Greetings from Boston

[bostoncello]

Another lurker emerges...

Last summer, I spent a good deal of time poking around the boards seeking info on equipment and trip reports. I'm happy to report that the advice I found turned out to be very sound: I love my new rig and had a great trip with it on Peter Hughes Wind Dancer in the Bahamas.

For the curious gearheads, I opted for an Apeks TX100 with AT20 octo, SQuest Pro QD BC and Suunto Cobra. The Apeks breathes so nicely at depth: I followed a blue hole to 133 feet, saw my buddy adjusting his reg, and only then realized that all the hype about the Apeks breathing easy were true: no adjustment was required. And the Cobra has turned into a reliable partner: easy to use and clear, but not so conversative that I was unable to dive five times a day on a liveaboard. Just wish that it had as nice a residual nitrogen readout as some other computers.

Although I'm in Boston, I only have two logged dives up here (the rest of my 35 are in the Caribbean), one of which lead to the back injury that kept me away from diving until this winter. One month after I bought my rig, too. I'm just looking to get back in the water and getting my rescue diver cert. I'm PADI AOW right now.

Looking forward to talking with you all,

- John

 

[gemma]

Welcome John from Spain.

Josep & gemma
www.oceansub.com


:hi: :hi:

 

[Rooster1]

welcome to the boards bostoncello, It's nice to see that the boards helped you with decisions on gear.

 

[DiverBuoy]

Glad you signed up. I use the Suunto Cobra as my primary computer as well. I love it. I also use the Cochran Gemini + hoseless as my backup. In the future I'm looking toward getting a Suunto Vytek hoseless to replace the Cochran.

I use the SeaQuest Pro Unlimited BC with an Air Source. Caribbean diving is great.

What were the two dives in boston like?

 

[bostoncello]

Hola, Gemma & Josep! Although my girlfriend is teaching me Spanish (she's Chilean), I'm not quite up to par yet. But stay posted...

Rooster1 and Diverbuoy, thanks for the intros. DB - my dives in Boston were much easier than I thought they would be. The first was a try-a-dry-suit day run by my LDS. The dive profile stayed >20 ft, so it got a chance to try buoyancy on a gradually sloping sandy bottom with a very laid back but disciplined instructor. As soon as I can afford it, I'll get the dry suit I dove -- it could not have fit better if it had been custom tailored. I can already tell that I'm going to be trying both sides of the buoyancy "BC v. Dry Suit inflator" argument....

The second dive (different day) was a bit more problematic. It started when two folks returning to diving after a long absence found that the BCs they had rented did not fit. This was, of course, after the rest of us were happily floating in the cove. After about 20 mins, one divemaster decided to head under and leave the situation to the other divemaster. Great dive underwater: got to watch lobstering for the first time and get used to low-viz conditions.

Unfortunately, while carrying a tank back to the car, I slipped. Seeing that I was falling forward with the tank slung over my shoulder, I twisted to avoid letting the valve hit the rocks. As a result, I injured by back and have spent a few months in PT recovering. The tank was fine. :doh:

Hoseless: did you chose the Gemini + as a backup for reliability issues?

Cheers,

- John

 

[DiverBuoy]

Oh goody my favorite discussion:

bostoncello once bubbled
I can already tell that I'm going to be trying both sides of the buoyancy "BC v. Dry Suit inflator" argument....

Good job saving the tank, it was definitely more important :bonk: <lol>. On a serious note, glad you are recovering ok. I've been in PT before it's no fun, but worth the effort.

I don't want to badmouth Cochran - I spent 1200 dollars including software. It is a nice layout. However, I've sent it (or parts of it) back to Cochran for repair twice.

Whereas, I've only ever changed the battery in my Suunto Cobra - once! So yes after experience I can tell you the Cobra is definitely my primary. However, it didn't start out this way. The model I have of Cochran lacks a time of day display, minutes remaining display, 3 minute saftey stop countdown timer. But my biggest gripe about this "hoseless computer" - the wrist console/retractor portion doesn't contain the dive data. So one must carry the entire wet regulator into the coffee shop after the dive in order to work on your logbook over a cup of Java. Of course you could get a quick disconnect - but what a pain for a wireless model.

Also their software is just terrible. I'm in the software business. I wish they would open up their proprietary data to 3rd party development. Even a weekend project would come out sexier and richer than that unmentionable bundle you must pay 200 bucks for.