Practical New Gear You'd Like To See?

[merxlin]

Ah! You're thinking of the original Mistral which was based on the earliest Cousteau-Gagnan designs. I dove one for my first OW dive in 1968. What the previous commenter was referring to was a modern "Mistral" marketed by Aqualung about 10 years ago. Jonathan Byrd used one frequently on his PBS show, until recently when he got a "Phoenix Aquamaster" from Vintage Double Hose. The Phoenix is a rebuilt vintage regulator with improved performance and accessory ports. For the modern Mistral, check out this thread: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/old-unclassified-classified-ads/221448-fs-aqualung-mistral.html

I understood him. What I was saying was that the modern Mistral was a disappointment compared to the original double hose regs, much less compared to a single hose reg. It is no surprise that you do not see anyone diving them in my opinion.

 

[drrich2]

The Liquivision Lynx will tell you where the boat is, and approximately how far it is, as well as how much gas the other divers have left. Also, the Liquivision boat kit will show you, on a laptop, where all the divers are (underwater), how much gas they have left and their approximate distance.

I clicked the link in the post to go check this out. From what I understand, here's the skinny:

1.) Wireless transmitter air-integrated wrist unit with big, bright OLED display, lots of info. on it, though it's a pretty big wrist unit (definitely not a watch style).

2.) Supposed to give you info. on the direction & air supply of fellow Lynx divers within 100 meters (330 feet).

3.) Lynx is about $1,000, the transmitter about $500. Not bad for an upscale wireless AI dive computer these days.

4.) Additionally, there's a Lynx Location Transmitter that can be used to mark a spot (including the dive boat) so Lynx users can detect that spot & reach it. This, too, is $500, and I assume a bit different product from the AI units sold to provide wireless AI capability to the Lynx? The locator transmitter page mentions you can track diver depth, too; is this without that Liquivision Lynx Omniscient Boat Kit?

5.) There's a Lynx Omniscient Boat Kit that lets a person on the boat mark the boat location so divers can return to it, send text messages to the divers, monitor up to 9 users' air supplies, but can it tell you those 9 divers' depths? I see no price for the boat kit.

So, to 'go Lynx,' it'd cost $1,500 per diver, plus $500 to put a locator transmitter on the boat, and this would be good up to 330 feet from the boat (at least).

The boat kit wounds like a nice gadget, but how much money is that going to cost?

And you can't buy any of this yet, right? Due 'Early 2013' though.

How does this directional location function look, though? Is it like a compass with a little dot showing the other diver, or is it like a Geiger Counter, where you wave it around & it 'pings' more intensely when the direction is 'warmer.'

Richard.

 

[mathauck0814]

I would like CO and CO2 monitoring in my rebreather in addition to O2 sensors. Seems only sensical that I know what else I'm breathing in addition to what I intend to be.

 

[Hatul]

Mine's an easy one...Instead of "glow in the dark" gauges that require prior exposure to light to work, why not use tritium? It wouldn't be too much more expensive, and it certainly works for the military in night sights and aircraft gauges.

I'd definitely go for an analog dive compass with a tritium bar on the needle and a dot on bezel to indicate "north". I doubt it would increase the manufacturing cost by more than $30.

Any manufacturers out there listening?

I remember clocks that used luminescent pain that glowed in the dark. What happened to those?

 

[theduckguru]

A warm suit that was less than 3 mill thick and circulated warm water inside.

 

[DiveNav]

I'd like a combination CO/Nitrox analyzer. ......And be inexpensive enough that every new Nitrox diver would buy one....<$100.

Technology is already available today to create such a product ..... but, your price target might be an issue

Alberto (aka eDiver)

 

[Kay Wilson]

As a dive pro I'd like to get my hands on the following:

1. Dive computers with elastic wrist bands to ease getting in and out of my wet suit (yes I know gauge mounted computers exist but I prefer a wrist mounted computer)
2. Wetsuits with velcro on the thigh so I can attach removable pockets for my slates / photography goodies
3. Inexpensive black light dive torches
4. A well thought out, practical lion fish catch device that doesn't cost the equivalent of a third world countries national debt...
5. For that matter a lion fish spear that I can attach to my tank, thats long enough to work, but not so long it gets in the way of leading a dive.

I'm sure I can think of a few more if I sleep on it!

K

 

[TSandM]

Kay, check out Deep Sea Supply -- they make mounts for a number of computers and compasses that allow you to use bungie cord as a fastener. All my computers and compasses have been mounted that way.

 

[Akimbo]

I'd like to see a small mass spec that worked for rebreathers. A homing device for the anchor line would be sweet...

That, or at least a very reliable and inexpensive solid state O2 and CO2 sensor, would make a huge difference in the rebreather market. The big problem with mass spectrometry is it gives you too much information to display, let alone telling you all the nasty stuff we normally inhale and outgas.

Add to that a better CO2 absorbent that doesn&#8217;t react to water and has better low temperature performance.

A warm suit that was less than 3 mill thick and circulated warm water inside.

They are available and work great&#8230; except for the part that requires a hose and 2½ gallons/minute of 110° F hot water.

Hot Water Suits for commercial diving by DUI - Diving Unlimited International

 

[nimoh]

As a dive pro I'd like to get my hands on the following:

2. Wetsuits with velcro on the thigh so I can attach removable pockets for my slates / photography goodies

K

do a search for "x shorts" and you will get a lot of hits, and probably a better solution that securing your pockets with velcro.