Neat Little Tricks Are Good to Know

[Sas]

That darn metric system again!

I think you mean 3500 calories for each pound of weight loss....yes?

Oh yep sorry Was trying to switch from metric as I was talking to an American but old habits die slow

 

[Sas]

This theory is fine and it SHOULD work, but it does not take into account the intelligence of fat. Fat, you see, isn't the stupid, mindless blob of blubber that everyone thinks it is.

Fat is smart, and it knows when you are trying to mess with it. Like a French civil servant, fat immediately senses when somebody is trying to make it do more, or get less, and it revolts. Eat fewer calories, and fat orchestrates a system-wide strike that slows the metabolism down.

Humans are fond of talking about how big our brains are, but our brain weighs only about five pounds. In comparison. the average person has about 50 pounds of fat - TEN TIMES as much. No contest, really.

Yes weight loss can plateau but you keep adjusting your calorie consumption for your new weight and you can calorie cycle. It is really very easy if you follow formulas. There is an abundance of information to help with this. Most people do not have the will power to control their calories though.

 

[Jax]

How did this wonderful little thread get so hijacked?

 

[Mike Boswell]

My favorite trick is to use an in-line octo for my pony bottle. I have an XS Scuba Airwave which is a balanced second with a short hose off the end to connect to a BC inflator. If used in it's traditional roll, it places your safe second a short distance from the end of your BC inflator hose and eliminates your octo. But I use it on my pony bottle in addition to my usualy Octo off my primary tank.

If you have an OOA, you can snap the QD fitting into your BC so at the surface you can still inflate your BC.

I keep an air nozzle handy and also use it to inflate lift bags and SMB's.

You can mount it any of the traditional ways, or run the hose over your left shoulder where you would normaly route your BC inflator hose. The location is easy to find and never ends up floating off in space or draged in the mud. You can either use it to inflate your BC or route the usualy primary tank hose right next to it and only switch in an emergency. If you use your pony for inflating your BC, plan on losing a few CF to that task. I use my HP tanks to top off my pony before each dive, so I always start with a full pony and never pay to fill it.

I like the placement of having it attached to my BC inflator hose and the hose routing is very out of the way. If I'm approached by a paniced diver going for my Octo, I know that even if I get my primary borrowed, have my right hand busy controling the other diver, and can't get to my octo, my left hand is free with pony rig right next to my left shoulder.

This sounds like a good way to rig a pony - tidy, useful, and easy to test.

I've never used a pony, but the ones I've seen have a separate reg that is sort of bungied up and stowed, and I wonder if they get tested very often and how well they would actually work in an emergency.

 

[lowviz]

..........I've never used a pony, but the ones I've seen have a separate reg that is sort of bungied up and stowed, and I wonder if they get tested very often and how well they would actually work in an emergency.

How true. First thing I found was that my main secondary reg had no place to go but float around when I practiced with my pony. Adding a "cave clip" to the reg meant that I had to deal with the boltsnap constantly swinging around in the unlikely event that I would ever have to clip off my main. The solution might be in those bags of used parts you get back when your regs are rebuilt.

Look for a suitable O-ring. Tie a knot in the middle of it. Drill a small hole in the exhaust port of your secondary. Loop the O-ring through the hole, the knot will keep it in place. Now you can clip off your main using the loop and if you or someone else needs it back in a big hurry, just yank.

 

[scubadiver888]

I wonder if anybody knows a trick for loosening the knob on the yoke valve! Man, sometimes those puppies are TIGHT.

Don't over tighten the yoke when setting up your gear. You should be able to tighten it with your finger tips. If your palm is touching the knob you are gripping it too firmly.

When disassembling your gear, purge the second stage, octo and inflator (hold inflate/purge at the same time).

 

[scubadiver888]

If you want to get a little water in your mask (e.g. to clear a little fogging), smile. A little smile gets you a little water. A big smile floods the thing. Found this the hard way when a dive buddy was goofing around and made me smile.

 

[scubadiver888]

If you stick your hand in a hole and a Moray eel bites down on it, try to resist the urge to jerk your hand out. Wait until the Moray opens his mouth to get a better grip.

(Please note: This advice falls into the category of "Easier said than done!")

Uhm, better tip... don't stick your hand in holes.

 

[tddfleming]

While we're on the subject of neat little tricks.

3- When diving in poor visibility use a 10 foot or so line that you can hook onto one buddy's BCD that has a loop on the other end for the other diver to hold onto. Keep it in your BCD pocket because you don't usually know the vis until you get down there. Having a line can make a nervous less experienced buddy feel less anxious (my girlfriend being the perfect example) and a buddy line avoids you having to constantly turn to check where your buddy is so you can enjoy the diving.

Has anyone else tried this?? What about intanglement issues. As I have wondered about this before idocsteve brought it up. I was thinking along the lines of the toddler velco wrist strapes.

 

[Floatingtheflats]

When buying scuba tanks; wait until the end of the year. This way you can buy the tanks with last years hydro on them. You can save around 25% on the price. This is the same principle as buying last year modal off a car lot. You get a big savings. The down side is the tank will need to be hydro in 4 years vs 5 years but it only cost around $25 to have performed which is still a huge savings in the big picture.