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The buddy who was closest to a tech pass (just a hair under the wire) needed slightly more control of her kicks. She earned a full rec pass at the end of the original class My second buddy just needed an extra day of practice to nail some procedures and upgraded from prov to rec during an...

It is hard to get a tech pass on your first go. In my class, all three of us had Advanced Nitrox/Deco Procedures or PADI Tec45, two of us had cave training, and two were recreational instructors. We probably had 1200+ dives between us, we've all done 100+ dives in doubles, and use the same gear...

A well-maintained steel tank has a lifespan of decades. This is even true for tanks that are cave-filled.

I have to make time to watch it this weekend - most of the safety divers are my charter buddies. :)

Seeking recent-ish recommendations for mask with a nose purge! My preferred model (Tilos Arrow) doesn't seem to be made anymore. Black skirt preferred but not required. This is for a prospective new diver who has limited shoulder mobility due to an injury and can't always handle the range of...

YAAAAAAAAAAAYY!!!

We're actually pretty close on air consumption! I'm still on deck for the week of July 10-17ish (birthday week!), so hopefully I'll move closer to finishing and then we can hit some caves together.

I started my diving career when I lived in Madison! Are you linked up with Diversions, Breezeway, or Madison Scuba?

Nitrox is affectionately known as "geezer gas" for this reason (and sometimes, "voodoo gas" for other reasons). By lowering the fraction of nitrogen in your breathing gas - while practicing safe diving, measured ascents, etc. - it may reduce the risk of decompression illness. Anecdotally, some...

No, the Spare Air is not a good option for diving to 70-90 feet. It has a capacity of 3 cubic feet of air, which is not nearly enough to handle an emergency. You need time to figure out/solve the problem, get your buddy's attention, ascend at a safe rate, and make a safety stop (in an ideal...

I wanted one of the racks that @tbone1004 has, but I'm also an apartment-dweller. I got a basic aluminum rolling closet rack from Bed Bath & Beyond. For $34.99, it can hold all of my gear provided that no weights are left in pockets.

I'm very sorry for your loss. Thank you for the time and courage it must have taken to write this post.

My instructor wanted me to be familiar with it before I started cave training, and we practiced it many times throughout training (in backmount). I had familiarity with the concept from recreational sidemount class, so it wasn't too difficult to transition. I needed to perform the drill several...

Outside of global health emergencies, yes! Florida offers an incredible variety of diving options, all of which are beautiful and worth a trip.

I've been diving and shopping for gear (in the United States) since 2013 and have never, ever seen one available for sale.

I left grad school in Seattle and flew to visit my parents in Chicago on March 6. Even though I probably had coronavirus in the unrecognized wave in January, I immediately went into quarantine. Aside from everyone else, my MIL is a cancer survivor with a secondary autoimmune disease in poor...

That's tech diver money. Almost nobody in recreational diving needs to spend that much, with the exception of a couple of big-ticket items (as mentioned above).

Not precisely a TV show, but I saw Journey Into Amazing Caves in Omnimax as a 10-year-old and caught the bug. Started diving at 24 and made it into my first cave at 29.

I've heard a well-known cave instructor say, "Yes, I hydro my tanks... EVERY TIME I FILL THEM."

I do, but you probably want to wait until I'm out of quarantine. Depending on how on-fire the rest of the world is st that time, I may be back to cave country over the summer.