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A handsome young girl visited us yesterday to start her journey in scuba diving.

We debated the various apparatus, and she tried on a bunch of superpremium Xcel & Pinnacle Scuba Wetsuits, as well as some economical Henderson wetsuits also.

After a couple hours she seemed more nonplussed at the mountain of equipment she had to ultimately purchase, which spurred the writing of this article.

Know that each scuba diving shop or dive centre will offer you a confusing array of varied apparatus, from scuba mask and fins to snorkels, wetsuits, BCDs and other helpful things.

Often you can even be a little confused what to pick. It is sort of accepted a large quantity of provided diving hardware makes the decision relatively difficult despite of this you want to select scuba diving equipment that may be excellent for you.

 

Initially you wish to consider the environmental conditions. In fact, the dimensions of your scuba diving equipment fiscal plan, and the proven fact that you can spend a bucketload of money doesn’t signify if you choose the inaccurate apparatus for your local environmental conditions.

You need also to take into account the temperature of the water and in the case it is cold enough then you’ll have to get a scuba dry suit. It should be also added that it is important to choose whether you would like an environmentally sealed first stage in your scuba regulator to prevent freezing.

 

The point is that it is simple to trim expenses by providing low quality items that may not stand up to any degree of ordinary use and a saving here will be at the price of equipment life or safety.

 

It is strongly recommended to ask if the store has ex-display models or stock from the prior season. You need to also know that you’ve got the chance to save money on gear like dive bags by substituting other products if you buy cheap plastic storage crates in shops and other stores.

You may be sure that you’re going to get it for a tenth of the price of a dive bag and besides it will do the job just fine.

 

Comfort is the other principal point to be considered.

To conclude, you may understand that selecting scuba diving equipment can be easy as long as you apply a little bit of forethought. Without regard for the enormous amount of funds available for your scuba diving package, you should be ready to choose many products and then take it gently and select scuba diving gear which will be glorious for you.

Thanks for reading!

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There is a new Sheriff in Town!

Ranger-LTD-for-2009-OptimizedThe New Zeagle Ranger LTD now comes standard in Smoke Gray, a good looking, rich color that compliments any suit or other gear color combination.

The shoulder is designed with the new super duty Airlock buckle that will swivel to adjust the harness to the body’s contour to eliminate binding and restriction of movement at the chest and underarm areas. 

With the addition of harness type webbing and a new threading arrangement the diver can easily add more D-rings and other accessories conveniently on the shoulder.

This feature will now allow the technical and accessory minded diver to further set-up his BC to what he needs for the type of diving he is doing. We have also added a right-hand shoulder dump with a pull knob located conveniently on the inside edge of the right shoulder pad.

The dump valve acts also as an additional safety overpressure valve.

Available in Smoke Gray or Black as standard

Standard Ranger Features:

* 44-lb lift capacity Ballistic bladder (standard, other capacities available as options)

* 30-lb capacity Ripcord weight system

* 20-lb capacity rear trim weight system

* PFS Modular Sizing

* Heavily reinforced 1050 denier Ballistic nylon construction

* 11" grommets for mounting twin cylinders

* Two Zippered utility pockets at sides

* Adjustable elastic waist panels

* 4 Stainless D-rings on shoulders (two adjustable)

* 2 Stainless D-rings on vest

* Adjustable Sternum Strap

* Single or twin tank capability.

* Dry Weight: 9.5lbs


A demo of how easily flushable the Ranger is!


Custom Sizing Available
Vest
Measure waist size
Shoulder
Measure shoulder to waist
XS custom XS custom
SM 25"-35" SM 14"-18"
MD 33"-41" MD 18"-22"
LG 37"-45" LG 22"-26"
XL 42"-50" XL 26"-29"
XXL custom XXL custom


thanks for reading this far.  There is a LOT of product offerings in your scuba diving equipment.  We are here to help.  Ping us at 818 982 2652 or feel free to chat with us on the homepage or any of the product pages of K2.  We are here for you. Welcome to the K2 family. . .welcome home!

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Selecting the best scuba diving wetsuits is tantamount to giving yourself that full-geared up confidence to take part in a worthwhile scuba diving experience. Wetsuits offer assorted degrees of thermal protection for the body while underwater with its man-made neoprene material that might be fitted out with spandex fibers to provide further flexibleness. Here are some beneficial subjects to help in your search and purchase for this scuba gear : Finding your Wetsuit Style.

Xcel WetsuitsWB76XAU9-54XAU9-30-Optimized

Are available in full-body, 3 quarters, and two-piece styles. The 3 quarters or ’shorty’ wetsuit is practical to be employed in warm waters while the two-piece wetsuit will fit cold water dives. If you are an occasional, recreational diver, shorties will be a good selection. But if you’d like to make an occupation or job out of diving, getting a full body wetsuit will give you the power to don it in both cold water and warm water dives. Wetsuit Fit : When picking a wetsuit its fit and tailoring for your body shape is critical.
So fit is actually imperative. At K2 Scuba, you can forecast a call and custom fitting you to the suit that it your bag, instead of just taking an order for some stock size and shipping it to you.
When you try a wetsuit on do some stretches and squats to see how it follows the contour of your body. SUITS IN THE 21ST CENTURY are now not UNCOMFORTABLE.
Do not accept the hype a wetsuit is only cushy in the water! If you notice major room especially on your lumbar area, in that arch between the apex of your bum and your shoulder, then you do not have a good fit. Simply, if your wetsuit does not stick closely to your body shape then water will flush in and you will not stay warm.
You have spent a grip of money for a sick fitting suit. There are a number of neck entry systems that different wetsuit brands will offer, the regular back zip and velcro close over or the front zip offered by Xcel Diving Wetsuits or Pinnacle Wetsuits. The public must try on some wetsuits to get one that fits them utterly.

Naturally, there are outlets offering custom-made wetsuits for those with deeper pockets. When cut to your size, the wetsuit guarantees utmost comfort, better insulation and pliability. Evaluate your Diving Wants .
Neoprene is the standard material for wetsuits and are available in thicknesses of 2mm to about 9mm. In most examples, wetsuits carrying a thickness beyond 5mm can get real enormous underwater to put a dent on overall adaptability.

Keeping up the proper Condition of Your Wetsuit. As much as possible, dip your wetsuit in a tub stuffed with an enzyme-based cleaner and hand wash it scrupulously ; particularly duck messing up the backstitching of a wetsuit. Don’t forget to mist it while drying outside but watch out not to bare it to direct daylight. The stench of a wetsuit are the bacteria from your skin hiding in the nooks and crannies of the neoprene. Wash your suit! Similarly , hang the wetsuit in a cool, dry place and away from direct sunlight when storing them..

Thanks for reading, leave your comments below. . . yes, now!

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We started diving a long time ago. The word diving is related to swimming underwater, and the word scuba is an abbreviation for "self-contained underwater breathing apparatus" and it has become acceptable to refer to scuba diving equipment as "equipment", “rig”, or "apparatus". So, we understand the word Scuba Diving as swimming underwater with special equipment.

When selecting a scuba mask it is essential that it fits your face well to ensure that it is both comfortable and leak free. Without a good seal against the face you may spend much of your time clearing the mask of water, while an uncomfortable mask detracts from your diving experience ? both lead to enjoying your dives less but because they distract you from your environment they are also potentially unsafe.

When it comes to choosing  scuba wetsuits, the thickness of the neoprene material, which is measured in millimeters, makes a difference in getting too hot or too cold, in addition to durability. Short wetsuits that cover the torso have short sleeves and leggings and are more comfortable in warmer and shallower water.

Other terms to appreciate are that "steamer" wetsuits are full suits that cover all but your head, feet and hands, while a "farmer John" suit has no sleeves and often is worn with a jacket. Dry suits have attached booties and watertight seals round the wrists and neck so you can wear thermal underclothes with them for heat. Most scuba diving regulators are sufficient for no less than 40% nitrox without any alteration. If you want a higher o2 content then you need to go for a nitrox diving regulator – these are traditionally green to distinguish them and have been properly cleaned. One other consideration is that you can’t use Nitrox with titanium diving regulators. So, the gas divers use from the tank is compressed normal air. Air is formed of 78.084% of nitrogen, 20.946% of oxygen and 1% of other gases that have just about no effect when respiring compressed air.

Nitrogen under high pressure can temporally effect our nervous system and meddle with signal transmissions, causing at bigger depths ( 30 to 40 meters / a hundred to 133 feet or more ) the condition known as nitrogen narcosis, which has similar effects as being under the influence of alcohol ( loss of decision making capacity, loss of focus, reduced judgment, multi tasking and coordination ). The simplest way to avoid nitrogen narcosis is for a diver to control the depth of dives.

If narcosis does occur, the effects disappear almost right away on rising to a more shallow depth. Under stress nitrogen softens into body tissues and starts to amass. To by-pass the bends divers must minimize the water pressure slowly on the body at the end of the each dive. This will allow the gases besieged in the bloodstream to steadily break solution and leave the body. This is done by rising slowly and making safety stops or decompression stops using dive Computers or decompression tables for guidance. As you can see while scuba diving, divers are limited in time and depth thanks to the nitrogen in the air.

For those divers that transcend 40 meters / 133 feet and for divers who require to spend lots of time under water, a different mixture of gases, training and equipment are required. The depth limit for recreational diving is between 30 to 40 meters / one hundred to 133 feet, but it also depends on the training and the gases used while underwater. Nuno Gomes ( S. A.

) now holds the world record for the deepest dive using scuba diving equipment. The dive of 318 meters / 1044 feet beat the previous record set by the late John Bennet of 308 meters / 1016 feet ( confirmed ). The above records were set using ‘recreational’ SCUBA. What’s important to remember that being underwater has limits and perils that pro divers are prepared to take. Dives between 5 to twenty meters / sixteen to 66 feet can show you the wonderful world that was once explored by Cousteau. These depths have the advantage of that provides divers with better light, colours and sea life. Also in shallow dives you may breathe less air from the tank, making your dive longer and safer.

Dive Safe out there, will you?

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If you have got an interest in getting started in scuba diving, there are countless things to think about.

These things include scuba diving basics and the scuba gear you will have to wear. The neatest thing you can do if you have an interest in exploring the depths of the sea is to take a basic scuba diving class. There are certifications that you can get but if you have an interest in going for an one time journey then it’s best to spend two hours with an expert that may show you everything you have to know.

Permit me to state again, rather than plopping down a bucketload of money in your local dive shop on the package with free lessons, find a caring individual to bop in the pool with you.

Confirm this is something that you will wish to get into and pursue.

Are you aware :

  1. Of the millions cert’d, only 2% continue to ceaselessly dive.
  2. The complete rig ( all of the scuba equipment ) you want to be a totally self contained diver runs $3,000-5,000.00
  3. You don’t desire / nor need all the specializations that PADI or any other certifying organization counsels
  4. You are most dangerous to yourself and others in dives 5-25

Most resorts and dive shops supply a basic course to get you going in a secure environment with an expert. You can learn some steps and things about safety to guarantee you have got a brilliant time and you know what you do.

Gear is the successive most critical thing when you’re scuba diving.
The 3 most urgent things you need to remain happy and comfortable  while you are diving include scuba fins, scuba mask, and exposure protection ( scuba wetsuits ).

Most divers don’t own their tank because they are too giant and enormous to go with. A tank can be gained at a local dive shop. The tank is absolutely full of air and you want this so you can breathe underwater. This suggests that if you would like to go diving for a complete weekend then you’ll need to get some tanks. Steel tanks are much stronger than the aluminum which means you can pressurize them to higher pressures. A steel tank is heavier and rather more dear but it will permit you to have 25% more time under the water.

This is the hose attached to the valve of the tank that pressurizes the air. The low pressure hose is the one that you’ll have in your mouth that you are going to respire from. Ambient pressure comes from the regulator which makes it better to respire. Never stop respiring when you’re rising as it would lead to lung expansion injuries.

The BCD enables you to control your buoyancy. They are attached to the regulator on the low pressure side. These are the classic jacket that you see divers wear when they are diving. Tons of them have integrated weights in them that are removable.

Always consider the amount of weight in the jacket, how well it fits, and the back inflation. Sight is the one sense you need to have underwater for your protection. This implies that the mask you wear must fit perfect. The water must be clear the complete time you are underwater or it might ruin the experience. Try on many masks to discover the one you select fits just right. Fins are another factor that you cannot go diving without.

The explanation is usually because they are used to help swim with this. Fins let you be dexterous under the water. If you aren’t wearing fins then it is kind of very not likely to swim with the fast moving currents of the sea. There are heaps of things you need to consider if you want to start with scuba diving. The gear you use will be your lifeline and you may use gear developed to your wishes and your comfort. Also, before you go for the 1st time take a basic class so you are safe and you know what you do.

Scuba diving is a blast, dive safely and dive long and ping us at K2 Scuba to get you/keep you diving.

Bring your Scuba Gear to a fascinating, exciting holiday town. Cabo San Lucas is a little city on the end of the Baja Promontory in the state of Baja California Sur, Mexico. It is roughly one thousand miles south of San Diego, California, roughly twenty-two miles southwest of the Los Cabos World airfield and eighteen miles west of San Jose del Cabo. Las Cabos is found on the southerly end of Baja California Sur. Between the 2 cities is eighteen miles of resort communities found on the sea edge. It is an active flourishing area. A short history. Herman Cortez set sail to the reported island which was full of gold and pearls and inhabited by Amazons in 1535 with 3 galleons and over six hundred males and females. He at once discovered there wasn’t any gold and pearls nor were there Amazons. It wasn’t till after World War 2 a grouping of Southern Californians discovered that they could fly to La Paz and then go by rutty roads to the shores of Mar de Cortes.

It had been a punctiliously inclined secret that steadily leaked out the sea of Cortes was bounteous with fish and was well-protected. The weather was nearly perfect.

As there were no roads, long yachts and personal aeroplanes kept the pretty sea vistas exclusive. Scuba Diving is provoking with sights of Giant Manta Rays, Hammerhead Sharks, Pilot Whales, and for the daring. . . . Feel your place in the pecking order by diving with Humbolt Squid. It was become the destination of many world travelers.
A favored port-of-call, Cabo San Lucas hosts four hundred cruise ships a year and receives over 1,000,000 yearly visitors. Where firstclass, five star resorts abound, Cabo San Lucas offers family activities and top class comforts. As well as the resorts, for the traveler who favors to hire holiday villas or stay at bed and breakfasts or boutique hostels which hire for the week or month. The active nightlife embodies the Cabo Wabo, a must see, El Squid Roe and the latest Zoo Bar and Dance. Many refectories surround the Mall with specialties from many states.
There’s parasailing, sailboating.
As well as the water pleasures, you can go 4 wheeling into the desert along the sea where there are no homes and no hostels.


BREAKING NEWS! Oceanic and DiveNav, Inc. announce the availability of theDiving® scuba diving simulator for the soon-to-be-released Oceanic OC1 Dive Computer. The OC1 is an advanced all-in-one dive computer featuring Oceanic’s exclusive Dual Algorithm, wireless air-integration, digital compass, remote Buddy Pressure Check, and so much more. All in a strong, lightweight titanium housing. Scheduled for June 15,2009 delivery.

The is an all-in-one featuring a precision digital compass, dot matrix display, wireless Buddy Pressure Check and so much more.

SmartGlo backlighting and audible alarms keep you current when every second counts.

 

• Precision Digital Compass including North, reference modes and declination adjustment

• Titanium Housing  

• Dot Matrix Display provides superior readability and intuitive user interface

• Digital Watch, Air, Nitrox, Gauge and Free Dive Modes

• Switch between up to 3 independent wireless transmitters, tracking 3 Nitrox mixes or buddy’s tank pressure with Buddy Pressure CheckTM

• Audible Alarms with User Acknowledgment

• SmartGlo® Backlighting

• Includes OceanLog® PC Download and Settings Upload Software and USB cable Sport Divers Magazine


http://www.k2scuba.com/blogs_images/09-Editors-Pick.jpgSport Divers Magazine – Editor’s Pick – March 2009

COOL FACTOR

Enough functionality to make 007’s gadget man, Q, raise an eyebrow in approval.

KEY FEATURES

This do-everything machine includes a digital compass, dot-matrix display and functionality to switch among three wireless transmitters. The latter allows for a buddy pressure-check function. Four dive modes handle air, nitrox, gauge and free-dive duties, and the dot-matrix display is crisp and easy on the eyes. All of this comes wrapped in a strong, lightweight titanium housing. SmartGlo backlighting works great in low-light conditions and at night, and the system includes Oceanic’s software along with a USB cable for integration with a PC.

 

For the Enthusiast, this is the first adopter must have! Do what others have already done and

 

BUY NOW by clicking Here

image

Hi All, my friend Paul Hunter of www.AfricanDiver.com has just published his latest issue on Adobe Acrobat.pdf

Membership has its privileges, so either click on the picture above, OR click on this link:  http://www.africandiver.com/articles/issues/africandiver_issue5.pdf

Your issue should open in its own window. . and you can right click to download. . . and then save it to your hard drive. .

OK, now that Ive wet your whistle. . who wants to roadtrip with me?

You make the arrangements, I will keep the lights on,

Tevis

Interesting question!

I sell stuff, mostly stuff called scuba gear, or scuba equipment.  For the past year we have been selling Omer, AB Biller, Riffe and Picasso Freediving Equipment as we are a concierge type of operation, and if you want it, we will bird dog it for you.  So on with the story, a customer asked me the other day,“what is the difference between snorkeling, freediving, and scuba diving?” This is a very good question and not answered very well by the certifying agencies.  Some even warning against freediving. . .stoopid!

Snorkeling is easy squeezy!  Everyone can do it, no training is needed, all you need is a mask and snorkel; you may or may not have fins on. Normally snorkelers  are a happy bunch and stay on the surface,cruising around looking at the fish and corals underneath them.  Most snorkelers don’t travel more than 10 or 20 fsw beneath them. A lot of folks then come back and  want to dive under the water, and see the fish up close.

Those that break the surface and use fins would be considered free divers. Many are now taking this to some real extremes, with the record being over 80 meters! (that is 240 fsw) For most free divers, 6 to 20 meters is the normal range. If you are going to try to become a serious free diver, it is time for professional training for a host of good reasons.

Competitive free diving, of course, has its own rules and governing bodies. There are different categories. In "Constant Weight" the diver follows a line to a certain depth and then swims back up, all on his or her own power.In "Variable Weight" the diver uses a weighted sled to go down, then swims back up.In "No Limit," the diver uses a sled to go down, then inflates an airbag at the bottom and holds on to that to get back to the surface. The depths reached are almost unimaginable. How can they do that?

Apparently, in free diving the rules are all different. With no compressed air to counter-balance the enormous water pressure, the lungs and other air cavities inside the body compress enormously. Conventional equalization of the ears and sinus only goes that far; beyond a certain depth the divers do "water equalization, " i.e. they let salt water into the sinus system in a practice that is described as entirely unpleasant. And another phenomenon takes place when a "blood shift" keeps the lungs from collapsing. It’s a residual from ancient times perhaps, from our genetic past, but it works (not that I’d ever want to experience it).

Some folks say freediving is much more dangerous than scuba diving just by watching slick videos.  It is an extreme sport, tho when you break it down to its foundation. . .Freediving  and scuba diving have safety rules that are inviolate. . . screw with them and you die!

Scuba Diving would be using mask, fins and a tank of air, usually they will have a scuba jacket attached to the tank called a “BCD” also attached to the scuba take would be a set of regulators, in diver lingo referred to as “regs” or “octo’s” which will have normally 2 hoses with regulators, and a low pressure hose or 2, as well as a information package containing 1, 2 or 3 different pressure and depth gauges, compass and computers. Scuba divers will also have some other equipment like weights and knives (for freeing themselves from underwater entanglements) lights, underwater cameras and underwater video cameras are common accouterments to see on scuba divers.

Types of scuba sets
Modern scuba sets are of two types:

open-circuit (In Europe, it is often called an "aqualung". Here the diver breathes in from the equipment and all the exhaled gas goes to waste in the surrounding water. This type of equipment is relatively simple, making it cheaper and more reliable. The two-hose design originally used was the one designed by Cousteau and Gagnan. The single-hose design generally used today was invented in Australia .
closed-circuit/semi-closed circuit (also referred to as a rebreather). Here the diver breathes in from the set, and breathes back into the set, where the exhaled gas is processed to make it fit to breathe again. These existed before the open-circuit sets and are still used, but less so than open-circuit sets.Both types of scuba provide a means of supplying air or other breathing gas, nearly always from a high pressure diving cylinder, and a harness to strap it to the diver’s body. Most open-circuit scuba and some rebreathers have a demand regulator to control the supply of breathing gas. Some "semi-closed" rebreathers only have a constant-flow regulator, or occasionally a set of constant-flow regulators of various outputs.

Some divers use the word "scuba" to mean open-circuit sets only.

THE BEST DRY SNORKEL!"
Scuba Diving Magazine, December 2005

The name says it all. Designed to be exactly what its name suggests, the ULTRA DRY snorkel incorporates  Oceanic’s patented Dry Snorkel Technology into an ultra-low profile product that is ergonomically designed for comfort and function.

This technology creates a seal to virtually eliminate water entering the snorkel barrel, while achieving superior air flow performance on the surface.

· Patented Dry Snorkel Technology virtually eliminates water entry without sacrificing performance

· Oversized purge valve for easy clearing

· Quick-release swiveling snorkel keeper

· Drop away smooth bore flex mouthpiece

· Replaceable 100% liquid silicone mouthpiece and purge valve

· *NEW* Mini Version features the same fine qualities as the Ultra Dry, but with a mouthpiece designed for smaller adults and youths.

30-DAY SATISFACTION GUARANTEE: We guarantee that at any time during the first 30 days of purchase, your Oceanic scuba gear fails to meet your expectations, that product may be exchanged by K2, a participating Authorized Oceanic Pro Dealer. No questions asked.

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