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No. You don't. If you are technical diving you are engaged in an inherently dangerous activity, just like mountain climbing, skydiving or motorcycle racing. There's a good reason why life insurers don't like to cover these activities. If you think you really are in your element down...

They aren't exactly rocket science, but there are a few things you need to be careful about. Don't remove o-rings or pick at things with sharp objects like a pocket knife. Use something softer than the metal you are working on or something blunt. Brass is soft. Use the correct lubes...

I've done probably 50 dives here in Puget Sound without a BC and wearing either a 7mm or a 5mm wetsuit. The buoyancy swings exist, but even in a thick wetsuit they are manageable. Your weighting has to be pretty good, but what I found was that by far the biggest change in buoyancy is in...

I'm not really sure that the alternative is all that safe either. Fact is we are completely out of our element at those depths and nothing short of a submarine is going to make them safe for us.

I want both. I've never, ever thought, "you know, this regulator would be a lot more interesting if it randomly malfunctioned. It would force me to become a much better diver" Yeah, I want to know why it's breathing wet or has a free flow and how to fix it, but it better be pretty darn...

I've just dabbled in tech, (adv. nitrox), but I think the big difference between technical diving and recreational diving is that a lot of good practices that can be overlooked by sport divers become critical safety issues when technical diving. The biggest stand out difference between the two...

I liberally coat the blade of dive knives with silicone lube. It does a great job of keeping rust away.

Use your lungs! Take a full breath at 10' and exhale as you ascend. Works great. You can also actively swim downward to control your ascent or grab a rock or object for additional weight

It doesn't matter what your hobby is, the magazines tend to see the world through rose colored glasses. To get a good idea of what's worthwhile you are much better served by going online and reading the opinions of enthusiasts. To really find out what's what, you need to try a lot of it out...

I think the idea was just to make a simple rule of thumb for how to avoid 6351 alloy. I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't a bit of employee liability avoidance going on as well.

I wouldn't doubt that at all. They're a 2250 tank in an era where shop compressors often go up to 4000 or higher. I've got to plead guilty to topping mine off at 2800 occasionally though.

It sounds like a pretty slick idea. If you were to leave the tank in your kayak and run the hose down from the point of the bow then you could just tow your kayak behind you. There would probably be less towing resistance from your kayak than from whatever surface float is typically used.

It's not due to it's weight, but steel is superior in this regard. It's why they use steel for springs and not aluminum. Titanium is supposed to make a good spring as well. It has to do with the fatigue life of the metal. Steel can flex a certain amount with it causing no damage at...

The thing about old aluminum tanks that would give me pause would be how many fills they have had more than the age. Maybe, I'm wrong on this, (resort tanks certainly get used hard and they don't seem to be exploding regularly), but there's no denying that aluminum is a metal that doesn't stand...

I've only seen shops refuse to fill old aluminum tanks and tanks with bushings. I've never had a problem getting my old steel tanks filled. If I ran a shop, I'd be a little hesitant about filling old aluminum tanks too, regardless of the alloy. Aluminum is just far more susceptible to...

Check out his other items as well. He's got some other neat stuff for sale too.

I have an old Aladin computer around somewhere that doesn't work. It's otherwise in great shape. I bought it right before I took about a 5 year hiatus from diving and when I got back into it I discovered it had issues. Maybe you could cannibalize it for parts? If you want it, I will...

The deeper you dive the more essential things like computers are. If you never went over 40' you could get by just fine without a computer, especially using nitrox. Your NDL's at that depth are practically infinite. For deeper dives and multi level dives computers can be very convenient.

A pony bottle is one bit of gear where the prices don't particularly scare me though. It's not like a drysuit or a set of doubles. The regulator stays the same, so it's really just the price of the tank itself if you decide you need more. I'm actually in that boat right now. I...