On Saturday I went ice diving. It is now two years since I got certified and this time I joined another group taking the PADI ice diver course. I brought my camera and came away with this short video showing how much fun we had despite the cold water. We actually had -1°C!!
Late last year I finally decided to buy a new dry suit. Somehow I kind of had grown out of the old one… After some deliberation, I chose to go with a shell dry suit and settled on Ursuit’s new Heavy Light Kevlar BDS. (Maybe I’ll write more on making that choice, and what I think about the suit another time). Anyhow, after having made about 20 dives with it I realised that although I’m wearing two pairs of socks, the boots where way to big, and needed to be changed.
My first thought was to go with the same boot model and just pick a smaller size, but after talking to some people I wasn’t so sure anymore.
Basically it came down to choosing between two different models. The standard neoprene boot that is quite sturdy with a thick rubber sole, which was originally fitted to the suit (and also on my older one). Or, the thinner “tech dry boot” that is made in 4mm neoprene with only a thin sole, thus offering more flexibility but less stability.
After visiting the shop, talking to the guy who would do the “boot job”, and more importantly, trying several sizes of both types of boots, I decided to take a chance and go with the more flexible “tech boots”. Don’t ask me why they call it that…
After almost a week of nervous waiting I finally got the suit back. Fortunately, I had a chance to go diving just a couple of days later. :)
So what about the result? Well, it’s nothing short of spectacular!! In my big ol’ boots, I felt the fins moving around on my foot, and the sturdy rubber boot made it difficult to angle my feet. Now, with the tighter AND more flexible neoprene boot, the fin fit like a glove, and frog kicking didn’t require much effort at all. In terms of flexibility, it’s like wearing a pair of socks!
So if you are about to get a new dry suit, make sure you think about what boots you want!
Dive safe,
K
In may, the Swedish dive gear manufacturer Poseidon introduced their new TECH rebreather. In this video from the 3rd rebreather event, Poseidon talks more about the new rebreather unit, which will go on sale in November 2012. More information can be found here.
Beautiful Ice Diving from Discovery Diving on Vimeo.
Plagued by some kind of cold, I am unable to go diving. It totally sucks!
Hopefully I will be good to go for the planned ice diving week end in two weeks. It will be almost exactly one year since I got certified as a Padi Ice diver.
For a long time ít seemed that neither the Baltic sea or the lake Mälaren (close to Stockholm) would freeze this winter, but a couple of weeks ago it finally started. Yesterday I even took a hike on the ice of lake Mälaren. So now everything is set! I just have to kick this cold…
Anyway, here is an inspirational video of ice diving in Russia. Looks cool, doesn’t it?
photo by Henry Watkins, Fisheye Photography
My right hand index finger is touching the palm of my left hand, asking the two student divers how much air they have got left.
While looking at the SPG, one of them starts to drift upwards towards the surface. After a quick look at student number two, who is now kneeling on the bottom, and giving me the OK, I reach out and grab diver 1 to prevent him from going all the way to the surface. I manage to stop the ascent, and we slowly go back down and reunite with the kneeling diver 2 on the bottom.
After exchanging OK’s with both divers I again ask; How much air do you have left? Diver two responds quickly, he has 100+ bars left. Fine. Diver 1, who has been a bit edgy on the previous dives is slower to find his SPG but finally signals; only 50 bars left! I signal that I understand and reach out to double check the SPG. He has read it correctly, only 50 bars.
As our depth is only 6 m, and we are less than a minutes swim away from where I have planned the ascent (from about 4 m depth) I know we can safely finish the dive according to the original plan.
When I look up again, I see that diver 1 is searching for something with his right hand. I look closer and immediately realize that his regulator isn’t in his mouth!
