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What is called "technical" today didn't exist when I was certified. It was just a matter of being more advanced and complicated diving. EAN didn't exist, we were just taught that we could dive any gas mixture--as long as we knew the numbers to follow and the issues (like O2 tox) it might...

Yes and no. About five-six years ago the official recommendations in the US were changed. For "civilians" rescue breathing was formally dropped from CPR training, because it is more important to make sure the compressions are being done, and the "Yech!" factor and need for protective barriers is...

Stepfen- Bear in mind that if there is any moisture in the bladder, and any biomatter, you may get "crud" growing in it. In a perfect world no seawater (aka protein soup) would ever get in and you'd never need to rinse it out. I used to just rinse once with a spot of shampoo then again with...

Medicaid, and Medicare, are each only available BEFORE an event, and only to certain qualified persons. Putting together a list of providers that accept Medicaid is kinda useless unless you already are ON Medicaid, i.e. they are just one more insurance provider, for all purposes. That's like...

The tanks will have to come apart in order to fit in the test equipment. So the only real question is, do you want "some guy" who may have other things on their mind to take it apart? Or would you rather keep that under your own control? If the valves are part of an integral manifold set that...

"The last couple of stories about lost divers have turned out to be entirely inaccurate." If I take that literally, no diver got separated from any boat, there was no USCG action, and no diver got found by any boat. So what really happened was a coupla drunks in a Boston Whaler were fondling a...

Good point, Steve. Neither tidbit is a really well-written "news" story. I don't think I'd have said "missing from the boat" if it was a diver "overdue to return" to the boat, but that's making assumptions. My bad.

"I signed up with Geko" Did you book a private instructor? Or into a class? If you're not sure, ask them. I'd expect you'll be in a group, and how attentive the instructive is, can vary with the group size and the instructor.

Check with the airline AND the airport authorities, try to get a written (email) reply. Various lithium batteries are treated differently, the quantity and capacity are counted, and sometimes they are allowed IN a device but not separately. The rules and criteria have changed a number of times...

And somehow, they fail to mention the name of the vessel. Heck, DAN even GIVES AWAY marker boards to dive boats, so they can easily count the number of divers on or off the boat. No...that's too complicated. Too expensive. (sigh)

88- The intestinal tract is an incredible machine. I would expect that any gas produced by the cholestramine will be treated the same way as the methane or other gasses produced anywhere in the tract. That is, it will be squished out one end or the other. And the gas is compressible, so if...

Ivica, if you didn't break anything, the three solutions are that your "new" battery is dead, or that you put it in upside down, or that you put the dead one back in. Open it up, test whatever battery you have before you reinstall it.

It is not just a binary question of "on or off?" A friend and buddy of mine had a problem once. I found out because I noticed my jaws were aching and apparently my custom-bite-fit regulator had been ripped out of them. While I was thinking about this (in about 45') I was getting out my Octopus...

"I have had ali tanks fail hydro." Particulars on that? Commercial use? Internal corrosion? Pressure test failed?

OK, let's say you are diving in Palau and the nearest chamber is something like six hours away, weather permitting and transport available. If you do IWR, and after twenty minutes in the water you lose all feeling below the waist....Did you gain anything by adding another hour of delay to the...

John- I'm sure the Coke (and the day we chased some poor goldfish around!) were not in the NASDS curriculum. I have no way to check on whether the blackout diving was. The harassment training was NASDS, it was discussed as being a point of dispute between them and most other agencies at the...

Lemme see now. You've taken a hit, which tells you that you might have an ignorable skin rash, or, you might be paralyzed and die. So not knowing what your outcome will be, the OP wants to DIY with in water recompression and random oxygenation, rather than going to a controlled stable...

There are few clear "answers" for color. "International Orange" aka Hi-Viz orange aka dayglo orange is used commercially, legally, for high visibility safety wear. So if chartreuse, aka "Lime" green or yellow, depending on who is naming it. (Since the human eye can't see yellow and it is up to...

TRJ- A lot of boats throw a "schmuck catcher" off the stern. (Yeah, that's what they call it.) A hundred feet, or better, a hundred yards, of floating polythene line the same as waterski tow rope is, with a ball float on the end. So if someone misses the boat, there's a long line deployed down...

John- Business is business and the reality of business is that, one way or another, you have to make a profit to stay IN business. I don't know how many dive shops I have listed in my log book that went out of business, including some big mail order houses like New England Divers. So to stay...