Random things I'm learning along the way ...

[jejton]

Here is a little hack for the ear drops to prevent swimmers ear. Mix 1:1:1 Distilled White vinegar, rubbing alcohol and water. Dirt cheap. Available everywhere and you get tons of it, so if you have small ear canals you can actually flush with the solution instead of just doing drops because you get a lot of volume

Thats a nice way to give yourself inflammation in your ear canal and possibly an ear infection. The alcohol and vineagar will damage the natural coating your ear needs. If you have trouble with ear wax build up, a few drops of olive oil or hydrogen peroxide in the ear, keep that side of the head up for a few minutes than let it drain. Pediatrician recommended.

 

[Manatee Diver]

Thats a nice way to give yourself inflammation in your ear canal and possibly an ear infection. The alcohol and vineagar will damage the natural coating your ear needs. If you have trouble with ear wax build up, a few drops of olive oil or hydrogen peroxide in the ear, keep that side of the head up for a few minutes than let it drain. Pediatrician recommended.

Ear beer, what that mixture is often called, is a well known prophylactic to prevent ear infections, I've had a couple of doctors recommend it.

 

[jonhall]

Ear beer, what that mixture is often called

The alcohol, (white) vinegar, and water OR the olive oil and hydrogen peroxide?

 

[Raphus]

Alcohol vinegar. Mix it yourself. Or buy it.
If i would not use it, i couldnt dive.

I get ear infections nearly every dive.
Since i use ear beer after the dive i am fine.

Of course be careful, because it desteoys the natural protection.
I do a shot of (pharmaceutical clean) olive oil after the ear beer. That helps to prevent the drying out, caused by the alcohol.

 

[drrich2]

Don't recall if this has been mentioned yet; get a lot closer to the equator than you're used to being, and the burning power of sunlight seems to pick up. Sunscreen is your friend in Bonaire; some of us pasty white folks can burn surprisingly fast. A few follow up thoughts:

1.) I like the Stream2Sea sunscreen. I once used one of those aerosol spray-on sunscreens from a big box store on my forehead in Bonaire and it ran down and got in my eye. The short-term burning was bad enough, but the notably altered color perception for a day or so freaked me out.

2.) I'm one of those people without much knack for subtlety - when I use sunscreen, I look like I got beat up with talcum powder. If you want to reduce the 'I rolled in Crisco' look, you can wear a shade hat (get one with a string that runs under your chin, for boats and windy locations) and wear a lycra dive skin (not too expensive, weight-neutral).
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A product endorsement. I had a Princeton Tec Miniwave (like the Shockwave, but more compact because it's got fewer batteries). I liked the 'wide angle' lighting. Noticed a lot of dive lights use a much narrower beam, and it's more intense so can be handy. I discovered Big Blue has one with a 'twist to adjust' beam that goes from pretty narrow to pretty wide, can be had on Amazon for around $150. I like mine, and I don't know why I don't read more about this from people. I like the flexibility of an adjustable light.
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Stainless steel dive knives rust up too fast. Earlier on I didn't understand this; BCD stainless steel rings don't rust, so why should the knives? The things cost around $40 and are commonly sold; they ought to last, right?

Frankly, no. And if there's someone out there who routinely diligently washes their knives post-dive with freshwater and dries, that someone is not me. Tried one of those cheap Black Friday special 'titanium-coated' dive knives...rusted up, too.

I use a Trilobyte, which is very compact and sits on my chest strap, but I wanted a knife. The main 2 options (each costing about double what a stainless steel dive knife does):

1.) Titanium knives - light, very rust resistant, I've never tried to sharpen one so I'm not up on edge-holding.

2.) H1-Steel knives - some of the Spyderco line. Bought one. Neglect the crap out of it; live-aboards, Bonaire, this thing doesn't get rinsed till trip's end. I was told residue from a bit can allow faint rust where they carve in the insignia, and I saw that. Over several years it was gradually built up some rust...but at this rate, I'm okay with it.

I chose a folding knife model; still not fully decided on the pro.s & con.s of folding vs. not, and this knife didn't come with a convenient scuba-friendly holder to put on webbing.
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Would never again buy a BCD with 1 tank strap.

Strongly prefer a BCD to have weight trim pockets.

Only interested in BCDs with weight-integrated systems (as my BP/W now has); you can wear a weight belt in spite of having a weight-integrated system (and may need to, in places where weight sizes are limited and exposure protection needs raise your weight requirement - hello, Galapagos!).
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Weight belts use a buckle release. So does my BP/W waist strap. With dive gloves on, they feel a lot alike. In some settlings, it's expected divers should take off their BCD rig to be pulled aboard a dive boat or panga, and in some places it's not practical to go find dropped weight belts. Turns out a weight belt loaded with weights costs money.
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A detailed, systematic pre-dive self-gear check, and repeat to see you've got everything before exiting the dive boat, is your friend. I've jumped in with air off, with no fins, left a pair of Atomic Smoke-On-The-Water fins on a dive boat (on a cruise vacation; no going back), and I never figured out what happened to a wet suit I used to have...no idea when, where or how I managed to lose that.
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An SMB with finger spool ought to be standard ocean diving gear. How many lost at sea of 'found drifting after several hours' threads to we have to read on Scuba Board? Our little heads are hard to see at a distance even in fairly calm seas. At least a 4-foot brightly colored inflatable tube works wonders for visibility, and might even aid surface flotation a bit.

I'm even very slowly, grudgingly, coming to entertain the notion a Nautilis Lifeline or other 'PLB' type product might be worthwhile.
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Picked up an XS Scuba X5 Hanger that holds my dive boots open and a bit upside down, and it really aids drying. It's an accessories hanger, not a wetsuit hanger. In a world of impulse buy dive accessories...I like this thing.

 

[tmassey]

Weight belts use a buckle release. So does my BP/W waist strap. With dive gloves on, they feel a lot alike. In some settlings, it's expected divers should take off their BCD rig to be pulled aboard a dive boat or panga, and in some places it's not practical to go find dropped weight belts. Turns out a weight belt loaded with weights costs money.

Traditionally, weight belts were worn so that the buckle opened the opposite way. You would use your right hand to open your BCD buckle, and your left hand to open the weight belt buckle. That way, you wouldn’t confuse them.

In other words, flip the weight belt around / upside down.

 

[RIHappyDiver]

On our Caribbean dive trips I’ve started using sunscreen when I’m on land, Badger Balm or Stream2Sea, but on the boat I wear long sleeve UPF hoodies with built in buffs to cover my face. They are marketed for fishing, Columbia makes my favorite so far. My wife has a couple that have a hole in the hood for her pony tail, very handy! They have worked great for me and I don’t worry about the sunscreen caking on my mask.

Erik

 

[Ukmc]

Thats a nice way to give yourself inflammation in your ear canal and possibly an ear infection. The alcohol and vineagar will damage the natural coating your ear needs. If you have trouble with ear wax build up, a few drops of olive oil or hydrogen peroxide in the ear, keep that side of the head up for a few minutes than let it drain. Pediatrician recommended.

Negative Ghostrider.
Many pediatricians have not had actual training in treating external otitis as it is relatively rare in kids as opposed to middle ear otitis that is treated differently. Anyhow, peroxide, especially in adults could be harmful (contrary to a common belief). It can actually desiccate ear wax and the lining of the ear canal and predispose you to the worst kind of external otitis - allergic, similar to skin eczema (chronic itching inside of the ear is not fun ) Olive oil (or other organic food oils) are also not very good. Mineral oil on the other side would work well if your canals are full of wax, which if wet can also predispose you to an infection. Diluted distilled vinegar mixed with alcohol, helps with controlling adequate pH to kill both bacteria and fungus, and actually is in the same concentration as a prescription ear drop Vosol.
Anyhow, ymmv .
Just trying to share little bits I have learned over the years just like everybody else.
If your pediatrician tells your so, you should follow their advice.

 

[gbf]

no idea when, where or how I managed to lose that.

are you my long-lost brother or something?

 

[gbf]

I'm with DAN

Can You Prevent Otitis Externa, or Swimmers Ear? — DAN | Divers Alert Network — Medical Dive Article

More On Swimmers Ear — DAN | Divers Alert Network — Medical Dive Article