SCUBA

Until now, I've had at least nine different regulators in my mouth since I began SCUBA diving. Some have been incredibly uncomfortable, some were unwieldy making me reposition it or bite down harder, one was a bit cantankerous but not one left with without air. Reading a lot on this subject and keeping my eyes open to all the choices on the market, it really didn't take me long to decide upon the one that would make me happy and fit my budget. That being said, how do you know which one to buy? A friend of mine went on a dive with a brand new Mares regulator and it failed, canceling his dive. Seriously?! It was new!

Before I took my first class, I felt every diver should own their own regulator since it is how you breathe. Can you trust rental gear? How often is it serviced? When was the last time? How was it treated previously by everybody? Regulators vary in price and in quality. It allows you to suck in a breath of air from a storage tank strapped to your back, and exhale air out the vented port off to the side. The internal diaphragm keeps the flap open or closed as you breathe in and out. It shouldn't let in any water, and the front of all the ones I've used is soft allowing me to depress it to force out any water before an inhalation if it was knocked out of my mouth. The hose that runs to this piece of gear is rigid - I had one of my instructors actually grab hold of it and tug me the direction he wanted me to head once. That hose can affect how the regulator feels in your mouth throughout the entire dive.

Like anything you use, it needs to be maintained. After being told I'd have to give it ...

If you are considering getting into SCUBA diving, you may end up with a passion to own your own gear rather than relying on rentals. Last year I wrote several articles about those initial required purchases and classwork, as well as the open water skills required to get PADI certified. Now that summer is heating up, I'm itching to get back into the water to see more of the creatures we love to put in our aquariums and began researching what gear I needed next.

It was overwhelming. There are so many brands, so many styles, prices ranging from inexpensive to insanely high; how can an underwater enthusiast know what to buy? I'd already looked at many of the options at my local dive shop, and I'd used rental gear both from there as well as during my dives in Hawaii. Through experience you can learn what you do ...

There are endless dive spots to visit in the world, but there’s no doubt in my mind that Galapagos is on the “bucket list” of every diver out there. I know it has always been on mine, and it absolutely did not disappoint. While the rules and regulations have changed a bit over the last few years with regard to combined land/water-based trips, you can still experience both underwater and topside locations on the same trip. Ideally, it would be perfect to book two weeks or more in Galapagos, the first ...

The final part of my PADI Open Water diver certification was Dives 3 & 4. Yesterday, Dives 1 & 2 were done in Terrell, Texas. Today's took place in Glen Rose, Texas.

The purpose of this documentation is to provide information to consider so your experience will go smoothly, and that is why I opt to share a number of details, including minor ones:

I awoke at 8 a.m. so I'd have an hour to get myself going before my drive to Glen Rose. As soon as the alarm sounded, I jumped up but wow did I feel like heck. I could see through the closed blinds that it wasn't bright outside, which meant it would feel colder than yesterday's sunny day. My body ached, my neck bothered me, my sinuses seemed a little restricted... more than likely the result of cold water dives the day before. I reset the timer on the alarm, and went back to sleep for 45 minutes. I felt better, and had just enough time to ...

To receive my PADI SCUBA certification, I have to complete four "open water" dives with a qualified instructor. This weekend is halfway over, and I was able to get two of the four done today before we ran out of daylight. Here's the link to the planning blog: http://www.reefaddicts.com/entry.php...-certification

Yesterday (Friday), I went to We B Divin' to pick up my gear. This includes the BCD, weights, 5mm wetsuit and 5mm Hooded Vest. Because the dive shop doesn't have any Large wetsuits at this time, I used the LL (large-long) and an XL hooded vest. The purpose of both is to insulate me from the colder water in our lakes during November. I picked up two air tanks, and checked both for their O-rings. One was fine while the other looked pretty rough. I asked for a spare O-ring since it ...

With a heavy schedule carrying multiple responsibilities, it has literally taken me years to get SCUBA certification, or should I say the necessary training to become qualified to dive. When I designed the logo for my company, a diver was included in the artwork as a constant reminder of what I wanted to do. It was a personal goal. No matter how I tried to map out my schedule, I never seemed to have the time to take my classes. About a year ago, due to a friend's reminder, I purchased a Groupon for classes, and even with the four month period before expiration, I couldn't mesh my schedule accordingly. Customer orders needed filling, traveling for speaking engagements or MACNA promotion, as well as club business / events, my reef tank's issues... ...