Tuesday 22 January 2013

AQUANAUTS DISCOUNT

rectotec are pleased to announce a 5% discount to all of its customers at Aquanauts Dive Centre in Plymouth. 

Aquanauts are Plymouth's largest, most popular and busiest dive centre.  Operating year round, 7 days per week they teach dive courses, charter boats and supply most brands of diving equipment including Scubapro, Suunto, Tusa, Apeks, Halcyon, Seac Sub, Waterproof, Bodyglove, and Excel amongst many others.

Massive thanks to James Sanderson and Brian Allen; just remember to ask me for your online code.

To read more information about Aquanauts click here and for more information about my GUE Fundamentals course I took with them last year click here.

The boring bit!
All opinions expressed in my articles are my own and may differ to other instructor’s and agency guidelines; by no means are they wrong and I would not wish to disrepute any of them.  This article is for information only and should not replace proper training.

Safe diving!

Timothy Gort
BSAC, PADI & SDI/TDI diver training
l Mob: 07968148261 l Email: tim@rectotec.co.uk l

Wednesday 9 January 2013

HOW TO: TIE A REGULATOR NECKLACE

Why have a backup regulator?
A backup regulator/alternate source/octopus, whatever you decide to call it, is a secondary gas supply to be used by any diver in an emergency.  Now in theory a diver should never be out of gas underwater as all dives should be planned correctly, however accidents do happen and equipment can fail, so regardless of your equipment setup, whether you primary or secondary donate, every diver should have a secondary source of gas.

Location?
So now we’ve got a second regulator, where do we put it?  The regulator must be positioned is such a place so that it’s assessable to the intended user.  This usually means locating the regulator within the ‘triangle of access’, so that it can be seen and accessed by the diver themselves. This can mean having it attached to a necklace or a suitable clip within the triangle.

There are now 2 main considerations; visibility and access.  If we primary donate then it’s simple; go for the one in my mouth; the backup is for me.  If we secondary donate the buddy should be able to easily see and identify the correct regulator.  It is for this reason many backup regulators are brightly coloured (normally yellow) and may have corresponding hose colours too.  If the regulator is located within the ‘triangle’ it will help keep it visible if an out of gas (OOG) diver approaches from the front.  However as divers we SHOULD be in a horizontal position so locating the backup regulator in the shoulder or neck area may be more appropriate hence the use of a necklace.

Additional advantages of a necklace are that it makes the regulator instantly assessable to the diver in an emergency; you’ll need to find it fast so it’s important you know where it is.    It is also less likely to be affected by surrounding water turbulence that may cause a free flow.  The pictures below show backup regulator positioning with a necklace of a single cylinder and twinset configuration.


Cost?
There are many companies such as Beaver and Lomo that manufacture rubber or silicone necklaces from as little as £5 however these are generally too big for most people allowing the regulator to hang too low.  Additionally, as the size of the mouthpiece loop is fixed so it has a tendency to pop out.  Halcyon make some from bungee which cost around £7 which are exactly the correct size and keep the regulator in place.

I’m going to show you to make your own for as little as 50p.  I am going to show you 2 methods; the first is very similar to the Halcyon and the second is one which physically secures the necklace to the mouthpiece.

Method 1
This is the necklace I prefer and use.  Although the necklace isn’t physically secured to the regulator, you can tighten the knot up, although if pulled hard enough could come free.









You will need the following:
1. Approximately 2.5-3ft of 5mm bungee (2mm does work but I prefer the larger diameter).
2. Scissors or a sharp blade.
3. Lighter.


For the remainder of this how to: I will describing how to do the skill right handed so if you’re a lefty you may have to reverse the skill.




The necklace is constructed using a double fisherman’s knot.  The first thing you do is form a loop with the bungee in your left hand with the end facing your right closest to you.


Next we make 1 turn over and under the adjacent cord.



We make a second turn over the cord, however this time we come back on ourselves.





Before going back over and through both loops.






And pulling tight.  This involves using both ends and working the knot tight.






Rotate the knot through 180° and size it correctly for you neck.  Repeat the same process of the opposite side allowing 1-1.5 inches for the regulator mouthpiece.





And you have your necklace.  Just a final check to see if it fits correctly.






Trim the ends.






and burn off any loose threads.






Finally fit to the regulator.  Final adjustment may be needed to loosen or tighten the mouthpiece loop.

Job done.










Method 2

This method is the simplest to construct and physically secures the necklace to the regulator making the possibility of it coming off very low; however if it does come off it will take the mouthpiece with it.







You will need the following: 
1. Approximately 2-2.5ft of 5mm bungee (2mm does work but I prefer the larger diameter).
2. Scissors or a sharp blade.
3. Lighter.

4. Spare zip tie large enough to secure a mouthpiece.



Tie a knot in one end of the bungee.






Size it up to your neck, tie a second knot then cut and burn the spare end.






Carefully cut off the old zip tie on the regulator.






Replace the zip tie carefully inserting either end of the loop before pulling tight.






Carefully cut off any excess from the zip tie.

Job done.











Regardless of which method you prefer I hope that this is helpful to some of you and saves you a few £££s.

The boring bit!
All opinions expressed in my articles are my own and may differ to other instructor’s and agency guidelines; by no means are they wrong and I would not wish to disrepute any of them.  This article is for information only and should not replace proper training.

Safe diving!

Timothy Gort
BSAC, PADI & SDI/TDI diver training
l Mob: 07968148261 l Email: tim@rectotec.co.uk l


Sunday 6 January 2013

SCUBAPRO HYBRID SHORTS WITH POCKETS

I don’t know about the rest of you but I no-longer dive with a traditional BCD; I use a wing, backplate (BP) and harness.  I think that not only does it give a more stable body position in the water, but most importantly no matter what equipment configuration I’m diving (OC single, OC twins or CCR) I can bolt the same BP on, choose the appropriate size wing and off I pop safely in the knowledge that all the dumps clips, d-rings etc… are in exactly the same place so if I’m doing a drill, or more importantly in an emergency, everything is muscle memory and I’m not scrabbling around trying to find things.  Although BCDs are far more common my personal belief is that more and more people will convert to this setup; look around at most dive sites and I think you will agree.

The only downside is that there are no pockets on this system unlike a traditional BCD.  When diving in the UK this poses no problems as my drysuit has 2 pockets, one on either leg.  I tend to dive a standard configuration; so in terms of pocket contents it means that all the stuff that I intend to use on a dive is in my left pocket with the emergency stuff in the right (if you wish to know why just ask; I will do a separate article at some point).  However when diving abroad or wearing a wetsuit (like on my recent trip to Egypt) I don’t have this option available to me.

To combat this I purchased a pair of Scubapro Hybrid Shorts with Pockets.  From around £42 onwards they’re not the cheapest; I mean they’re just a pair of shorts.  I did look at making my own by getting a pair of cycling shorts and adding a pair of aftermarket pockets from O’Three, Bowstone, Halcyon or similar however this worked out even more expensive.

So, onto the shorts themselves.  The shorts are constructed of 1mm Flextec material (neoprene/lycra) & easily fit over a wetsuit with a drawstring waist to keep them in place.  There is a pocket on either leg which measures approximately 22cm x 15cm x 6cm.  Additionally inside each leg there is a small loop approximately 8cm diameter for clipping items on.

The pockets are smaller than my drysuit however they still fit everything in that I need, although I’ve added a larger elastic loop inside each pocket to make it easier to clip items on.

Below are the items contained in each pocket along with a picture fully loaded.

 
Above: Fully loaded & fitted.

Above: The original loop joined onto my larger one.

Above: Left pocket containing spare mask, 50m spool and 3.3ft backup DSMB and spool.

Above: Right pocket containing 4.5ft DSMB and spool and wetnotes.

To be honest, once on it didn’t even feel like I was wearing a pair of overshorts.  They never came loose or moved around and it was possible to access the items I required underwater.  Overall an excellent item; if I could change anything I would say the pockets could be slightly bigger however a larger securing loop inside the pockets is a must.

The boring bit!
All opinions expressed in my articles are my own and may differ to other instructor’s and agency guidelines; by no means are they wrong and I would not wish to disrepute any of them.  This article is for information only and should not replace proper training.

Safe diving!
 
Timothy Gort
BSAC, PADI & SDI/TDI diver training
l Mob: 07968148261 l Email: tim@rectotec.co.uk

Friday 4 January 2013

LFM 7XRE VS HID TORCH COMPARISON

I’ll be honest; I’ve copied this from Light-For-Me (LFM) however as a supplier of these torches I thought it may be worth sharing with you guys.
 
The 7XRE is comparable to some of the best primary lights on the market in terms of output but in terms of size, how does it compare to a ‘generic’ 21W HID?  What size is the light head?  Can it be attached to a harness etc…
 
Firstly, let’s look at the 7XRE; what are the specs?  I’ll not bore you with the physical sizes as they may not mean anything, besides, that is what the pictures are for and everything else can be found on the website, however let’s concentrate on the important stuff:
·                Includes also a protective cordura cover for the canister (battery) that allows it to be attached to either a wing or a harness.
·                Pressure tested to 10 BAR.
·                2 modes of light; 100% and 10% power.
·                7 LEDS, 6-degree beam, very narrow light, ideal for signalling.
·                2200 lumens (very bright).
·                4 or 6 hour burn time (battery dependent).
 
Prices for the torches are definitely better than the HIDs, starting from (RRP) £504 - £660 depending on the battery option, however there’s always a deal to be struck.  A video of the light in action can be seen below.
 
 
NOTE: Light-For-Me don’t just do primary lights; they have a wide range of accessories including:
·                Backup lights.
·                GoPro video lighting system.
·                Video light accessories.
·                Reels.
·                Trim weight pockets.
·                And many more….
 
If you have any questions on this or any Light-For-Me product please ask.
 
For more information on Light-For-Me click on their website or their Facebook page.
 
The boring bit!
All opinions expressed in my articles are my own and may differ to other instructor’s and agency guidelines; by no means are they wrong and I would not wish to disrepute any of them.  This article is for information only and should not replace proper training.
 
Safe diving!
 
Timothy Gort
BSAC, PADI & SDI/TDI diver training
l Mob: 07968148261 l Email: tim@rectotec.co.uk l