80s work fine. Colour...

Swimming scallops are just SO funny. Brittle stars are the same, but majestic in their tiny weirdness. Each as different from each other as I am from both: there’s so much diversity to life that we don’t notice on the surface! Also into just taking a meditative pause once in a while. On a...

Ya pays yer money and ya takes yer chances! It passes hydro or it doesn’t, nothing you can do. No sense stressing over it beforehand. Looks fine to me though, I’ve dived worse.

I was as bad as anyone in the early days. Then I looked at some video from my buddy and there I was looking dumb with my lousy finning kicking up mud and all my dangly bits dragging over the rocks! My shiny new rig worked so well practicing in my bedroom, I knew right where everything was and...

Maybe the real question here is “What alarms do you want on other peoples dive computers?” BEEP!

You know the feature we REALLY need to see implemented? Some sort of underwater wireless communications protocol that lets us permanently disable someone ELSES beeping alarm. Hardware devs: get on it!

Powerful. Simple. Reliable. There’s other manufacturers out there, Shearwaters way is not the only way. Scubapro makes a very competitive full-featured computer with a heart rate monitor and a bunch of other whizzy stuff. We like to snicker at Suunto computers with their constant alarms but...

Backup computer is pointless for rec diving. The point of rec diving is you’re never under a deco ceiling: anything goes wrong you can ascend anytime. Safety stop is nice but it’s not a real deco stop, you can blow it off and still be “safe-ish”; that describes all of diving anyway. It’s a good...

A fascinating glimpse into some very obscure diving history. Thanks!

I wish we still had Kathryn here to give us Liveaboard.com’s side of things. I can see why we don’t though, not even an articulate commenter like her can defend the indefensible, and it made it more fun to read about. When things go bad like this and all your venal sins are dragged out for the...

I’ve had good luck with AirTags, and would never travel anywhere without them. The ones in my garage at home and in my hotel both updated in the last 10 min, they’re very reliable anywhere frequented by passers-by. They have their limitations but you will never find a better insurance bargain...

That would be just the ticket for those long stops. Can I unlock that feature on my Perdix somehow?

You’re right, he doesn’t. If you stay shallow and only breath one tank you can just forget about decompression sickness and all that, it’s not a relevant hazard. I do those dives too and I’ll strap on the compy because it’s there but I don’t need it either. Less convinced that the manual dive...