Search results

  1. Jim Lapenta

    backplate and wing for side mount diving

    If you're not willing to invest in a proper sidemount rig, then dive backmount. Sidemount works for all types of diving IF you are properly trained in it. If not, you can cobble something together and put yourself at serious risk. Sidemount is not something for the untrained to put together...
  2. Jim Lapenta

    Service technicians: are HOG regulators entirely serviceable with APEKS parts?

    The schematic tells me it's likely not. The diaphragm assembly is different, and the seat may not be compatible. Also, the lifters (what they call the piston) on the newer D1s, which the poster has, are of a different length. And the D1 has never used a copper seat. I can also tell by that...
  3. Jim Lapenta

    PADI Rescue Diver vs SSI Stress and Rescue

    No one seems to realize that once you take it, you can always take it again down the line. Or you can participate in a class as a "victim" or "bystander" and get some refresher time. I loved having former students show up to make things "interesting" for new students. Sometimes, I would not...
  4. Jim Lapenta

    PADI Rescue Diver vs SSI Stress and Rescue

    I do. For all three of you. Especially if you all dive together most of the time. When I taught I emphasized that any in water responses should be done as part of a team. And you have a team of 3 to share the task loading. That's rare and valuable. Novices are exactly who should be taking the...
  5. Jim Lapenta

    PADI Rescue Diver vs SSI Stress and Rescue

    Those I taught myself and as part of a team had no issue with it. Of course those classes were two days of classroom, two days of pool, and two days of checkouts. Give them time to absorb the material. If they have had proper OW training (not the BS one or two weekend classes), they should not...
  6. Jim Lapenta

    PADI Rescue Diver vs SSI Stress and Rescue

    It really depends on the instructor. The main thing to consider is that a recreational rescue class should spend at least as much, if not more, time on PREVENTING accidents. A recreational rescue class will also NOT prepare you to do much in water unless you practice the skills regularly...
  7. Jim Lapenta

    A new normal...

    Those are great numbers!
  8. Jim Lapenta

    Annual on barely used gear

    $700 for servicing your gear. That's reasonable if you have 4 or 5 reg sets, a couple sets of doubles, and a drysuit where a seal is getting replaced. Oh, and they are including a massage with happy ending. Otherwise they might as well be wearing ski masks and holding a gun on you. This is $700...
  9. Jim Lapenta

    An update to my status for teaching and gear related issues

    Not sure where else to post this, mods feel free to move. Once again, I'm letting everyone know that I am completely retired from all aspects of the diving business, including teaching, servicing, and selling equipment. I appreciate that some still think I am the go-to guy for some of this, but...
  10. Jim Lapenta

    Question The Right Dive Tanks: Autonomy vs. Tradition

    The SMS 100 needs a fair amount of modification to be a truly effective sidemount rig. As it comes stock, it's kind of a pig to dive. There are the Edd mods which require you to send the rig to Florida. BUT Andy Davis has some that you can do yourself...
  11. Jim Lapenta

    A new normal...

    I'm sure we both know a couple of attorneys who may be able to give some advice on this :wink: Do a search for disability lawyers near you. They are limited in what they can charge by Soc Sec and the fee for them comes out of your back pay. You pay nothing up front. When you do a search a butt...
  12. Jim Lapenta

    A new normal...

    As for medical advice, I have little to share other than that, besides the physical benefits, any amount of exercise has been proven to be an effective antidepressant. Losing weight can only help to take some of the stress off of your back. What I would also advise, based on the experience of...
  13. Jim Lapenta

    Is certification necessary for shallow water diving?

    With a crappy, unethical instructor yes. But that goes against the RSTC and WRSTC guidelines and the guidelines of some agencies. They say an open-water diver should be able to plan, execute, and safely return from a dive with a buddy of equal training and no professional present. Immediately...
  14. Jim Lapenta

    Is certification necessary for shallow water diving?

    So you are ok with losing your house and possibly going to jail when one of your friends has an embolism and dies in your pool? That's one possible scenario of what happens when untrained people use your gear. Yes, decades ago this is how people learned to dive. But many of them had backgrounds...
  15. Jim Lapenta

    Question Hydros Pro - Floatation Position on the Surface?

    Tipping forward is caused by operator error with any back inflate; overweighting and poor weight distribution, along with overinflation, are what cause the phenomena.
  16. Jim Lapenta

    Braided vs Rubber Hoses

    Not that I've seen or heard of. And they still are not friendly to the hairs on your arm or back of the neck. Nor do they play nice with drysuit seals. As for being lighter? In the water, what makes the difference? Traveling? Leave a shirt or two at home, and you make up the difference. They...
  17. Jim Lapenta

    Dive Master Course advice

    The truth is that as a DM you'll be lucky to get any kind of employment unless you are willing to work for free or accept something close to an indentured servitude position. All the platinum rating means is that they got a butt load of people to pay them money to get certified as "dive pros."...
  18. Jim Lapenta

    Deep 6 regulator service

    They are good at getting them turned around. Any shop that is taking more than 4 days to get a reg serviced may not have a tech on staff. And they may be farming it out to someplace else.
  19. Jim Lapenta

    Reg or Camera purchase next?

    That shop saw you coming. They knew you were getting back into diving and talked you into a very expensive computer when your Suunto would have been just fine for the dives you are going to be doing. Shame on them. A regulator would have been a smarter buy. Nothing fancy, just a sealed diaphragm...
  20. Jim Lapenta

    Question ISO Padi aow manual pdf

    I am sadly very aware of how some instructors teach AOW. My own AOW course was similar. Here's the DVD, watch it. Here's the manual; read the sections for the dives we will do. Then do the dives. It imparted a false sense of security and knowledge. I came close to getting into trouble a few...
Back
Top Bottom