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  1. Zack-Bloom

    Advice on deco reg set

    Re the Xtras: I happened to visit the store in Florida when they were about to announce the Xtra’s. The short summary is they got frustrated with the slow service from Deep6, and decided to do it on their own. I was at the time using Mk25/G260 regs, and honestly with the exception of an auto...
  2. Zack-Bloom

    Advice on deco reg set

    Most people should seriously consider the DGX Xtra regs. Essentially the same as a Mk25/G260 but half the cost, with parts you can buy yourself.
  3. Zack-Bloom

    How to tell how much of your scrubber you used after a dive

    Now, I've never heard of anyone doing this, mind you. But, theoretically, you could mix up all your Sofnolime, take out a small representative sample, heat it up in a sealed chamber, and measure (somehow) how much CO2 was released. That could give you an indication (at least on a relative scale)...
  4. Zack-Bloom

    Cenotes—cavern diving. Safe for AOW diver?

    In the times I've been in Mexico I've only heard of two near accidents and they both have a common theme: a guide taking people outside the bounds of what is permitted for their certification level. As long as your guide is very clear about only taking you into the cavern you will be perfectly...
  5. Zack-Bloom

    If you could live in Mexico for a few months...

    If you can stomach having a car, Playa is a great choice. As previously mentioned, Hertz is a scam here, but there are better smaller providers like Jetvan. Full coverage is expensive only because it’s not uncommon for people to have claims. Having dove in the ocean and in the cenotes here, I...
  6. Zack-Bloom

    Katana 2

    There are good instructors and bad instructors just like there’s good fish and rotten, it’s your job to pick. You are absolutely correct that if you walk into a random scuba shop and ask to take a class it’s going to be pretty bad. This is an economic reality of the industry. Conversely though...
  7. Zack-Bloom

    Helped needed on first gear purchase!

    It’s hard to argue with that price. I would personally probably spend a bit more on brands I recognize, but that doesn’t mean you won’t dive with that gear for years successfully. One thing you might want to price in is a Single Tank Adapter, as most people are more comfortable with one. If I...
  8. Zack-Bloom

    Would you choose a "Technical." Dive Computer for "Recreational." Diving.

    I would absolutely recommend a technical computer for a recreational diver who had the money. I think a Perdix, for example, is as close to a perfect computer as anyone is going to get if they’re willing to invest an hour or two in actually understanding what it’s saying. I believe that for...
  9. Zack-Bloom

    Need recommendation for side-mount cave course in Puerto Aventuras area

    I’m in Akumal right now and training/diving with Under the Jungle. I cannot imagine you can find more experienced sidemount divers or teachers anywhere on earth. Highly recommend.
  10. Zack-Bloom

    Rigging an SMB (Chatterton Method)

    I, of course, respect your choices, but I personally do, yes. I learned it from someone who has been doing Florida wreck diving for many decades (where you launch an SMB after every dive). A metal-ring-to-bolt-snap connection is a very different thing than cave-line-to-bolt-snap directly. I...
  11. Zack-Bloom

    Wreck Dive in Micronesia with Narration and Technical Diving Explanation

    It does, but you have to choose between color correction optimized for natural light (DCC Blue/Green) and correction optimized for artificial light (Manual White Balance).
  12. Zack-Bloom

    Rigging an SMB (Chatterton Method)

    After reading about my Advanced Wreck class experience with John Chatterton I received a DM from someone asking how we learned to rig our SMBs. Rather than just reply there I thought it would be nice to share my response with everyone. We learned to use a quick link to connect both a bolt snap...
  13. Zack-Bloom

    Wreck Dive in Micronesia with Narration and Technical Diving Explanation

    Hello! (you'll get it later) I recently got back from a trip diving wrecks in Chuuk Lagoon in Micronesia. Thanks to the magic of the Paralenz camera I was able to record most of my dives, and decided it would be fun to narrate one of them. I tried to do a bit of an introduction to technical...
  14. Zack-Bloom

    Video from a Training Dive with John Chatterton

    The fundamental implication here is that the students you see in the video are going to translate into the poor divers who frustrate several members of this thread in the caves of North Florida. But I think the point has been made pretty clearly that we left the course with a good understanding...
  15. Zack-Bloom

    Video from a Training Dive with John Chatterton

    FYI Now that the furor has died down I took the video down for a bit to fix a couple things. It will be back soon.
  16. Zack-Bloom

    Video from a Training Dive with John Chatterton

    Thanks so much, truthfully everyone has been so kind and supportive. It's not strange to get criticism on the Internet, it is special to have people jump to my defense though :). The one thing which I haven't mentioned yet is, if you don't have enough gas in your wing you can always just push...
  17. Zack-Bloom

    Video from a Training Dive with John Chatterton

    All I can say is, 60 feet was the number we were taught to aim for. In practice it seemed controlled to me, and it was certainly nice to get out of the decozone quickly. I can see why a faster ascent rate would be valuable for doing very deep dives, but I don't have enough experience to comment...
  18. Zack-Bloom

    Video from a Training Dive with John Chatterton

    I think it's a great conversation whether people should kneel on wrecks. I think in the situation in the video being neutrally buoyant makes more sense, and I think the people kneeling would agree with me. The reason people reacted so strongly, I believe, is because the conversation moved from...
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