Last night I was swimming around in the dark in a dry dock under a cruise ship placing supports before they pumped the water out, was like swimming around inside some old ruin at night.

Oh yeah if any of you guys worry about how many repetitive bounce dives you can get away with in a day, the answer is a fuckload, I'm pretty sure I did 50+ yesterday. I'm also pretty sure I'm clinically bent right now, I'll probably die tomorrow when I fly to NZ

did I mention someone in our group got bent?

also the most conservative diver in the team.

bounce dives?

think about it....

down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up,

and so on...

they are known to increase the risk of symptomatic DCI but in reality if they're well within the table limits there isn't a huge problem. you might bend the shit out of your computer though.

If I'd worn a computer I'm sure it would've spazzed. Being on 40% EAN helps too of course.

EAN has ruined air for me

Quote:

Originally Posted by plan-b

EAN has ruined air for me

Iktf bro, and I only ever use it at work.

Angus, get a bailout tank and fill it with 100%, say goodbye to hangovers

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bracko

get a bailout tank and fill it with 100%, say goodbye to hangovers

I have access to O2 refills... :chinstroke:

better than bacon, sausages and eggs.

oh yeah, if worse comes to worse, was nice knowing you SM

doing the adelaide on saturday again, still gotta get my EAN done. sometime before instructors (they're pushing me to be that by october).

it's easier to do IDC straight after your DM anyway... but the more I dive in different locations with different people the less I think I'm up to being an instructor *yet*...

5-7m swell, 60km/h winds, yeah, i'm not doing the adelaide tomorrow.

Soft. Just quietly I'm starting to come to the conclusion that the spot they sunk the Adelaide could have been better chosen. So often the vis is terrible and it just cops a pounding in any decent swell.

Went through all my photos last night, a few good ones but it's going to take a lot of effort.to get them up to scratch.

Lol I'm still alive, calves and ears took a few days to recover though.
I'm happy that the Adelaide gets smashed by big swells cause every time that happens we have to go out there and do an inspection dive and get paid! To be fair I don't think there's much else in the way of options in terms of where they could have sunk it, at least in NSW.

Unerwater chaps.

My sister is currently living in Vanuatu and spending every second day in the water in between acting s a nanny for some family friends.
Dive gear is expensive there, and shes asked me to send her a LED dive torch.

Recommendations / best prices / places to get one?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Morphee

Unerwater chaps.

My sister is currently living in Vanuatu and spending every second day in the water in between acting s a nanny for some family friends.
Dive gear is expensive there, and shes asked me to send her a LED dive torch.

Recommendations / best prices / places to get one?

How large a torch is she after?

Deco cheaper to get it online than retail, dive gear is exxy over the counter here too.

Dave... Off north head? Great vis, big grany sand not mud, so many good spots at 30-40m.

Komodo Dec... Fuck yeah.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bracko

Dave... Off north head? Great vis, big grany sand not mud, so many good spots at 30-40m.

still a lot of exposure and close to a major shipping lane, doubt they'd put a dive wreck that close to the harbour entrance.

Bottom composition is fine in the adelaide wreck site, and you're gonna get the same current/swell issues in most spots. Ideally theyd have picked somewhere with protection from east coast low pressure systems but I don't think that really exists within 200km of Sydney.

Not many commercial lanes near the gap or between north head an manly at 40m...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bracko

Not many commercial lanes near the gap or between north head an manly at 40m...

Access for dive boats is pretty much all out through the heads though.

And? That's where most of the dive boats go now!

Anyway, pointless discussion since its not moving anytime soon...

Yay komodo, booking my indo flights today.

Wel for the record I asked my boss and he reckoned it largely came down to effective lobbying from the local dive shop and business community. They Obviously wanted it more.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Morphee

Unerwater chaps.

My sister is currently living in Vanuatu and spending every second day in the water in between acting s a nanny for some family friends.
Dive gear is expensive there, and shes asked me to send her a LED dive torch.

Recommendations / best prices / places to get one?

I got the Princeton Tec shockwave led off ebay, think i paid around $130 shipped from the states. It's a good, bright light.

Yeah those Princeton tec ones go alright.
Dous she want a pocket sized torch or your bigger light cannon type job?

if you want the ducks nuts then this is the best on the market at the moment.

http://www.intova.net/products/meganova/

but don't buy it in australia, find a USA shop it should be about $450 + shipping.

anything from intova is good quality.

I've got a run of the mill Beuchat LED torch. Think I paid around $80 from memory but can double check the price later.

Yeah pocket sized, nothing big... cheapest she can get over there is $100ish. Will scout around online and see what is available.

Jaycar actually have some decent little LED dive torches pretty cheap at the moment, work just grabbed a bunch to use on this job.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bracko

if you want the ducks nuts then this is the best on the market at the moment.

http://www.intova.net/products/meganova/

but don't buy it in australia, find a USA shop it should be about $450 + shipping.

anything from intova is good quality.

I would'nt say anything, my Intova camera housing is great but the actual camera is pretty average, and the battery died completely on it after a year.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpaceMonkey

Jaycar actually have some decent little LED dive torches pretty cheap at the moment, work just grabbed a bunch to use on this job.

These ones or the head ones?



These offer the capability to put out "a pounding 250 lumens of white light. This is more than enough to see incoming attacks from tentacled creatures, see cthulu before it sees you, a motto amongst divers."

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=ST3459

http://search.jaycar.com.au/search?w=dive&view=list

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpaceMonkey

I would'nt say anything, my Intova camera housing is great but the actual camera is pretty average, and the battery died completely on it after a year.

Intova aren't really a camera brand though. It's probably a rebadged Olympus or sea&sea.

to be fair, i didn't even know they sell cameras.... perhaps anything with a light in it, intova are great quality

Heard about an interesting Sydney dive today- apparently there's an old utility tunnel that runs under the harbour from Berry Island to Balmain, was cut in the 1880s to run power cables under the harbour. The main entrance is apparently blocked off now but there's apparently still a ventilation shaft thats still open at Berry Island that you can abseil into it from. The tunnel runs right under the harbour and reaches a depth of about 75m, and has a bunch of old pump rooms and things opening off it.

Apprently one of the bosses from work dived right through it years ago (for shits and giggles, not for work)... and if you were wondering, yes he did it on air

fkn hell. yeah ive heard theres loads of tunnels all through the city and an underground lake too.

It's shit like that or when I cave dived with 0 certifications to do so with a single 12L tank that you realise how dangerous this passtime can be.

eying off a harness setup, but don't really have the room to accommodate two setups... the setup would be very cheap to covert to sidemount if i were to take up cavediving.

^^ Just do it. I hate jackets now after using a wing. Can you use a shop jacket style BCD when running a course?

Is a sidemount really that advantageous for spelunking? That's eventually what I want to get into, by I figure it's overkill for a relaxed recreational dive.

sidemount is being really pushed for even rec diving, I don't really understand why... I haven't dived sidemount with one tank, but people do it and seem to think it's fine.

I love my Probe LX and I'm not going to sell it, there are also better alternatives in a jacket "style" back and lower side inflate that don't squeeze you. Mares Dragon and another one of theirs are great examples.

most likely what I would buy is a harness and wing that can take a BP or do sidemount, Diverite have a few as I'm sure Hollis do as well... but I don't really need to spend $1,000 when I have a BCD that can take doubles, is comfortable and is going to last for a long time yet.

looks like I just talked myself out of it

maybe I should buy a drysuit instead

Dry suit is definitely my next big diving purchase (well that and a new wettie) but my Priorities are different to you guys as I use my exposure suit at work, whereas most of my other gear gets provided by the company (only other stuff we own of our own is usually fins, weight belts and knives)

Dry suit for work I'm guessing will be a bit different to mine as well. What brands are you likely to look at?

Shit weather again in Sydney I see.. does that mean you're back out to the Adelaide?

haven't had our adelaide trip rebooked yet, may end up being in classes this weekend, i'll no doubt get asked this afternoon.

doing my idc in the first week of november too.

Nice one! Are you doing elearning?

yep, just began dive theory, gotta get my nitrox done sometime before then as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by plan-b

Is a sidemount really that advantageous for spelunking? That's eventually what I want to get into, by I figure it's overkill for a relaxed recreational dive.

It depends on the type of cave diving you do. It gives you a much more adaptable profile in the water. Top to bottom you're a lot thinner, so you can fit through flat tunnels easier. Most of the cave diving in Australia is in caves formed by collapsed limestone, so you end up with a lot of wide, flat passages, as opposed to say mexico or florida where you've got solution tubes disolved by flowing water, which are more often round (ish).

You can remove your tanks in the water a lot easier than in backmounts. Taking off backmounts to fit through a hole while in a cave is not a lot of fun, especially if your unit is your weight. Often in sidemounts you can just shift your tanks around without unclipping them.

Carrying tanks to the water is a lot easier, which is a big plus in some of the more inaccessible areas, often involving lots of stairs, rope lowers or wire ladders.

The first two are not going to be a big deal unless you get into pretty serious diving. In australian terms you shouldn't be going into a tunnel where your profile causes you problems until at least Advanced Cave. There's a good argument that the vast, vast majority of cave divers shouldn't ever put themselves into a position where they need to remove their tanks.

Personally I do all my shallower cave diving in sidemounts. If I lived in florida I'd probably dive backmounts more. IMO the hype surrounding sidemounts at the moment is just dive gear companies seeing a new market and trying to push people to buy gear. Shore diving sidemounts is a bitch, and boat diving them is absolutely horrendous. Hose routing is a lot more complex than a standard hogarthian backmount set-up (primary long hose and short hose around neck). Even after 100+ cave dives in sidemounts it still takes me longer to gear up than friends in backmounts.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SPOKEYDOKEY

yep, just began dive theory, gotta get my nitrox done sometime before then as well.

I gaurantee you could pass the course without picking up the book. you might not get 100%, but you'd get over 80%.

The only thing you need is the equaliv air depth equation, the MOD equation and the O2 toxicity table. The rest is just the usual PADI crap.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bracko

Dry suit for work I'm guessing will be a bit different to mine as well. What brands are you likely to look at?

Shit weather again in Sydney I see.. does that mean you're back out to the Adelaide?

Yeah I'll prolly go a heavier suit than I'd use for reccy dives, I'd go a trilam suit for the latter but ideally prefer crushed neoprene for commercial work as they're tougher. Cost will come into it though.

Dunno man, it's only really when we get the big low pressure systems through that we have to do an inspection.

Had a very nice dive at shark point, clovelly this morning with one other diver, a photographer with thousands of dives,

Here's the guys websites with pics/videos he's taken over time. Like many you meet in diving, quiet spoken, but really interesting and well worth listening to.

http://inbetweendives.com/

Joined a group for their first dive of the OW, i'll be back with them tomorrow, a funny bunch, pretty cheeky but moderately competent. Was a good dive with them, got to see the 'YEAH THIS IS FUCKEN SICK!' faces of some very keen new divers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bracko

I gaurantee you could pass the course without picking up the book. you might not get 100%, but you'd get over 80%.

The only thing you need is the equaliv air depth equation, the MOD equation and the O2 toxicity table. The rest is just the usual PADI crap.

If it's anything like the SSI Nitrox exam it's a piece of cake, I got one question wrong on the entire exam.

Spokes, gotta go for a dive with you in the next few weeks I reckon. Might even be able to sneak you a free nitrox fill or two (at 37-40 of course, none of this 30% crap).

Spokes, did you take note of what gear he had?

Also, some of those nudi shots in his best of album are amazing!



edit: next purchase is going to be a new mask I think. has anyone got one of the hollis M-4 masks?

wow. WANT

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2012/08/so...eve-ever-seen/

Quote:

Sony might just have one-upped every other action camera out there by jamming the best features of all into an 85g package — battery included. The new Sony Action Cam’s billboard feature is HD video recording at 1280×720, 60 or 120 fps (for slow motion) or 1920×1080 at 30 fps.

Under the hood, the camera sports a 16-megapixel Exmor R CMOS sensor and a 170-degree Carl Zeiss Tessar lens. The new camera will be available in a Wi-Fi version for $399. More details on that in a minute.

Like other action cameras, Sony will be producing accessories that allow you to mount the camera to yourself in a variety of extreme sporting situations. A bike mount, a waterproof headstrap and an angle adaptor will all be available soon for under $US30 a pop.

The Action Cam ships with its own waterproof case, which will protect it in up to 60 metres of water.

Because of the built-in Wi-Fi, you can also pair your ActionCam with a Sony Xperia smartphone to view your captured movies and upload them to your relevant internets, and you can even stream video to your smartphone to frame up a shot.

All that fun is going to be packaged in, locally, with Australia set to get the Action Cam in a bundle that will set you back $399. The bundle is set to include:

• Sony Action Cam (with Wi-Fi)
• Waterproof housing
• 2 x NPBX1 batteries (good for 280 minutes record time)
• Battery charger
• 4GB microSD card
• Quick release buckle
• Flat and Adhesive mounts
• Universal mount adaptor.

It’s going to be available to purchase from Sony’s online store, authorised resellers and Sony Centres around the country from 1 October.

Can bundling big features into a smaller package make up for the competition’s headstart? We’ll have to wait and see.